First deaconate ordinations at “Redemptoris Mater” Seminary
On Sunday, December 9, 2012, His Beatitude, Patriarch Fouad Twal, ordained two new deacons for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem at International Centre Galilaeae Domus.
Educated and formed at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, Galilee, Carlos Medina Ceballos, from Bolivia, and Cristian David Carreño Hinestrosa, originally from Colombia, were ordained deacons on Sunday by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal.
The two new deacons respectively exercise their ministry at the Latin Parish in Smakiyeh (Jordan) and at Birzeit University (Palestine). Incardinated into the Mother Church of Jerusalem, they will serve the needs of the local diocesan Church. The deacons, once ordained priests in universal mission, hope to be sent by the Patriarch for the Church in the Middle East and for the needs of the world.
The celebration was held at the International Center Domus Galilaeae, in the presence of the Seminary formators, two ordained priests, Canon Louis Hazboun and Fr. Vito Vacca, several pastors of Galilee, Latin and Greek Catholic priests, men and women religious, members of various ecclesial movements and about five hundred followers in the Holy Land.
The following bishops concelebrated: Archbishop Elias Chacour, Greek Catholic Archbishop of Akko, Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Israel, Archbishop Youssef Jules Zrey, Greek Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, Patriarch Ignatius Boutros Abd al-Ahad , Emeritus Syriac Catholic. Also present were two Greek Orthodox parishes of Galilee.
Two young people from the Neo-catechumenal Way
The faithful, many of whom were brothers of the Neo-catechumenal Way, from which came the call of the two deacons, arrived from different cities and villages of Galilee, and even Eilat, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Jaffa in Tel Aviv. Also present were Fr. Rino Rossi, Director of Domus Galilaeae and his team in charge of the Neo-catechumenal Way in Jordan, Israel, Palestine and Cyprus. Certain Colombian brothers of Cristian David’s community of origin, and the catechist of Carlos and some Jewish brothers were able to participate in the celebration. Finally, two communities were present from Italy with their priests and catechists.
The entire liturgy was celebrated in Arabic, with sacred songs in Arabic and Italian. At the beginning of the ceremony, Fr. Francesco Giosuè Voltaggio, Rector of the Seminary, briefly outlined the ceremony. During the celebration, the Patriarch encouraged the deacons in their vocational journey, urging them to be unafraid and to be confident of the nearness and the prayers of thousands of brothers and sisters of the Way. He also recalled the words of Jesus Christ addressed to the Apostles, gathered in Galilee on the mountain, after his resurrection: “I am with you.” He also said that on the occasion of this Christmas, all of us are called to become“Holy Land” where Jesus Christ is born.
In the reflection that the Patriarch gave to the future deacons, he emphasized, among other things, that “their way to the priesthood was the result of the Neo-Catechumenal Way.” He also stressed the continuing need to “go to Jerusalem, where our salvation was accomplished, where the preaching of conversion and the forgiveness of sins to all nations began, where evangelization began.”
Great joy
Later, while stressing the diocesan and missionary nature of future priests, the Patriarch said: “It is a great joy for me to be able to confer the diaconate on these two young men, who represent the “beginnings” of the Neo-catechumenal Way in the local Church of Jerusalem. Their origins, and their ordination here in the Diocese of Jerusalem, only confirms the Latin Patriarchate in its universal vocation.”
Bishop Marcuzzo, the Patriarchal Vicar who closely follows the life of the seminary, said in an interview: “My sentiment? A big thank you to the Lord and a triple joy: because an ordination is always a great event, because this is the first ‘order’ in this new seminary, a sign of the vitality of the Way and the Local Church in the Holy Land, and because it is an important moment of communion and testimony, two virtues which, according to the recent Apostolic Exhortation of the Pope to the Church in the Middle East, we so need in our Church today.”
At the end of the celebration, the seminary community, one of the Domus Galilaeae and Arab brothers of the community offered a fraternal agape, with specialities from the different places of Galilee.
Text and photos of the Galilee Seminary
