Posted May 4, 2021
Nine men who will be ordained permanent deacons for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia next month made a profession of faith and signed a solemn Oath of Fidelity before Bishop Timothy Senior, rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, who presided at a Liturgy of the Word in the seminary’s Immaculate Conception Chapel April 26. All ordained ministers to the diaconate, priesthood and episcopacy take the oath before ordination.
In signing the oaths, the men declare publicly that they believe all that the Catholic Church teaches and they promise to be faithful to that teaching in their ministry as deacons. The ceremony is a necessary step prior to ordination to the diaconate, as it documents the candidate’s willingness to uphold the teachings of the church in the ministry he exercises.