Beloved Milwaukee priest steps down after 19 years of service

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- In a day and age where distrust is at an all-time high and younger generations are no longer following tradition, one church in Milwaukee has managed to keep the faith with attendance numbers relatively high. Daniela Cado sits down with a beloved priest who has arguably changed the system from within, for the better.

"Every religious community has its own particular contribution or charism if you will to the Catholic Church," said Father Michael Bertram, we Capuchins try to sponsor service to the poor."

Father Bertram is a member of the Capuchin Franciscans. For 19 years he's been a leader at St. Francis of Assisi in Milwaukee, helping people in need, feeding those who are hungry and preaching the word of God.

"I am old enough that when I was going through grade school, it was the desire of every boy to become a priest," he said. "The pastor would come into the classroom, 'who wants to become a priest?' and everybody's hand went up."

Father Mike, as he's known to most in the community, says the motivation for his vocation came from two close mentors at an early age.

"One was a priest who was pastor of the parish that I was at, who sadly suffered more than one nervous breakdown; he was a broken man but even in that I could really see how he really loved helping people."

And the other was his cousin, who was once a Capuchin Franciscan priest.

"My family always grew up knowing priests and knowing Capuchins because he was one," he added. "It was right in that age in the late 60s and early 70s when everything was in turmoil, both in society and in Church, and he really was an active individual in social justice."

Though he felt his calling, he says rejection allowed him the opportunity to grow in ways he didn't know he needed.

"At the age of 20 and again at the age of 23 I applied to become a Capuchin and I was turned down both times," he recounted.

Suffering from low self-esteem, the Capuchins told Father Mike, it wasn't his time to join the order just yet.

"After the second time, I thought, 'you know, this is it I'm out of here,' and so I took a teaching job," he said.

For more than three years, he taught 7th and 8th grade at a small Catholic Church.

"I applied to enter the order for the third time and that's when I was accepted, and they said 'you've changed,'" Father Mike said.

He took his first vows of priesthood at the age of 28 and was ordained at 35.

And right around when most fear a mid-life crisis, at the age of 51, Father Mike traveled to Costa Rica where he immersed himself in a program to learn Spanish.

"Six weeks, six hours of one-on-one every day and living with one local family as well," he said. "I knew that I had to know Spanish because there's a Latino population here and there's one Sunday mass in Spanish".

"He was able to unite the church, the parish because at the time it was, you know the, like the African American community, the Hispanic community, you know, all these were served by different priests and (in) different ways, he came in and he decided to learn Spanish and make the effort to unite," explained Father Javier Rodriguez.

Over the years, Father Mike has actively spoken out in support of the LGBTQ+ community in Milwaukee.

"Well, when you talk about the Catholic Church in general that's a little dicey issue but if we really are true to what our faith says and the message of Jesus, all are welcome and all are children of God," Father Mike said.

He's also spoken in length about social justice. Especially, in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

"I just had a feeling that the Catholic Church, maybe any church in general, we people of faith had not stepped up to say, 'we're concerned too' and so I organized a Saturday walk, and the walk was just to visit three significant sites where the church has served the African American community," Father Mike explained.

The turnout was overwhelming. So much so that Father Mike said many joined the Church as a result.

"He's just amazing and that's why he's so loved," said Father Javier.

When Father Javier Rodriguez moved from Puerto Rico, Father Mike became his spiritual director and prepped him for this very moment.

"Once he was here, first as a deacon and then newly ordained as a priest it became very obvious to me and others, 'this is the man for the future,'" Father Mike told CBS 58 Sunday Morning.

Father Mike recently stepped down as the main provincial minister. His last Sunday mass took place on Nov. 26, 2023.

The former journalist and lawyer, now Father Javier, was ordained as a priest this past summer and was voted on by the chapter to take over Father Mike's role--becoming the first non-White and non-German individual to do so, in its church's history.

"My only wish is, it's been such a good life, I'd love to go back and live it all over again," expressed Father Mike.

But let's be clear: Father Mike is not going anywhere.

"I'm retiring from priestly ministry in a parish, but I'll still have that priestly ministry as Director of Capuchin Community Services in Milwaukee," he said.

And he has permission to do sacraments and celebrate services.

"I can do weddings, and funerals, and masses, and hear confessions," he added.

We asked him what legacy he hoped to leave behind.

"It's service to the poor, its service to the outcast, it's service to the fringe populations within our society that other people will just brush aside," Father Mike said. "If there's anything that's lasting after me, it would be that."