Tuesday, June 7, 2011

More on Kansas City-St. Joseph and the Diaconate

As a much lighter sidebar to my last posting, there is an interesting tidbit of diaconal history with the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

The first (permanent) deacon ordained in the United States following the diaconate's renewal by Pope Paul VI in 1967 was Michael Cole, who was ordained by then-bishop Fulton Sheen for the Diocese of Rochester, NY on 1 June 1969.  Unfortunately, Deacon Cole soon returned to his former ministry as Canon (Father) Michael Cole of the Anglican Communion, eventually pastoring a parish in Canada.  The next ordination of a (permanent) deacon was that of Paul McArdle, who was ordained in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph by Bishop Charles H. Helmsing on 24 May 1970.  Paul, a true pioneer of the renewed diaconate, died last year.

You may read more about this remarkable man here.
Posted by at 10:32 AM

2 comments:

  1. Brian MurphyJune 8, 2011 at 8:24 AM

    Dear Deacon Bill -

    I am a newly ordained permanent deacon (May 21st) of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ. I just want to say thank you for all the inspiration, through your articles and now this blog. Keep up the good work!

    God bless!

    PEACE & regards,
    Deacon Brian Murphy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D.June 8, 2011 at 9:58 AM

    Dear Deacon Brian,

    Thank you so much for your kind words, and may God grant you many years in service as His Deacon!

    Ad multos annos!

    Bill

    ReplyDelete

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