Fr. John Cihak
Priest in Studies
Founder and Director of Quo Vadis Days

Father John Cihak is the pastor of Sacred Heart-St. Louis Parish in Gervais, Oregon and professor of theology at Mount Angel Seminary. Born in 1970, the second of eight children, Father Cihak spent most of his growing up years in Corvallis, Oregon and attended St. Mary Church. Thinking he was supposed to be a doctor, he was accepted at the University of Notre Dame and entered their pre-med program. The Lord, however, had different plans. Through prayer and a good spiritual director, Father Cihak began to hear the call to the priesthood. He dropped the pre-med program and graduated with a degree in Philosophy in 1992. Upon graduation, he was accepted as a seminarian by the Archdiocese of Portland and entered Mount Angel Seminary. The following year, the Archbishop sent him to Rome to complete his studies. Father Cihak was ordained a priest by Archbishop John Vlazny at St. Mary Cathedral, Portland in June of 1998 and took his first parish assignment at St. Anne Church in Grants Pass. 

In the Jubilee Year 2000, Father Cihak began to discern that the Lord wanted him to do something to promote the priestly vocation to high school boys. Together with Father William Dillard, they founded Quo Vadis Days in the summer of 2000. Twenty-two young men attended that first camp. The camp is now in its ninth year and regularly attracts about fifty participants each year and has helped start similar camps in other dioceses around the United States. 

In 2001, Father Cihak was sent on a new assignment to Mount Angel Seminary where he taught Theology and served as the Dean of Students. He is a musician and enjoys writing theology and playing all kinds of sports, especially basketball.

Write him at:
Sacred Heart-St. Louis Parish
P.O. Box 236
Gervais, OR 97026

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