ROME (SNR/PNAC) – Deacon Joseph Wahlmeier was ordained in Rome Oct. 3.
He was among 30 other seminarians from the Pontifical North American College who were ordained to the transitional diaconate during a celebration of the Eucharist.
Wahlmeier is one of Dr. Pat and Debbie Wahlmeier’s 15 children. The family is from Juniata, and are members of St. Michael Parish in Hastings. Deacon Wahlmeier’s parents and most of his siblings and 19 nieces and nephews were able to attend, as well as other family members, Father Jeremy Hazuka, pastor of St. Michael Parish. Bishop James Conley also attended and concelebrated the ordination Mass, and Father Robert Matya, diocesan vocations director, was also there.
Deacon Wahlmeier will continue studies at the North American College in preparation for ordination to the priesthood in May 2020 in the Diocese of Lincoln.
Bishop Robert P. Deeley, J.C.D., Bishop of Portland, Maine, was the ordaining prelate at the Ordination Mass, celebrated at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter, in the Papal Basilica of St. Peter, in the Vatican. Bishop Deeley has served as Bishop of Portland since 2014 and is the current chairman of the board of governors at the Pontifical North American College.
In his homily, Bishop Deeley spoke to those being ordained about living a “life rooted in the Gospel.” He held up St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day was celebrated Oct. 4, as an exemplar of living such a life.
Deeley told the ordinandi they, like St. Francis, must give everything to God and know themselves to be “loved, chosen, and called to serve.”
There, he said, lies the “spiritual source” of consolation and joy.
Bishop Deeley continued, explaining that the fundamental mission of the deacon is to “bring this ever-important message of God’s love, which they have first received, to others.”
Citing scripture, he stressed that the mission requires men “filled with the Holy Spirit and Wisdom” who constantly seek to sanctify themselves by faithful obedience to their diaconal promises and service to the greater community. For, as Bishop Deeley emphasized, “if you sanctify yourself, you will sanctify society.”
Additionally, His Excellency expressed gratitude to the family, friends and formators who aided and “encouraged these men in their response to God.”
During the ordination, the new deacons promised to live a life of prayer, celibacy, and obedience to their diocesan bishop. The new deacons will have an additional year of theological studies and spiritual formation before being ordained to the priesthood in their home dioceses.
The Pontifical North American College serves as the American seminary in Rome. Founded in 1859 by Blessed Pope Pius IX, the college has formed more than 5,000 priests near the heart of the Church for service in dioceses around the United States, Canada, and Australia. The College strengthens the bonds between Rome and local Churches worldwide, and it allows its students to study the Church’s religious and cultural heritage at close range.
