Prospective Catholic U.S. Army Chaplain Ordained Transitional Deacon in Boca Raton, Florida

Diaconal ordination of Rev. Mr. Adam Marchese marks next-to-last step before priestly ordination

Bishop Frank J. Dewane ordains Rev. Mr. Adam Marchese a transitional deacon on April 6, 2019, in Boca Raton, FL.

BOCA RATON, FL – The Reverend Mr. Adam Marchese, a candidate for Catholic priesthood and United States Military chaplaincy, was ordained a transitional deacon on Saturday, April 6, 2019, in Boca Raton, FL. Deacon Marchese, 29, is in priestly formation at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, where he is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree. He hopes eventually to serve as a Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Army with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS), USA, after three years of pastoral service in his home Diocese of Orlando.

Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, FL, ordained the new deacon at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit. The AMS Vocations Director, Father Aidan Logan, O.C.S.O., concelebrated the 11:00 a.m. ordination Mass.

The Rev. Mr. Marchese said he was inspired to pursue a vocation after rediscovering his Catholic faith in his late teens. “I consider myself a ‘re-vert’ to the faith,” he said. “I’m a cradle Catholic, but I didn’t take my faith seriously until I was 18. The short version is, I opened myself up to a conversation with God, with the help of some friends, and what came with that was undeniable… I moved to Palm Beach from Orlando and joined a Young Adult group that helped me to develop my faith. A friend from that group invited me to pray in the Blessed Sacrament chapel regularly and to attend daily Mass a few times a week.”

The new deacon is a 2008 graduate of Winter Springs High School in Florida. Before entering the seminary, he went to culinary school and still nurses a passion for cooking, much to the delight of his fellow seminarians.

Among those in attendance at the ordination Mass were the new deacon’s parents, Dominick and Colleen Marchese of Orlando. Video of the ordination Mass was live-streamed both on Facebook and St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary’s website, so Deacon Marchese’s brother, Mr. Chris Marchese, a paramedic working under contract with the U.S. State Department in Iraq, was able to watch.

Rev. Mr. Marchese is on track to earn his degree and be ordained a priest in May of 2020.

Young men interested in discerning a priestly vocation and the vocation within a vocation to serve those who serve, can find more information at milarch.org/vocations, or may contact the Vocations Director, Father Aidan Logan, O.C.S.O., by email at vocations@milarch.org.

Anyone interested in making a donation to support AMS Vocations and pastoral care for Catholics in the U.S. Military or the nation’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers may do so at milarch.org/donate.

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