January 21, 2018

Franciscan serving at local parish ordained a transitional deacon

REGIONAL
Staff report

Msgr. Christopher Connelly, vicar general of the Springfield Diocese and rector of St. Michael’s Cathedral, poses with Conventual Franciscan Friar Luis Palacios, a newly ordained transitional deacon who will continue to serve at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Basilica in Chicopee. (IObserve photo/courtesy of Msgr. Christopher Connelly)

SPRINGFIELD – Conventual Franciscan Friar Luis Palacios, who has served for the last year at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Basilica in Chicopee, made his profession of solemn vows and was ordained a transitional deacon last weekend at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland.

On Saturday, Jan. 13 Friar Palacios made his profession of vows before Conventual Franciscan Father James McCurry, minister provincial and native of the Springfield, Mass., Diocese.

On Sunday, Jan. 14, Friar Palacios was ordained a transitional deacon by Conventual Franciscan Bishop John Stowe during a bilingual Spanish-English Mass, also held at the Shrine of St. Anthony. Concelebrating the Mass was Msgr. Christopher Connelly, vicar general of the Springfield Diocese and rector of St. Michael’s Cathedral, Springfield. Msgr. Connelly vested Deacon Palacios in diaconal vestments, the stole and dalmatic.

A native of Acapulco, Mexico, Deacon Palacios will continue to serve as a transitional deacon at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Basilica Parish in Chicopee, in preparation for his ordination to the priesthood.