HISTORY was made recently when three Carlow men were among a group of seven who took their first official steps towards becoming a deacon.
This was the first time in 1,000 years that married men have been called to serve in the dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin.
Patrick Roche from Leighlinbridge, David O’Flaherty, who is principal of Bagenalstown Vocational School, and Joe O’Rourke originally from Graiguecullen but now living in Wolfhill, all took a formal step towards being ordained as deacons at a recent ceremony in Carlow Cathedral.
The men are in their third year of a four-year programme which will eventually see them ordained as deacons. Once ordained, the men will be given the power to carry out a number of roles within the Church such as blessing marriages, presiding over funerals and assisting the priest in the celebration of the Eucharist, among other things.
Speaking to The Nationalist, Patrick Roche said he had “personal reasons” for signing up to the ministry of the deacon.
He explained that he had trained to become a priest for four years in America, where they have deacons, and so he was familiar with the role.
After leaving his training, he got married and had children but added that when the opportunity arose to become a deacon in the diocese in Kildare and Leighlin, he was interested.
The three Carlow men join four others from Offaly, Clane, Newbridge and Naas in their studies.
“We’re in our third year now,” explained Patrick. “It is a four-year process so we are due to be ordained in May or June of 2013.”
During the ceremony in Carlow cathedral, the men were “officially admitted as candidates for ordination”, according to Patrick, meaning that they publicly state their intention to prepare to be ordained. “We’ve been progressing quietly over the last few years,” he said.
In layman’s terms, explained Patrick, a deacon can baptise, can bless a marriage and can carry out the “non-Eucharistic parts of a funeral ... what we can’t do is consecrate the Eucharist or give absolution, so we can’t hear confession.”
He added that primarily a deacon’s focus is on the “pastoral elements of the times”.
Having now publicly declared their intentions to become a deacon, the Carlow men will work tirelessly over the coming year to prepare for their ordination.