diaconate

Hypothetically, what would happen if the bishop accidentally left out the part of the ordination Mass where the future priest promises celibacy? That wouldn’t mean that the new priest was actually free to marry, would it?

On Sept. 12 and 13, approximately 80 people gathered on the campus of Saint John’s University to participate in the Nolan Lecture, named for Benedictine Father Kieran Nolan from Saint John’s Abbey who was instrumental in the beginnings of the permanent diaconate in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Transitional Deacons Nathaniel Daubner and Joseph VanDenheuvel will be ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Patrick Neary, C.S.C., at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 7, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud. 

When we apply Newman’s principles to the proposal of admitting women to the diaconate, a clear picture emerges. Far from being a natural and organic development, this proposal reveals itself to be a rupture with apostolic tradition and the church’s theological coherence. Let us explore why this is the case.

He realizes that when people meet a clergyman for the first time, they’re not expecting a jet-black pompadour and long sideburns straight out of an earlier era. He knows exactly what they’re wondering, too: “Who does this guy think he is, Elvis?”

Deacon Michael Keable, 81, died Nov. 20 at the St. Cloud VA Hospital. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 30, in St. John’s Abbey Church in Collegeville, with Bishop Donald Kettler, presiding. Burial will follow in the St. John’s Cemetery. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. in the church.

Eight men continued their journey toward ordination to the permanent diaconate Oct. 14 during the Institution of Readers and Acolytes at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud.

Vincent Charles, 61, will be ordained a permanent deacon at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Isanti.