News Releases

Chicago, IL (May 11, 2017) – Cardinal Blase J. Cupich will ordain 10 permanent and seven transitional deacons at a 10:00 a.m. Mass, on Saturday, May 13, at Holy Name Cathedral on State and Superior Streets in Chicago. One transitional deacon (Jesús Romero Galán) will be ordained in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico on June 1, 2017 by Bishop John Manz, which brings the total number of deacons to 18.

This year, the Ordination of Deacons will include both candidates for the transitional diaconate, a step in becoming a priest, as well as both the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking candidates for the permanent diaconate. The combined diaconate ordination is meant to express the oneness of the diaconal order and allows seminarians to share the sacred rite with their colleagues and brothers with whom they will serve in parish ministry. 

Deacons perform several ministries including teaching the faith, caring for the poor, performing baptisms and marriages, and presiding at wake services. They assist priests at Mass by proclaiming the Gospel, preaching, leading intercessions, preparing the altar, distributing Holy Communion and intoning the dismissal. Typically, newly-ordained permanent deacons are assigned to their home parishes, which this year include parishes in: Arlington Heights, Burbank, Chicago, DesPlaines, Evanston, Gurnee, Libertyville and Rolling Meadows.  

Please see below for the list of this year’s candidates for the diaconate:

New Permanent Deacons and Their Home Parishes

Spanish-speaking permanent deacons and their wives:

• Salvador and Martha Medina – Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, DesPlaines
• Víctor Moreno and Clara Zuluaga – St. John Bosco Parish, Chicago
• Jaime and Leonor Rojas – St. Nicholas Parish, Evanston
• Jorge and Arminda Salinas – St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Chicago
• Héctor and Marisela Soto – Misión St. Juan Diego, Arlington Heights
• Raúl and Argelia Trejo – St. Colette Parish, Rolling Meadows
• Rodolfo Urquiza and Bertha – St. Hedwig Parish, Chicago

English-speaking permanent deacons and their wives:

• Robert and Chiyuki Birck – St. Paul the Apostle, Gurnee
• Raul and Elizabeth Duque – St. Albert the Great, Burbank
• Thomas Gaida – National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe-Marytown, Libertyville 

New Transitional Deacons and Their Assigned Parishes

• Robert Carlton – St. Agatha, Chicago                                                                     
• Agustín Garza Candanosa – St. Gall, Chicago                                                                           
• Robinson Ortiz Hernandez – St. Juliana, Chicago                                                                      
• Charles Plovanich – St. Bede the Venerable, Chicago                                             
• Łukasz Pyka – St. Stephen Deacon and Martyr, Tinley Park                            
• Christian Shiu – Most Blessed Trinity, Waukegan                                              
• Emanuel Torres Fuentes – St. Bartholomew, Chicago
• Jesús Romero Galán – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Kolbe House, Chicago (to be ordained on June 1 in Mexico)                        

The men being ordained completed their preparation in different programs: the English-speaking permanent deacons at the Institute for Diaconal Studies, the Spanish-speaking permanent deacons at the Instituto de Liderazgo Pastoral, and the transitional deacons at Mundelein Seminary.  All of these programs are located at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake. These deacons will join more than 500 active deacons in the Archdiocese of Chicago, the largest diaconate in the Catholic Church.