Seattle Prep will face a huge loss next year with Father Rallanka leaving Seattle Prep for his Jesuit assignment in Portland. Rallanka takes on many roles on the Prep campus, as a teacher of junior theology and senior peace studies, leader of music ministry, spiritual direction, morning masses, retreats, a member of the board of trustees, and as the moderator of both anime and Dungeon of Dragons club. Rallanka’s many endeavors make him a true Renaissance man on the Prep campus.
Rallanka is an ordained Jesuit priest, and in November of this past year, the Provincial, supervisor of a group of dioceses, asked Rallanka to help train new Jesuit priests. The process of becoming a Jesuit priest takes 10-12 years with four main formations, the Novitiate, First Studies, Regency, and Theology Studies. There are two vows during the ordination of a Jesuit priest, the first vows after the novitiate formation, and the final vows at the end of Theology Studies. In his new Jesuit assignment, Father Rallanka will be responsible for overseeing men who are undergoing their First Studies, Regency, and Theology Studies formation. With the priests in training, Father Rallanka will be representing the provincial and hearing the manifestations of the men in formation.
As apparent by Father Rallanka’s abundance of roles around Prep, he is very involved and attached to the Prep community and his decision to leave Prep was not made lightly. Prep for Rallanka was hard, and he described the process as an onion, explaining “there are different layers involved”.
Ultimately, Father Rallanka decided that “The Church deserves the very best of their priests” and he decided he wanted to be a part of shaping the Church’s future priests. So, Rallanka accepted the opportunity to move down to Portland. Compared to the consistency of Rallanka’s job at Prep, his new role with the church will entail a lot more movement. The students Rallanka will be for responsible are all over the world. Rallanka will travel to France, Africa, and Mexico to visit his students and hear their manifestations. Rallanka’s new lifestyle change intimidates him, but he is also excited. Rallanka describes himself as,“ a homebody, but I just turned 40 a few weeks ago and I feel like this is a really good time in my life to get some traveling in.”
Despite Rallanka’s soon-coming physical detachment from Prep, his presence will still be present all over campus. The songs Father Rallanka chose for music ministry will still be hummed by students during class, the connections and revelations Rallanka helped form during Kairos will remain, and the epic games of Dungeon and Dragons he has monitored will be remembered.
