Ex-Gov McGreevey Plans to Become Priest

Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey is in the process of becoming a priest in his newly adopted Episcopal faith and has been accepted into a three-year seminary program starting this fall.

McGreevey was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday, at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports.

He also has been accepted into the Master of Divinity program at Manhattan's renowned General Theological Seminary, seminary spokesman Bruce Parker said in a statement Wednesday.

"He has met all of General's admissions requirements and, as with all students accepted for admission, his application was evaluated by a committee composed of faculty members and several students, along with the Director of Admissions. We look forward to welcoming him as a member of the General Seminary community," Parker said.

McGreevey has begun the church's "discernment" phase that usually precedes any seminary work, said the Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar at St. Bartholomew.

"This process that he's in right now, is not going to be some snap of the finger, overnight process. That will not happen. That's not how it works. He knows that," Bean said. "And so at the parish level, and at the diocesan level, everyone knows that this is a process that ... intentionally is deliberate. You don't enter into it unadviseably."

McGreevey declined to comment but those closes to McGreevey say they are not surprised to learn of his plans.
"This is something he's been thinking about for years," said David France, who last year co-authored McGreevey's best-selling memoir, The Confession. "His spiritual life has always been central to who he is. From the time he was a kid, he thought about going into Catholic seminary a number of times. The idea of going into the Episcopal seminary has been in his mind for at least a couple of years."

McGreevey, 49, resigned in August 2004 after announcing he was gay and had an affair with a male staffer.

McGreevey's estranged wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, just released her tell-all memoir about their marriage and the McGreeveys are currently embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle for their five-year old daughter.

Jim McGreevey is currently living with his partner, Australian money manager Mark O'Donnell.