Dolan always gave the impression he found these dilemmas a little more straightforward than others did. He seemed to be a natural priest with an unwavering conviction and fierce calling, and as he embarked on his freshman year in college, life felt good. His confidence was growing, he had a good solid group of friends, his studies were going well, and he had strong spiritual guidance from his faculty and the nuns and priests at Holy Infant. Then he received a letter from Father Foley, who broke some unexpected news: He was leaving the priesthood. Foley loved the church and was happy at Holy Infant, but unbeknownst to the community, he had been grappling with his vocation internally. His seminary life had been precisely the kind of sheltered and restrictive experience the Second Vatican Council was trying to reform, and as he had moved toward ordination, Foley felt caught ideologically between the old, regimented way of teaching and these new, exciting, and passionate ideas that were being spawned. At night in his room in the seminary he had huddled under the covers to read the works of theologians like Hans King, Edward Schillebeeckx, and Karl Rahner by flashlight, knowing the older priests on the faculty did not want their young charges exposed to these ideas. However, Foley couldn't resist; they captivated him. Now a fully ordained priest, he often felt an urge to say what he really thought during Mass at Holy Infant — that priests should be able to marry, that he didn't consider birth control and divorce a sin, that he did not see a difference between mortal sin and venial sin.