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Bridgeport Diocese Ordains 4 Deacons Headed For The Priesthood

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. -- Four men from the Diocese of Bridgeport have been ordained to the transitional diaconate, the last step before final ordination to the priesthood, the Roman Catholic diocese said on its website.

by The Daily Voice

Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell ordained Rolando Arias Galvis, Christopher Perella, Andrew Vill and Robert Wolfe II to the Sacred Order of Deacon on June 22 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Fairfield.

In his homily, Mansell said people see priests as "sources of energy, power, strength and hope" because of their willingness to serve and their ability to "represent the sacred order," the website said.

The four deacons are: 

  • Deacon Rolando Arias, 31, who was born and raised in Colombia, the 11th in a family of 12 children. After graduating high school in 1998, he felt called to volunteer on mission trips through his parish. He entered St. John Fisher Seminary in Stamford and spent a year there perfecting his English. He enrolled in Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., where he completed his seminary studies this May.
  • Deacon Christopher Perrella, 25, who grew up in Amherst, N.H. He earned a second-degree black belt in Taekwando before entering Franciscan University of Steubenville, graduating in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He spent the summer after his graduation from college at St. Pius X Parish in Fairfield before going to Mount St. Mary¹s that fall.
  • Deacon Andrew Vill, 25, who grew up in Ridgefield. He attended Ridgebury Elementary School, East Ridge Middle School and Ridgefield High School, where he graduated in 2006. After a year at the University of Connecticut in Stamford, he entered St. John Fisher Seminary and graduated from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in philosophy. He completed his bachelor of sacred theology degree at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, with residence at the North American College, graduating this spring.
  • Deacon Robert Wolfe grew up in Shelton, graduated from St. Joseph High School in Trumbull in 2006 and entered St. John Fisher Seminary that fall. He graduated from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield in 2010 and has been in priestly formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome since then. There he served as a guide of the subterranean excavations beneath St. Peter¹s Basilica. He completed his bachelor¹s in sacred theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome this spring.

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