Five men ordained to Transitional Diaconate

BLOOMFIELD (12-04-2010) - The Most Reverend Henry J. Mansell ordained five men to the transitional diaconate at a Mass held at St. Thomas Seminary Chapel on Saturday, December 4, 2010. Transitional diaconate is the phase prior to ordination to the priesthood.

Rev. Mr. Diego Alejandro Jiminez Olaya	Rev. Mr. George Sombe Mukuka	Rev. Mr. Anthony John Smith
Rev. Mr. Iain Robert Highet		Rev. Mr. Robert Lamar Turner II

These five men will be approximately six months away from becoming priests. Having completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in philosophy, and four years of study in theology, they now have to train with a priest and learn how to provide pastoral care, and be assigned to a parish before being ordained as priests, said Director of Vocations Fr. Michael J. Dolan of the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Mukuka says he was inspired by the pastor of his church to become a priest. “He cared about the parishioners. He would visit families once a month, and when I made my Confirmation, he made sure I knew my Catholic faith,” said Mukuka. “I want to teach people about their faith, too,” he said.

Of the five transitional deacons, Turner, 25, was raised in Seymour, CT, and Smith, 47, in Ridgefield, while the others come from a variety of places. Highet, 45, comes from Canada; Jimenez, 27, from Colombia; and Mukuka, 42, hails from Zambia.
 
Mukuka holds two doctorate degrees from prestigious African universities; Turner studied at the second oldest seminary in the U.S., Mount Saint Mary; Smith was a student at Pontifical North American College for three years; Jimenez completed his theological studies at the Universidad Pontifica in Bolivariana, Colombia; and Highet studied at the Toronto Montessori Institute. Most of them completed some seminary work at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, CT.