By Marnie McAllister, Record Editor
Five men — who range in age from 29 to 36 — will join the presbyterate of the Archdiocese of Louisville on May 26.
Deacons Robert Barnell, Brandon DeToma, David Farrell, Kien Nguyen and Minh Vu will be ordained priests of the Archdiocese of Louisville by Archbishop
Joseph E. Kurtz. They will be ordained during an 11 a.m. liturgy at the Cathedral of the Assumption, 433 S. Fifth St.
All people of the archdiocese are invited to attend the ordination and welcome the new priests.
The five ordinands “have embraced the challenges of seminary,” said Father Michael Wimsatt, director of the Vocation Office.
“I feel confident they will embrace the challenge of priesthood in a lifegiving way,” he said during an interview last week.
He noted that seminary formation centers on four pillars — pastoral, academic,
human and spiritual formation.
“All of their preparation for priestly life has been through those four interpretive keys,” Father Wimsatt said. “They’ve excelled in all four pillars of formation.”
Father Wimsatt said that ordinands emerge from seminary as new men.
“They have become a new creation on their seminary journey, which has been rich and profound with meaning,” he said, adding that they have “invested deeply” in their formation, thus far.
Formation, he noted, will continue as the new priests begin serving in parishes. And parishioners of churches where they’re assigned will share in that formation.
“When I was in seminary, the archbishop talked about how much the people at his first assignment shaped him as a priest. I remembered that and when I was in Bardstown for my first two years, it struck me how right he was,” noted Father Wimsatt. “There is much to learn and you learn a lot of it in those first few years.”
The ordinands have been assigned to serve as associate pastors.
Deacon Barnell has been assigned to St. Bartholomew Church.
Deacon DeToma will serve at St. Bernadette Church.
Deacon Farrell will serve at St. Augustine Church in Lebanon, Ky., and Holy Name of Mary Church in Calvary, Ky.
Deacon Nguyen will serve at Holy Trinity and Holy Name churches.
Deacon Vu will serve at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, Ky.
These assignments “will teach these five men an incredible amount about what it means to be a priest and the people at the parish will end up shaping the priests that these men become,” he added.
The Archdiocese of Louisville currently has 16 seminarians in formation for the priesthood. This number includes the men preparing for ordination.
After their ordination, the archdiocese will have 132 priests, including those who are retired. There are currently 68 active priests of the archdiocese and 32 non-diocesan priests serving here.
