First year of classes confirms calling for deacon aspirants

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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Members of the Diocese of Salt Lake City's current deacon formation class are shown with their wives outside the Pastoral Center on the last day of class prior to the summer break. Also shown are Deacon Scott Dodge, director of diocese's deacon formation program; Deacon Dale Dillon, the program's assistant director; and Father Ray John Marek, OMI, who teaches homiletics at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas.

SALT LAKE CITY — Ten men and their wives from across the state recently completed the first year of formation for the diaconate program in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Aspirants come from the parishes of St. George, St. Mary, St Rose of Lima, St. Olaf, St. Thomas More and Sacred Heart. Most of the members of the class are in their 50s; Danny Schoenfeld, an aspirant from St. Thomas More Parish, is in his 40s.

The youngest member of the class is Gerardo Villa, a 34-year-old electronics technician. He and his wife, Juliana, are the parents of two daughters, both under the age of 2. The Villas are Sacred Heart parishioners, where Gerardo Villa is director of one of the choirs.

“The more that we wait, it is just lost time to serve,” Gerardo Villa said of his decision to enter the diaconate. “We’ve received so much from God in our lives that it is just impossible not to want to give back.”

He has felt a need for some time to prepare for a greater ministry in the Church, he said. In the Hispanic culture, many people participate in religious services due to a strong sense of tradition, and as a deacon he would like to help deepen their understanding of and commitment to their faith, he said.

“I just see a lot of need for that kind of ministry,” he said. “This formation has given me a greater foundation in what I want to do and why I want to do it.”

Juliana Villa has attended most of the sessions alongside her husband. “I feel in my heart that it is our calling,” she said.

In the past, her husband’s music gigs led him to be gone for long hours, so “I’m just glad that it’s a time better invested in God,” Juliana Villa said of the diaconate formation. “If Gerardo did not move to the diaconate, I feel like there would be an emptiness that we’re not filling. It’s just the next step.”

In addition, her husband’s example of helping and serving in the Church is very important for their children, she said.

In the United States, more than half of deacons are over the age of 50 (see story, below). However, “the idea that the diaconate is only for older men” is incorrect, said Deacon Scott Dodge, director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s deacon formation program.

Deacon Dodge himself began diaconate formation at age 34. “It can be more of a strain on a younger man who is married and who still has kids at home, but it’s not impossible,” he said. “While it certainly may require a lot more discernment on the part of younger candidates, the diaconate is not something exclusively for men who are retired or close to retirement.”

One significant factor in determining whether a diaconal candidate will be ordained is the support of the man’s wife, Deacon Dodge said, “because clearly being ordained and assuming that kind of responsibility puts a pretty big burden on the spouse.”

While most of the members of the diocese’s new deacon class are from parishes along the Wasatch Front, Dr. Patrick Bondad and his wife, Eugenia, travel from St. George for the sessions in Salt Lake City. Bondad is a practicing dentist, and his wife is his office manager. They have three grown children and two grandchildren.

The diaconate has always been what Patrick Bondad describes as a “suspected call.” He has felt the call to the diaconate for several years “but this time, this class was right,” he said.

Eugenia Bondad echoed her husband’s sentiments. “It is right at this moment in time,” she said. “The feeling is perfect; it feels like the best thing we could do at this point in time.”

“Even though our practice is busy, and our life is busy, when we set off on the road on Friday to make it to the Saturday class, we actually look forward to it with such anticipation and joy,” she said. “We’ve become a very close-knit group, and I’m looking forward to what this journey is going to be like for us with our fellow candidates.”

Over the past year, the aspirants have met twice a month in Salt Lake City for formation, training and instruction; sessions last a half to full day. Next year, the class will mostly meet once a month for a full day. Generally, the class follows a regular academic calendar.

After two years, the aspirants will be considered for candidacy by the diocesan Admissions and Scrutiny Committee, which will make recommendations to Bishop Oscar A. Solis. After a three-and-a-half-year period of candidacy, where they will meet twice monthly for formation, these men will be ordained as lectors and acolytes. They are expected to be ordained as deacons in June 2027.

The last class of deacons in the diocese, with five men, was ordained in January 2020. Currently there are 54 deacons in active or semi-active ministry in parishes in the diocese. By year-end, 25 of them will be age 70 or older, the retirement age for the diaconate set by USCCB pastoral directives. By 2027, the diocese will have just 23 active deacons younger than 70.

“It is hugely important for the diocese in terms of the ministry that we need to be engaged in to have new deacons in formation,” Deacon Dodge said.

While the diocese has had deacons for more than 45 years, there has been no set schedule for the diaconate formation process. However, there is such a great need for more deacons to serve that another session will start within the next two years and will begin an ongoing process where there will always be two diaconate classes in formation, Deacon Dodge said. The next class will be presented in both Spanish and English, he said.

The deacon aspirants are Dr. Patrick Bondad, St. George Parish; Michael Corcoran, St. Thomas More Parish; Kevin Cummings, St. Rose of Lima Parish; Michael Edwards, St. Mary Parish; Evan Fisher, St. Olaf Parish; Alex Guzman, St. Mary Parish; John Jurkowski, St Mary Parish; Danny Schoenfeld, St. Thomas More Parish; Gary Sheffield, St. Mary Parish; Gerardo Villa, Sacred Heart Parish.