Bishop Joseph C. Bambera will preside as ordaining prelate and principal celebrant on Saturday, November 25, for the ordination of 11 men to the Permanent Diaconate for service as permanent deacons in the Diocese of Scranton. The newly ordained deacons will join the ranks of clergy who minister to the faithful in parishes and other settings throughout the Diocese.

During the Mass of Ordination, scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Cathedral of Saint Peter, Bishop Bambera will ordain the following men to serve permanently in the Order of Deacon:

Carl S. Albright, Pleasant Mount; Paul J. Cooper, White Mills; Herbert W. Cruikshank, Mountain Top; Andrew A. Fazio Sr., Dunmore; Maxime E. Francois, Bushkill; Michael M. Golubiewski, Nanticoke; Leonard Jinselli Jr., East Stroudsburg; Ronald D. Maida, Hallstead; John P. Musyt, Olyphant; James M. Rebarchick, Hazleton; and Robert J. Warnock, Honesdale.

These men have completed a five-year formation program and will become members of the threefold ordained ministry that consists of bishops, priests and deacons.

The deacon’s service has three aspects: word, worship and charity. He can perform certain ministerial functions such as administering baptism; serving as the deacon at the Mass, including proclaiming the Gospel, preaching the homily and distributing Holy Communion; bringing viaticum to the sick; presiding at wake services, funeral liturgies and burial rites; and with permission by the pastor, may celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony.

He ministers to the needs of families, single parents, students, the aged and infirmed, the imprisoned, and those who suffer from poverty or addictions.

Principal concelebrants for the diaconate ordination Mass will be Bishop Emeritus James C. Timlin and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus John M. Dougherty. Also concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Bambera will be Monsignor Thomas Muldowney, V.G., Vicar General of the Diocese; Father Jeffrey Walsh, V.E., Episcopal Vicar for Clergy; Monsignor David Bohr, Diocesan Secretary for Clergy Formation and Director of the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program; Father Donald Williams, Diocesan Director of Vocations and Seminarians; and other priests of the Diocese, including the pastors and spiritual directors of the ordinandi.

All are invited to attend. CTV: Catholic Television will broadcast the Mass.