GREEN BAY, WI – The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), is celebrating the priestly ordination of a prospective new Catholic U.S. Army chaplain. Father Matthew Faucett, (2LT), USAR, was ordained a priest on Saturday, June 22, in Green Bay, WI. Father Faucett (center in photo with Archbishop Broglio and Bishop Ricken) hopes to go on active duty with AMS endorsement and faculties once he completes three years of pastoral service in his home Diocese of Green Bay.
Bishop David L. Ricken ordained the new priest at Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, concelebrated the 10:00 a.m. ordination Mass.
Among those in attendance were Father Faucett’s parents, Col. and Mrs. Joseph Faucett, USA (Retired), and his brothers, Nathan Faucett, (2LT), USA, and Joseph Faucett, (SPC), USA.
Father Faucett, 26, completed his priestly formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Theology. He is a 2011 high school graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas Academy in Marinette, WI, and a 2015 graduate of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in philosophy.
Father Faucett celebrated his first Mass at Holy Family Parish in Marinette, WI, at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 23. The new priest will commence full-time ministry as a parochial vicar at St. Mary’s Parish in Ledgeview and St. Francis Xavier Parish in De Pere, both in Wisconsin, while continuing to serve in the Army Reserve and preparing to go on active duty as a chaplain.
Commenting on his ordination, Father Faucett said, “I feel greatly blessed by God for calling me to this honorable vocation. I am grateful for Christ’s presence in my life that changes everything about my outlook and estimation of the world. I’m particularly humbled by the support of my family over this journey.”
Father Faucett’s ordination is good news for the Army, which, like other branches of the U.S. Military, is coping with a shortage of Catholic chaplains due to attrition: priests are retiring from active duty faster than they can be replaced. Right now, the Army has only 78 priests on active duty, serving some 120,000 Catholic soldiers. That’s approximately one priest for every 1,500 Catholics spread thin across bases worldwide, not counting 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 Vocations Director, Father Aidan Logan, O.C.S.O., by email at vocations@milarch.org.
Photo by Brad Birkholz | The Compass, Diocese of Green Bay.
