Orchard Lake — Seven seminarians and one lay student received their diplomas at the recent 2010 commencement exercises of SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary, held in the Adam Cardinal Maida Alumni Library on the campus of the Orchard Lake Schools.

The seven clerical graduates, all from Poland, will serve dioceses on either the east coast or west coast of the United States. Six have already been or will be ordained to the priesthood this year; the seventh is to be ordained next year after serving an internship at a parish in his diocese.

Msgr. Charles G. Kosanke, rector/president of the seminary, conferred degrees upon the candidates, while Auxiliary Bishop Francis R. Reiss, vice chairman of the seminary’s board of trustees, extended his congratulations on behalf of the board.

Graduating with a Master of Divinity degree were Tomasz Jerzy Górny, Diocese of Springfield, Mass.; Sebastian Klaudiusz Kos, Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn.; Adam Filip Kotas, Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif.; Karol Jan Ksiazek, Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn.; Piotr Jacek Pawlus, Diocese of Springfield, Mass.; Grzegorz Podolowski, Diocese of Orlandlo, Fla.; and Artur Dominik Przywara, Diocese of Charleston, S.C.

Earning a Master of Arts degree in Theology was Patrick R. O’Lear, of Sterling Heights.

Canon Anthony D. Iwuc, national vice chaplain of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, delivered the commencement address. Canon Iwuc, now a senior priest of the Diocese of Providence, R.I., was a 1949 graduate of St. Mary’s College and 1953 graduate of the seminary.

In his message Canon Iwuc focused on God, faith, and purpose, saying, “God puts a man in the right place at the right time to do that which he is meant to do.”

He also urged the graduates to support their Alma Mater, where they were formed and prepared for ministry within the, “working to ensure a viable future, as a man would for his own family.”

Canon Iwuc has served as president of the New England Chapter of the Orchard Lake Schools National Alumni Association (1955-1978), as national president of the alumni association, as a member of the Orchard Lake Schools’ board of regents since 1957.