DETROIT – The Reverend Mr. Matthew D. Kurt, (1 Lt) USAR, a candidate for the Catholic priesthood and United States Military chaplaincy, was ordained a transitional deacon on Saturday, April 15, in his home Archdiocese of Detroit, MI. The new deacon is on track to be ordained a priest next year and hopes eventually to serve as a 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).
The Rev. Mr. Kurt’s diaconal ordination was celebrated at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit by Auxiliary Bishop Robert J. Fisher of Detroit. AMS Auxiliary Bishop F. Richard Spencer concelebrated the 10:00 a.m. ordination Mass. Among those in attendance were the new deacon’s parents, Dan and Kris Kurt, brother Andrew Kurt and his wife Miriam, and brother Stephen Kurt.
The Rev. Mr. Kurt, 27, is a 2014 graduate of Salem High School in Canton, MI. In 2018, he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University where he served in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).
The new deacon is currently enrolled at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where he has earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy. He is on track to be ordained a priest next year, after which time he will serve in his home Archdiocese of Detroit for three years before going on active duty under the co-sponsored seminarian agreement with the AMS.
The Rev. Mr. Kurt says he discovered his call to the priesthood while visiting the Blessed Sacrament in adoration. Commenting on his diaconal ordination, the new deacon said, “There has been a lot of joy since I received holy orders. At the ordination Mass it was a crazy feeling standing when everyone else was kneeling during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.”
The eventual service of the Rev. Mr. Kurt 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 87 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 AMS Vocations Director Father S. Matthew Gray at vocations@milarch.org or (202) 719-3600.
Gifts in support of AMS Vocations are gratefully accepted at milarch.org/donate.
