WHITEWATER — Warhawk Catholic, the campus ministry for Catholic students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, is pleased to announce the winner of its Distinguished Alumni Award is Msgr. James Bartylla.
He is being recognized as part of an extended celebration of the 50th anniversary of Warhawk Catholic.
Many UW-Whitewater graduates are Catholic, one notable alum being Monsignor Bartylla ‘83, the vicar general of the Diocese of Madison.
Monsignor Bartylla graduated from UW-Whitewater with a bachelor’s in accounting, and then pursued a master’s in finance from UW-Milwaukee, followed by a law degree from UW-Madison.
Shortly after graduating from UW-Whitewater, he began a near-decade-long career in real estate development and valuation. He was quite successful, having work that took him all over the world.
Then one night, he said he was about age 30 or so, Monsignor Bartylla was on a plane between Singapore and Frankfurt, Germany.
He had been sleeping, and when he woke up he found himself asking, “Where does this all go?”
Sometime after, he made a Confession at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, and then returned to Wisconsin where he discerned a path to the priesthood.
Once he completed his law degree he entered Mundelein Seminary for the Diocese of Madison, also studied in Rome, Italy, and was ordained in May 2001.
As COVID-19 conditions allow, Warhawk Catholic will recognize Monsignor Bartylla at an alumni dinner, tentatively planned for 2022.