Mags Gargan
Three priests and a deacon ordained last weekend.
Priestly vocations in Ireland received a boost this weekend with the ordination of three priests and a deacon in ceremonies in different corners of the country.
Last Friday Fr Ultan Naughton SSCC (38), a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, was ordained to the priesthood in his hometown of Roscommon by Bishop Patrick Lynch in a ceremony presided by retired Bishop Brendan Comiskey.
The congregation is involved in parish work in Dublin and also provides chaplaincy and pastoral care in the city, with outreach services in Cavan and Monaghan. It is also involved in supporting missionary activities overseas and Fr Naughton has worked in Spain and most recently in the Philippines.
Last Saturday Cardinal Séan Brady ordained Maciej Zacharek (32) to the diaconate in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh – the first seminarian to be ordained from Redemptoris Mater House of Formation, a new institution of the Archdiocese of Armagh, located in Dundalk.
The House of Formation was founded in 2012 by Cardinal Brady to form priests for the New Evangelisation who are both diocesan and missionary, and these vocations come from the Neocatechumenal Way.
First anniversary
On Sunday Bishop William Crean of Cloyne ordained Fr Patrick O’Donoghue (35) in St Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork, on the first anniversary of the announcement of his own appointment as bishop.
Fr O’Donoghue is a native of Castlemartyr and worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Dublin and Cork before studying for the priesthood. The Diocese of Cloyne has three other men training for the priesthood at present.
Bishop John Fleming of Killala ordained Fr Thomas Doherty to the priesthood on Sunday in St Muredach’s Cathedral, Ballina, Co. Mayo.
Fr Doherty is a native of Shanahee, Belmullett, and entered the national seminary in Maynooth in 2007 after completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Geography in Galway.
