Meet Fr Val
Fr. Val grew up near Pittsburg, Pa. and moved to Los Angeles shortly after high school. He spent his 20s working and traveling. “I learned about service, hospitality, different cultures and religions, and shed some prejudices” he recalled. “It really opened my eyes up to the world. I realized, and believe, if we don’t know the other we can fear the other.” Although he was successful, busy and had many friends, he felt an empty space in his life. He said, “On Palm Sunday I found myself wondering what was missing. I had to go through everything; not money, not companionship. I had to go back to church.” His journey back to faith reignited earlier thoughts of vocation to the priesthood. He began priestly formation and was ordained a priest in both the Byzantine and Latin Rites in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on June 1, 1996. During seminary, Catholic friends with Montana roots invited him to Polson during breaks from his studies. His trips to Montana continued after ordination and he felt drawn to relocate, saying, “I loved my time in Los Angeles, but always had a sense that I would go back to the country.”