The diocese gained a new transitional deacon on Saturday, May 3 with the ordination of seminarian Zachary Goodchild to the Order of the Diaconate.
Bishop Earl Fernandes celebrated the Mass at Worthington St. Michael the Archangel Church. Cardinal Christopher Pierre, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the United States, was originally slated to attend and confer the Rite of Ordination, but he was unable to be present after Pope Francis’ death late last month.
Major concelebrants at the ordination Mass included Bishop Emeritus Frederick Campbell; Father Steven Beseau, rector at the Pontifical College Josephinum; Father William Hahn, diocesan vicar general and director of vocations; and Father Kenneth Brighenti, vice rector at the Josephinum. Father Paul Keller, OP (Order of Preachers), director for the Office of Divine Worship, served as master of ceremonies.
Bishop Fernandes also ordained seminarians Godfrey Ssebikyu of the Diocese of Kiyinda Mityana, Uganda, and Adrian Kyambadde and Wynand Ssenkusu of the Diocese of Lugazi, Uganda, to the transitional diaconate. The three are currently offering weekend assistance at parishes in the Diocese of Columbus while studying at the Josephinum.
Goodchild, who is also completing his formation at the Josephinum, and the Ugandan seminarians will return to seminary in the fall for a final year of studies. The four men are projected to be ordained as priests at this time next year.
The Rite of Ordination began with the election of the candidates. The men were presented to Bishop Fernandes, who formally elected, or chose, them for the Order of the Diaconate. Each was called by name and stood before the bishop.
Father Beseau testified before the congregation that the men had been found worthy for ordination to the sacred order, which was accepted by Bishop Fernandes.
The bishop spoke directly to the candidates in his homily. He focused on the importance of diaconal ministry, which is at the root of every ecclesial ministry in the Church.
“My brothers, today, through the laying on of hands you will be ordained as deacons. Diaconal ordination as a step to priestly ordination is not merely an ancient tradition,” he said. “A priest who forgets to be a deacon would no longer rightly understand his priestly ministry. A bishop who did not remain a deacon would no longer be a true bishop. A pope … if he lost his sense of diaconal ministry, would not really be effective as pope.”
He spoke about the threefold ministry of deacons: service of the Gospel (kerygma), liturgy (liturgia) and works of charity (diakonia).
The candidates will announce the kerygma – a Greek word meaning “proclamation” – by proclaiming the Good News, or Gospel, that Jesus died for people’s sins and was raised in glory.
Following the Apostles, who provided an example of prayer – the liturgia, the men as deacons will assist at Mass and celebrate the sacraments of baptism and matrimony. They must also commit to being men of prayer, the bishop said, praying the Liturgy of the Hours daily.
Through a service of charity, the diakonia, deacons bear witness to Christ. Bishop Fernandes told the candidates that they will witness to Christ’s commandment of love in humble service through their works.
“It is you, through your proclamation of the kerygma, through your constant prayer and fidelity, and through your humble and compassionate service – especially of the poor – who will make Christ the Deacon present in the world, starting from the sacrament of charity,” he said.
An examination of the candidates followed. The men were questioned about their resolve to undertake and faithfully fulfill the diaconal ministry. The bishop examined the men’s willingness to serve the Church in union with Christ. The candidates responded, “I do” to a series of questions.
The four then knelt before the bishop and promised respect and obedience to him and his successors. The candidates also made a vow of perpetual celibacy. A promise of celibacy is permanent for transitional deacons. Permanent deacons who serve in parishes, however, are permitted to be married before ordination.
The elect prostrated themselves on the floor before the bishop. The Litany of Supplication to the saints was chanted by the congregation. Each candidate then knelt before Bishop Fernandes, who laid his hands on their heads, invoking the Holy Spirit.
The invocation of the Holy Spirit during the imposition of hands is an ancient apostolic gesture. The gesture signifies the conferral of the Holy Spirit by which the men are ordained to service in the sacrament of Holy Orders. The prayer of ordination by the bishop completes the act of ordination.
The newly ordained were then vested with a dalmatic, a vestment proper to deacons, and a stole, which comes from the Latin word “stola,” meaning “garment.” The stole is a scarf-like garment that rests on a deacon’s left shoulder and extends across his chest. It is a sign of a deacon’s office of service.
The new deacons also received the Book of the Gospels. Receiving the Gospels from the bishop is a gesture symbolizing a deacon’s responsibility to proclaim God’s word.
The Rite of Ordination concluded with a fraternal kiss of peace. The greeting from the bishop to the new deacons is a sign that they are co-workers in the ministry of the Church. Deacons in attendance also came forward to extend a greeting to the newly ordained.
Goodchild, 29, from Pickerington St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, is a 2014 graduate of Pickerington North High School. He attended Ohio Northern University and played on the men’s golf team. He earned a degree in statistics in 2018 with a concentration in actuarial science.
He worked at Nationwide Insurance as an actuary after graduating. He left the company and took a job as a janitor at Seton Parish while discerning a call to the priesthood. In 2019, he served as a missionary with Totus Tuus, a Catholic summer youth program that shares the Gospel with children in diocesan parishes. He began studies at the Josephinum in 2020.
Goodchild has served in assignments at Columbus St. James the Less and Canal Winchester St. John XXIII churches, Spanish immersions in Columbus and at Casa Hogar in Lurín, Peru, and at the Joint Organization for Inner-City Needs and former St. Lawrence Haven soup kitchen. This summer, he will serve at St. John Paul II Scioto Catholic Parish (Portsmouth Holy Redeemer, Holy Trinity, St. Mary and Wheelersburg St. Peter in Chains churches).
