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June/July, 2016
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Leslie M. Radigan
20 16 Transitional D eacons Ordinations
rchbishop John C. Wester ordained four seminarians to the transitional diaconate in the Roman Catholic Church, Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at the Church of the Incarnation in Rio Rancho, NM. The newly ordained seminarians are: Robert Bustamante, Francisco Carbajal, Christopher Hallada, and Brother Stephen A. Gaertner, O. Praem. The diocesan deacons are now referred to as “Rev. Mr.” because they are transitioning between being a seminarian and a priest. The Norbertine seminarian’s title is now “Rev. Brother”. Seminarians are first ordained to the transitional diaconate where they will serve as deacons for a short time before being ordained to the priesthood. These men have now been given the authority to
Archdiocese of Santa Fe Welcomes Four Seminarians to the Transitional Diaconate baptize, witness marriages and preach the Gospel. During the ordination, they made the promise of obedience to Archbishop Wester and to his successors and were welcomed by their brother deacons during the rite. Upon ordination to the diaconate, the archdiocesan seminarians will serve under Archbishop Wester’s authority, or his successor’s authority; the Norbertine deacon will serve under Abbot Joel Garner, O. Praem’s authority, or his successor’s authority. In the Catholic Church, the diaconate is the first of three ranks in ordained ministry. Deacons preparing for the priesthood are transitional deacons. Those not planning to be ordained priests are called permanent deacons. Married men may be ordained permanent deacons, and single men may be ordained with a commitment to celibacy.
New ordinations give reason for hope, but need for priests still great
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- It's ordination season and Catholics have reason to be pleased with the numbers of priests who will serve the church well into the future. In recent years, the numbers of priestly ordinations have given Catholic Church observers reason to believe there is not a global vocations crisis, but they acknowledge there is still a need for more. "The good news is that the global number of priests stopped declining about five years ago," said Father Paul Sullins, associate professor of sociology at The Catholic University of America in Washington. Since 2012, the total has been stable at about 415,000 priests worldwide, a number that is the net of new ordinations and retirements or deaths, Father Sullins told Catholic News Service. "The church now has about the same number of priests that it had in 1970," he said. "The bad news, though it is not really bad news, is that the global population of Catholics has grown dramatically since then, so today we have far fewer priests per Catholic." Though the global numbers are currently strong and vocations are plentiful in some regions of the world, such as African and Asia, the quantity of priests are not as abundant in other continents, such as in parts of North America, Father Sullins said.