From now on we’ll call him “Doctor Nardi”

OCTOBER 21: This morning Fr. Yulius Sunardi, SCJ, successfully defended his doctoral thesis “Predictive Factors for Commitment to the Priestly Vocation: a Study of Priests and Seminarians.”

Members of the Sacred Heart Monastery Community were among those who attended the defense at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.

Fr. Nardi is a member of the Indonesian Province and has worked in formation, and in the evaluation and treatment of priests and religious who struggle with personal and clinical concerns. In 2004, he earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Marquette.

Last year he did an internship at the St. John Vianney Center in Pennsylvania. Fr. Nardi said that he particularly appreciated working with clients through group therapy. “The feedback and interaction of group members with each other is such an effective way for people to gain insight on themselves,” he said. “Members of the group can help a person see his blind spots and call him on things that he might not otherwise be forthright about.”

While studying in the United States, Fr. Nardi has been a member of the Sacred Heart Monastery community. He will return to Indonesia later this year.