Haven MCMickle
Switching jobs is usually never easy, but for Father Steve Albero the adjustment was not so difficult. In prior years, Father Albero was the campus chaplain, but now he is the Campus Minister.
As chaplain, Father Albero would take part in saying the masses and hearing confessions. Now he has much more influence on the campus community. He helps to plan the retreats, such as the Search retreat and the New Students’ retreat, and also helps with planning the masses such as what music will be played and giving out jobs for the readers and altar servers.
One of Father Albero’s biggest accomplishments is his ability to stay in touch with many of his students. He likes to keep in touch and know how his students are doing. A lot of students see Father Albero as more of a friend than a priest because of his ability to listen and help you out when you need it. He is truly a great friend and a great priest.
Father Albero is the youngest of two. Growing up, he and his family lived in Philadelphia. Father Albero grew up in South Philadelphia and attended St. John Neumann High School. This is where he had his first interactions with Norbertin priests. These priests had a true impact on his life, and that is when he decided that he would like to become a priest. Since the Norbertin priests were the ones who had such an impact on his life, he decided to go into this order of priests.
He entered the Norbertin community in 1984. He then went on to be ordained in May of 1991. He started his teachings back at his old school, St. John Neumann, for a year. He then traveled down to Delaware to teach for four years and ended coming back to Philadelphia and teaching at Archbishop Ryan for a year. Once again, he returned to St. John Neumann for four years and worked there as a guidance director. After that he came to Cabrini.
Father Albero’s main job now is to get men to join the priesthood community. This is rather important now more than ever because of the decline of men going into the priesthood. He is currently housing three men who are pondering the idea of becoming a priest. Father Albero and the three men live in a house on the Daylesford Abbey grounds. This is a big part of his job, helping to guide these men to their vocation.
A couple years back Father Steve took a trip to Europe for eight weeks. This is where many religious groups met and held conferences and meetings with priests and nuns from all over the world. It was a nice time to get together and meet with different people who are all working to get this world going in the same direction, according to Father Albero.
Father Albero wants everyone to know that he is available to anyone. He is there to listen or to guide anyone who needs help. Even if you just want to stop by and say hello, he will be there.
