SAN ANTONIO, TX – Father David B. Chacko, (1LT), USAR, a candidate for the Catholic priesthood and United States Military chaplaincy, was ordained a priest on Saturday, May 20, in his home Archdiocese of San Antonio. The new priest, an alumnus of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, plans to serve as an active-duty Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Army providing pastoral care to Catholic soldiers and their families with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). He is scheduled to go on active duty after three years of pastoral service in Texas under a co-sponsorship agreement between the two archdioceses.
Father Chacko’s priestly ordination was celebrated at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in San Antonio through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller. Concelebrating the 10:00 a.m. ordination Mass were Auxiliary Bishops Neal J. Buckon of the AMS and Gary W. Janak and Michael J. Boulette of San Antonio. Among those in attendance were the new priest’s parents, Benjamin and Rosemary Chacko, and siblings Daniel, Joshua, Mary, Michael, Peter, and Thomas Chacko along with extended family and friends.
Commenting on reaching a high point in his vocational journey, Father Chacko said, “I feel incredibly humbled to be conformed to Jesus Christ in this unique and special way for the service of His Body, the Church! I am very grateful to God for the gift of my vocation, and I pray for the grace to faithfully imitate Our Lord Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, who washed the feet of His brethren.”
Father Chacko, 30, is the product of home-schooling and a 2015 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. “I felt the stirrings of God’s call to the priesthood during my time as a cadet at West Point,” he said. “The sacramental life, the Catholic community, and the accompaniment and mentorship of priests and chaplains at the Academy fostered in me a growing desire to pursue the priesthood.”
Father Chacko completed his formation at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree. He will begin his initial three years of pastoral service as parochial vicar at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Boerne, TX.
The eventual service of Father Chacko and other Catholic chaplain candidates is greatly anticipated by the Army, which, like all other branches of the U.S. Military, continues to suffer a chronic shortage of Catholic chaplains. Currently, the Army has only 89 Catholic priests on active duty, serving more than 120,000 Catholic soldiers and their families spread worldwide.
Young men interested in discerning a priestly vocation, and the vocation within a vocation to serve those who serve in the U.S. military, can find more information at milarch.org/vocations, or may contact the AMS Office of Vocations directly by email at vocations@milarch.org.
Donations in support of AMS Vocations are gratefully accepted at milarch.org/donate.
