ARLINGTON, VA – The Reverend Mr. Peter J. St. George, LTJG, USNR, a candidate for the Catholic priesthood and United States Military chaplaincy, was ordained a transitional deacon on Saturday, April 10, 2021, in Arlington, VA. He hopes eventually to serve as a Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Navy with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). The new deacon is on track to be ordained a priest next year and hopes to go on active duty following a three-year period of pastoral service in his home Diocese of Arlington.
The Rev. Mr. St. George, 27, is participating in the program for priestly formation at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD. His diaconal ordination was celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, JCD, Archbishop for the Military Services, concelebrated the 11:00 a.m. ordination Mass. Due to COVID-19 occupancy restrictions in Arlington County, the Mass was closed to the public but livestreamed on the Diocese of Arlington’s YouTube page.
Among the limited number in attendance were the new deacon’s parents, Jodi and Chris St. George, LtCol, USMC (Ret.), and his siblings and their families: sister Becky, her husband Micah, and their children Claire and Jonah; brother Tom, LT, USN, his wife Masha, and their children Noelle and Maximilian; sister Julie and her husband Connor, LT, USN; sister Megan and brothers Chris and Joe.
The Rev. Mr. St. George is a 2012 graduate of Bishop O’Connell Township High School in Arlington. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences before entering Mount St. Mary’s Seminary where he has since earned a Master of Arts in Philosophical Studies. The new deacon said it was during his undergraduate years at Notre Dame that he began seriously considering a vocation. “Midway through college,” he said, “I grew a great deal in my Catholic faith. After consecrating myself to Jesus through Mary, I discovered that the desire to be a priest which had first moved my heart as a young boy returned with a newness and depth that I had never experienced before. It quickly became clear that the Lord was calling me to be his priest and that Mary was leading me to respond, ‘Yes,’ to this call.”
The eventual priestly service of the Rev. Mr. St. George and other Catholic chaplain candidates is greatly anticipated by the Navy, which, like all other branches of the U.S. Military, continues to suffer a chronic shortage of Catholic chaplains. Currently, only 50 priests are on active duty in the Navy, serving a Catholic population of more than 135,000 based worldwide in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, as well as, their families.
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 www.milarch.org/vocations, or may contact the AMS Office of Vocations directly by email at vocations@milarch.org.
Gifts in support of AMS Vocations are gratefully accepted at www.milarch.org/donate.