His religious journey . . . From Port to Hong Kong

It was at Port Washington High School when Joe Babcock said he knew he “wanted to do something radical for God.”

It was a decade later at the Chapel of Epiphany in Paris when he learned where he would be serving God for the rest of his life.

Babcock, 27, was ordained a deacon in October and assigned to Hong Kong.

“It was the happiest day of my life,” he said. “I’m engaged for life. That was a big step for sure.”

A series of steps led Babcock to what will be his life’s work, with stops in Chicago, Milwaukee, California, Long Island and Europe.

Babcock grew up in a Catholic family in Port Washington, attending St. John XXIII Catholic School, then spending freshman year at St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary before coming to Port High, where he began pondering his future.

“It was in high school when I really started asking myself    the big questions,” Babcock said. “What do I actually believe?”

That’s when he found St. Francis of Assisi and read the Gospel of Matthew for the first time.

“It just kind of flipped my perspective on life upside down,” he said.

By the time Babcock was named valedictorian of the Class of 2014 he had already selected his path.

He attended St. Joseph College Seminary, which is associated with Loyola University Chicago, with plans to become a priest. At the seminary, Babcock said, “You get good formation and when you’re ready you will enter the Capuchin Franciscans.”

In 2014, he told Ozaukee Press he was drawn to the order because of his “love of the earth and service to the poor.”

At the end of his first year, Babcock met with his Polish priest.

“I told him I want to dive deeper. I want to enter,” he said. “I just felt such a peace about it.”

At 18, he knew he was too young, but the priest saw something in him.

Joe recalled that the priest told him in his Polish accent, “You know what, Joe, I think you’re ready.”

Babcock joined the order, spent a year in Milwaukee and was then sent to a monastery in Santa Barbara, Calif., to tend the vineyards and spend time in prayer and silence.

“It was living like the monks,” he said.

Then it was back to Chicago. Babcock was a Capuchin brother at this point. He studied for two and a half years toward becoming a priest at a Korean parish. He taught catechism and attended school.

“That was where I was doing it all,” he said. “Little by little, I got more clarity about the type of priest I wanted to be.”

During the third year of study, Babcock had to make his lifetime vow. It soon became clear. Babcock decided he wanted to serve overseas, but first, because the pandemic hit, he had to move home.

“I was studying French in my basement in Port like a hobo. All of my friends think I’m crazy,” Babcock said.

When his visa application was approved, he picked it up in New York City after quarantining there for two weeks.

He arrived in Paris with just the basics of the French language but a strong foundation in the study of the priesthood. He was able to complete a five-year theology program in three years.

“That’s the meat-and-potatoes priest degree,” he said.

He was asked to study two more years to get the equivalent of a master’s  in theology” that will qualify him to teach future priests.

Now, Babcock is studying dogmatic theory and specializing in Thomas Aquinas.

As a deacon, Babcock said, he assists as a “kind of sidekick of priests” during Mass, baptisms, marriages and funerals.

Adapting to the European lifestyle was an adjustment.

“French people take their time, and the hardest part for me was how long the lunch was — they’ll take an hour at the table,” Babcock said. “It’s so slow here. There are so many breaks and vacations.”

Babcock is hoping to be ordained as a priest in June, and “God willing” it will be in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris — the world-famous cathedral that was nearly destroyed by fire is scheduled to reopen on Dec. 8

After ordination, Babcock will be off to Hong Kong, first to learn Cantonese, the language spoken there, then Mandarin, the standard Chinese language. He already knows French, Spanish, Korean and Latin.

He was able to see his family only every two years while studying, and as a priest will only be able to come back every three years. He misses his parents, siblings and Culver’s.

“Whenever you make one decision in life, you miss other things,” Babcock said.

He especially misses his grandmother Susan Zembruski, who watched his deacon ordination ceremony on YouTube from the Harbor Club in Port. Babcock shared a private video call with her after the ceremony with 1% on his phone battery.

“She’s the best. I can’t wait to go back and see her,” he said.

He has enjoyed his time in Europe.

“I’ve traveled like a maniac,” he said.

Babcock visited extended family in Slovakia and was part of a group that got to meet Pope Francis.

“That was super intense for me because the same day we saw the bones of St. Peter, which are directly underneath the Vatican,” he said. “I saw the proximity with the first apostles.”

Peter, he said, “represents the universal church and is a uniting figure of the world.”

At the time, he wasn’t sure where he would be sent as a missionary, “but I at least know the guy sending me is Peter. I’m always going to have that link with the heart of Christianity,” he said.

In his free time, Babcock said he enjoys playing piano and wants to connect with a school of jazz music that’s next to his parish in Paris. Otherwise, he’s relaxing.

“We just kick back, have some beers,” he said.

Babcock said he is thrilled that he is not the only Port alumnus to pursue priesthood. His classmate Alex Becker, 2018 graduate Peter Danner and class of 2023 member Finnegan Ritter are on the same track. And 2009 Port High grad Genna Quentin, became a Catholic nun.

“Shout out to the boys back home and sister Jenna Quentin,” Babcock said.