Student Spotlight: Daniel Steiner Ebert

Land of the Danes to Rome

Daniel Steiner Ebert, S.T.B. cand. ‘21 Diocese of København (Copenhagen)

The Diocese of Copenhagen is small in size and population, but is strong in the gift of faith. Daniel Steiner Ebert shared with us about himself, his country, and his experience studying at the Angelicum.

My name is Daniel Steiner Ebert. I am 31 years old, and am in my last year of studies for the bachelors in Theology. I have come to the Angelicum from my home country, the Kingdom of Denmark, where I was born and raised. At this moment I am the only Dane studying for the priesthood for the diocese of København (Copenhagen) which encompasses the entire country. We do have a few missionaries in priestly formation as well from Italy, Spain, Poland, and Croatia.

When I was sixteen, I had a very powerful experience of Christ, and from that moment on I knew I had to give Him my entire life. At that moment, I did not know it would mean becoming a priest, which I only understood after a few years of discernment. Eventually I accepted my vocation and so did the bishop, and so I was sent to seminary in 2015. Since we do not have a seminary of our own, the Danish seminarians (when there are some) go to the English seminaries, mainly the Venerable English college in Rome, and to the Angelicum for their academic formation.

Being the only Danish seminarian is not always easy. Unfortunately, many Danes still hold on to a negative view of the Catholic Church due to a biased Lutheran history. I know that everything I experience and see here in Rome and at the Angelicum will not be present at home, since Denmark is a Lutheran country.

What gives me hope to go back to what seems like an impossible mission, is Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Photos by Bernadette Bertsch

With the Blessed Sacrament, and through the Blessed Sacrament, I am sure Denmark will be reconverted, and come back to its first love, Jesus Christ within the Catholic Faith, which our kingdom served and loved until the sad Reformation in the 1500’s. My experience at the Angelicum has been excellent, and I do believe that I will take much of what I have learned in my time of studies back to Denmark, and use it for the mission and to bring many souls back to Christ. Even though the situation seems hopeless to many - very few Catholics, constant financial challenges, few local vocations to the diocesan priesthood, and so on - I stand firm in my faith with Jesus Christ in my heart, a rosary in hand and the Summa Theologiae in my mind. It’s not a bad combination, one that I can thank the Angelicum for, and with which I look forward to embracing the mission of the priesthood in the land of the Danes.

God willing, Daniel will be ordained to the diaconate this summer.