By Marnie McAllister, Record Assistant Editor
Shayne Duvall and Peter Bucalo, Archdiocese of Louisville seminarians in formation for the priesthood, will be ordained to the diaconate March 15 by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville.
The diaconate ordination, a step on the seminarians’ journey toward the priesthood, will be held at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption, 433 S. Fifth St.
Father Jeffrey Shooner, director of the archdiocese’s Vocation Office, said the seminarians are being ordained to “service” and noted that both have demonstrated their commitment to service “in their own unique ways.”
“Shayne started seminary while I was his pastor” at St. Lawrence Church, said Father Shooner. “We both also graduated from Holy Cross High School.
“I have great joy because of that personal relationship in seeing Shayne reach Holy Orders. He brings great experience, engagement, creative ideas and a love for the church to the ordination to the diaconate,” Father Shooner said.
“Peter also has a great passion and love for the work of the church,” he said. “Both he and Shayne care deeply about people and serving them.
“Peter brings some of his professional gifts that he used as a D.J.,” noted Father Shooner. Bucalo spent 25 years in radio prior to entering the seminary.
“Now, to put those gifts to the service of God in the church, I think that’s a great testament to his faith and God’s call in his life.”
Peter Bucalo, 53, is a native of the Bronx, but grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich. He attends St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology and is on track to graduate in 2015 with a master’s degree in divinity.
He also holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in Catholic philosophical thought from St. Meinrad.
During his formation, Bucalo served at St. James Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., in 2010 and at St. Peter the Apostle Church in 2011. He attended the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University in Ohama, Neb., in 2012. He received clinical pastoral education at Baptist Hospital last year.
He is the son of the late Harry D. Bucalo Jr. and the late Mary V. Bucalo. In the Archdiocese of Louisville, his home parish is St. Louis Bertrand Church.
Bucalo also is interested in music and is a member of St. Meinrad’s Schola.
He has been assigned to serve at Church of the Holy Spirit.
Duvall, 30, graduated from Holy Cross High School in 2001 and attends St. Meinrad Seminary in Southern Indiana. His home parish is St. Lawrence Church and he’s the son of Randy and Kay Duvall.
After high school, Duvall earned a bachelor’s degree in justice administration at the University of Louisville and then earned a master’s degree in theological studies at St. Meinrad School of Theology in 2010.
He is a former employee of the Archdiocese of Louisville, having served as the coordinator of evangelization from 2010 to 2012. In 2012, he began teaching at Holy Cross and became the school’s director of advancement. Later that year, Duvall returned to St. Meinrad Seminary.
He is expected to graduate in 2015 with a master of divinity degree.
In addition to his studies and career, Duvall has served as a high school basketball referee for 12 years and served as a public address announcer for the Louisville Bats baseball team for two seasons. He also announced at different sporting events for the University of Louisville from 2000 to 2013.
During his formation for the priesthood, Duvall has served at several parishes, including Immaculate Conception Church in LaGrange, Ky.; St. Margaret Mary Church and Holy Spirit Church. He also received clinical pastoral education while serving at Norton Healthcare in 2010. He traveled to Rome last year to take part in The Rome Experience, a summer program for diocesan seminarians.
Duvall’s parish assignment had not been confirmed as of The Record’s deadline on March 12.
