Inquiry sessions beginning for new class of deacons in the diocese

+ Enlarge

Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Diaconate Formation

SALT LAKE CITY — The harvest is plentiful in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, which is seeking laborers in the form of deacons to minister to the flock.

“It was a request of the pastors, that they need deacons,” said Fr. Eleazar Silva-Galván, parochial vicar of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, who also serves as director of academics for the diocesan Diaconate Formation Program.

Ordained deacons not only officiate at baptisms, marriages and funerals, they also preside at Communion services, preach, handle administrative work for the parishes and undertake other duties assigned by pastors, Fr. Silva said. “They will have plenty to do.”

The most recent class of deacons for the diocese was ordained Jan. 31; those five men are now assigned at parishes throughout the diocese. The first step for the next class is the inquiry sessions. Aspirants must be Catholics in good standing, between the ages of 36 and 61 (although the bishop can grant exceptions to the age limits).  If married, the candidate must have his wife’s support.

“The wives need to be supportive and understanding,” because their husbands will be devoting a great deal of time not only to the twice-monthly classes, but also to parish ministry and social ministry, said Deacon Drew Petersen, director of the Diaconate Formation Program.

Candidates for the program also must have their pastor’s approval and preferably be active in their parish.

“We’re pretty much looking for leaders of the community; people who are already exercising some type of leadership in the community,” Fr. Silva-Galván said. “They need to have the support of their pastor, which means that the pastor already knows them and knows how committed they are to their faith.”

Men who feel called to the diaconate are asked to attend an inquiry session (see schedule, below) to begin the process. During the session they will be asked to fill out an eligibility form. Those forms will be reviewed; selected aspirants will be asked to fill out an extensive application. If those applications are approved, the candidates then will receive a home visit and undergo psychological testing.

The inquiry sessions are the start of the diaconate formation process, which takes about five years to complete, from the inquiry sessions to ordination.

“It truly is a calling, and people enter at different levels of that calling,” said Deacon Petersen, who was ordained in 2010. He added that he knows from personal experience that spirituality develops over a period of time and is a continual process.

“It is not a matter of being worthy; it’s a matter of their commitment,” he said, adding that candidates prove their own worthiness to themselves through the process, and the program is developed so that people grow in their own spirituality and also in their comfort in what they are doing.

Diaconate Formation Inquiry Sessions Schedule

Thursday, March 26, 7 p.m. – St. Ann Catholic Church, 2119 South 400 East, Salt Lake City

Sunday, March 29, 7 p.m. – Sts. Peter and Paul Parish’s social hall, 3560 West 3650 South, West Valley City

Wednesday, April 15, 7 p.m. – St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 65 East 500 North, Orem

Thursday, April 16, 7 p.m. – St. Joseph Parish’s religious education building, 2350 Adams St., Ogden

Tuesday, April 21, 7 p.m. – Notre Dame De Lourdes Catholic Church, 210 N. Carbon Ave., Price   

Thursday, April 23, 7 p.m. –  Christ the King Catholic Church, 690 S. Cove Dr., Cedar City