Bishop Timothy Senior has announced the formation of a new cohort for the permanent diaconate formation program in the Diocese of Harrisburg. The program will commence this August with an integrated program of study as well as pastoral, spiritual and human formation for an anticipated ordination date in 2031.
“As the current candidates for the Permanent Diaconate are completing their final year of formation, I am pleased to announce that a new cohort of Candidates for the Permanent Diaconate will begin their formation at the end of August 2026,” Bishop Timothy Senior said in an announcement this week to invite applicants.
“I encourage men throughout the Diocese of Harrisburg who have discerned that they may be called to serve the Church as deacons to make an appointment to meet with their pastor and discuss this possibility,” he said.
Previous cohorts of deacons ordained for service in the Diocese were in 1978, 1983, 2010 and 2020. A fifth cohort will be ordained this fall.
Catholic men who are interested in receiving an application should speak directly to their pastor. Applications must be completed by March 15.
The Diocese is hosting information sessions about the formation program, where men and their wives can speak with Father John Bateman, Director of Formation for the Permanent Diaconate, and Deacon Michael McGovern, Director of Permanent Deacons. Attendees will also have an opportunity to speak with current candidates from the cohort that will be ordained his fall. The information sessions will take place on the following dates at three sites in the Diocese:
- Sunday, January 25, at 2 p.m. at San Juan Bautista Parish in Lancaster (Canceled due to snowstorm)
- Tuesday, January 27, at 6 p.m. at the Diocesan Conference Center in Harrisburg
- Sunday, February 15, at 2 p.m. at St. Pius X Parish in Selinsgrove
Interviews will commence after the application period, with acceptance letters in the summer and the start of the formation program in August.
“We want to get to know the individual, why he believes he has a calling, what gifts he feels he can give to the Church, and – if he’s married – if his wife is willing to walk this journey with him,” Father Bateman said. “Does he have the gifts and qualities that we can form him as a good deacon? It’s a long, arduous road. It’s five years of sacrifice, study, time commitment and prioritization toward ordination.”
Deacons are ordained ministers in the Catholic Church. They can perform a variety of roles in the Church. During Mass, as Ministers of the Word, they can proclaim the Gospel, preach and teach in the name of the Church. As Ministers of Sacrament, deacons can baptize, lead the faithful in prayer, witness marriages and conduct wake and funeral services. As Ministers of Charity, deacons are leaders in identifying the needs of others, then marshaling the Church’s resources to meet those needs.
The word “deacon” comes from the Greek word diakonos, meaning “servant” or “minister.” Becoming a deacon is a vocation, that is, a calling from God. Before he can begin the formation process that leads to the Sacrament of Holy Orders, he must first discern if he is truly being called by God. Because of that, the program of formation will begin with an aspirancy year which will focus on discerning (the discovery, comprehension, understanding) of the call to ordained ministry. That is followed by four years of studies and preparation for ordination, which will take place in 2031.
“We’re looking for men who have a servant’s heart,” said Deacon McGovern.
“It is a process of formation, a conversion of heart and ongoing discernment,” he said of the formation program. “Even as you get into the first or second year of aspirancy and then into candidacy, it’s a constant discernment on the part of the Church and on the part of the applicant and his wife.”
“Another aspect that’s very important is that the individual man has a deep and meaningful conversation with his wife. The wife has to submit a letter to approve of her husband pursuing this vocation. It’s important they know they’re getting involved in this together,” said Deacon McGovern.
“The wives play an integral role,” Father Bateman added. “While the wives are not ordained, it really is the couple that receives this call together. She receives formation as well, and that’s something our previous cohorts have expressed great gratitude for, especially to Sister Geralyn Schmidt, who very much fostered the role of the wives in this program.”
Having played a role in the formation of the men in the Diocese’s most recent cohorts, Father Bateman can speak to the transformation he’s seen in the men as they move through the program, with its studies, retreats and pastoral work.
“There’s a maturity in terms of their spirituality, their understanding of the Church, a seriousness and love for the Church – not that they didn’t have it before, but you see how it has developed and grown,” he said. “They have a great desire to be of service to God’s people. It grows in imitation of Christ’s heart. It was all there seminally when they entered, but over the years it blossomed and is now blooming in all of them in service to the Church.”
Ordained in 2020, Deacon McGovern said the formation program opened his eyes to the ways in which he lives as a servant of Christ.
“We live in such categorized worlds. I’m a husband, I’m a father, I’m a grandfather. I have my work vocation. You take these hats off and put others on, depending on what situation you’re in. I thought, going into it, that this might be what we were doing in the diaconate, that it would be another hat I’d put on when it applied. The more I went through formation, the more I realized this wasn’t something that I did; it was who I am,” he said.
“You grow in spirituality, in formation. It really becomes who you are as being configured to Christ the Servant and not necessarily what you do,” he added.
The five-year program, when it begins in August, will include sessions one Saturday a month and two evenings a week, mandatory retreats and pastoral work. Men who are interested in receiving an application should contact their pastor. More information about the permanent diaconate formation program can be found at https://www.hbgdiocese.org/vocations/deacons/faq-on-the-permanent-diaconate-formation-cohort/.
(Photos by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
