Bishop Earl Fernandes ordained four members of the Order of Clerics Regular, known as the Theatines, to the transitional diaconate on Saturday, Dec. 21 at Columbus St. Peter Church.
The four brothers from the Theatine Province of the United States are Salvador Alejandro Maldonado Torres, C.R.; Luis Alberto Pacheco Leon, C.R.; Sebastian Lopez Ortega, C.R.; and Victor Rosales Martinez, C.R.
Concelebrating the ordination Mass were Fathers Antonio Flores, Enrique Alvarado, Cesar Cayctano Arras and David Schalk, pastor of Powell St. Joan of Arc and St. Peter parishes.
Assisting at the altar were Deacons Joey Rolwing, Fidel Pitones and Chris Spiese from the diocese.
Father Paul Keller, OP, director of the diocese’s Office of Divine Worship, served as the master of ceremonies.
After the ordination, the four deacons will be serving the Hispanic communities in the Diocese of Columbus for five months while learning English and preparing for their ordination to the priesthood.
They will work with Theatine priests who currently serve in the Diocese of Columbus at St. Peter/St. Joan of Arc and at Zoar Holy Trinity and Dover St. Joseph churches.
Torres, 39, was born in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico to Salvador Alonso Maldonado and María del Carmen Torres, the youngest of four children. In 2018, he joined the Order of Theatine Regular Clerics in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he studied philosophy before studying theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Leon, 34, originally from Santa Catarina Ixtepeji, Ixtlan, Oaxaca, is the son of Herminio Pacheco Bautista and Salustia León Vicente. He solemnly professed his vows on Sept. 11 in Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome.
Ortega, 30, was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and finished his basic studies in Tonalá, He graduated as an Industrial Mechanical Technician at age 18 from the University of Guadalajara and from the conservatory of music at age 22. He joined the Theatines at age 23 and finished his philosophy studies in Guadalajara in 2020, his novitiate in Naples in 2021 and his theological studies at the Gregorian University in Rome in 2024.
Martinez, 24, was born in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico, the son of Evaristo Rosales Solano and Maria del Refugio Martínez Zavala. He entered the Order of Clerics Regular in 2018 in the city of Guadalajara, where he completed his philosophical studies. In 2021, he made his first profession of vows and began his theological studies at the Gregorian University in Rome. He made his solemn profession of vows earlier this year in September.
The Theatine order, based in Rome, serves in Colorado and in the Diocese of Columbus and also in Mexico, South America and Europe. The clerical order of consecrated religious was founded in 1524 and its members work in parishes and schools.