Your donations to the Seminarian Education Endowment Fund are making great things possible for men studying to become priests, canon lawyers, and the future leadership for the Diocese of El Paso. Fathers Cong Vo and Iván Montelongo, ordained to the priesthood in 2017 and 2020, respectively, are currently studying canon law.

We have 19 seminarians in formation. Alfonso Coronado Sanchez and Wilbert Colas, who were ordained to the Sacred Order of the Diaconate on August 15, 2020, will be ordained to the priesthood in 2021; five men are set to be ordained transitional deacons this year.

Angel Tarango, Angel Aguilar, Astry Deraly, Edroud Jean, Loyd Divinagracia, and Jose William Arevalo are on their pastoral year serving parishes around the Diocese of El Paso. They all bring energy to the Church, especially during the pandemic when technology and creativity have been vital to evangelization.

Congratulations to Cesar Garcia, a seminarian for the Diocese of El Paso at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, who received his candidacy for Holy Orders during the celebration of Mass on February 13. Candidacy is a rite which takes place during seminary formation, by which the Church recognizes the seminarian as worthy of being ordained; they become a “candidate” for ordination to the priesthood.

One of our greatest areas of focus is the Seminarian Education Endowment Fund, created to ensure continual resources for the recruitment and training of seminarians to serve as the future leadership of our Diocese. Recruiting and educating seminarians is a significant and critical investment, and the responsibility of providing priests for the Diocese of El Paso, both spiritually and financially, belongs to all of us. Please continue to pray with and for our seminarians.