August 1, 2020

Five men scheduled to be ordained to diocesan priesthood on Aug. 15

REGIONAL
By Sharon Roulier

 

SPRINGFIELD – While the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of their original ordination date in early June, five men are slated to be ordained on Aug. 15 in St. Michael’s Cathedral. Archbishop-designate Mitchell T. Rozanski, apostolic administrator of the Springfield Diocese, will ordain the men during an 11 a.m. Mass. This will be one of the archbishop’s last public Masses he will celebrate in the diocese before leaving for his new position in St. Louis.

Due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions, the Mass is by invitation only and will not be open to the public. However, the event will be live streamed on www.diospringfield.org.

“These men have been looking forward to their ordination for years, envisioning in their minds eye what that day would look like. I am sure none of them anticipated the circumstances we now find ourselves in, nor the impacts and restrictions on our celebration as a result,” said Father David Darcy, co-director of vocations for the Diocese of Springfield, noting that they are not alone in their experience. He said many important events have been affected by the pandemic, including baptisms, first Communions, confirmations, marriages and funerals.

“As priests we are called not only to share in the joyful moments of our people’s lives but also their sufferings. We are called not only to offer the sacrifice of Christ at Mass, but unite our own sacrifices to it: a lesson we learn in the seminary that they now see and experience concretely,” said Father Darcy. “While there will be sadness that our celebration will be subdued and restricted, there will be all the more grace for these men, their priesthood, and the people they serve as a result.”

The five men to be ordained are: Transitional Deacons Stanislaus Achu, Matthew Barone, Michael Goodreau, Valentine Nworah and Sinh Hong Trinh.

Deacon Stanislaus Achu

Deacon Stanislaus Chukwuebuka Achu, 32, was born in Nigeria. He is the oldest of seven children and is a twin. He attended St. Joseph Major Seminary in Ikot Epkene, AI, Nigeria; Providence College, Providence, R.I.; and St. John’s Seminary, in Brighton, Mass.

During his last year in the seminary, he served at St. Mary Parish in Longmeadow.

Deacon Achu said his parents were instrumental in his decision to consider a vocation.

“They caught me at a very tender age and made sure I did not slip off,” he said. “I did not always enjoy their urging us to pray and go to Mass even when we did not feel like it. But looking back today, I say to them, ‘Thank you so much, Dad and Mom, for all you have been to me and my siblings.’” 

Deacon Matthew Barone

Deacon Matthew Barone, 36, is a native of Chicopee, where he grew up with two younger siblings, Michael and Molly, and his mother, Eileen.  He attended the former St. Patrick Elementary School and graduated from the former Holyoke Catholic High School, Elms College in Chicopee and St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass.

He said his journey to the priesthood likely began in second grade, where Barone learned about the sacraments and holy orders as his teacher, Mrs. Grenier, read a story to the class on seminarian life. He thought to himself: “This is something I would like to do.”

He has been serving at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in West Springfield during his transitional diaconate year. He said he is looking forward to serving as a parish priest.        

“Celebrating Eucharist, bringing the sacraments to people, and tending to the spiritual care of God’s people are most important among all the things a parish priest has to do,” he said. “Based on my experiences, and my strengths, and also depending on the needs of the parish, I hope to learn and grow as a priest and perhaps be a pastor someday.” 

Deacon Michael Goodreau

Deacon Michael Goodreau, 45, is a native of Wilbraham.

Now a transitional deacon at Holy Name Parish in Springfield, he grew up in the north part of Wilbraham, with his older brother and sister, Scott and Kimberly. He was baptized at Immaculate Conception Church in Indian Orchard, where he made his first Communion and, along with his family, observed the many Polish traditions of the Catholic Church. He attended Wilbraham public schools and graduated from Minnechaug Regional High School there.

Describing those early influences on his faith formation, he said it consisted of “growing and going to church with my family, but especially my grandmother. She watched me and my siblings while my mother was working.”

Deacon Goodreau attended Holyoke Community College, where he earned an associate’s degree in liberal arts. He then transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and graduated in 1997 with a bachelor of arts degree in history. He completed his priesthood studies at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass.

Deacon Sinh Hong Trinh

Deacon Sinh Hong Trinh, 52, is a native of the Province of Binh Dinh in South Vietnam. He is one of two children of Maria Tran Thi Lanh and the late Paul Trinh Xuan Muoi. Deacon Trinh’s journey to the United States, and ultimately the priesthood, spanned more than three decades.

He was born April 16, 1968 in Vietnam and raised, along in the Catholic faith there. His father worked with U.S. soldiers and died during the Vietnam War, he said. His mother and younger sister, Maria Trinh Thi Hong Lien Huong, still live in Vietnam.

After finishing high school in 1989, Deacon Trinh set out on a boat filled with 17 adults and four children; the youngest was just 3 months old. A ship owned by an oil company rescued them and brought the group to the Philippines where he entered a refugee camp. Deacon Trinh spent 17 years in the camp.

He left the refugee camp in 2006 and joined the New Orleans-based Domus Dei Clerical Society of Apostolic Life, serving as a religious brother. He said he felt called to the priesthood and searched throughout the country to find a diocese that would accept him. He entered St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass in 2014. He finished his seminary studies at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., receiving his master of divinity degree in 2019.

Deacon Trinh, who is serving as a transitional deacon at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Springfield, said the road to the priesthood has been a long one for him, but he never thought about any other vocation than becoming a Catholic priest.

Deacon Valentine Nworah

Deacon Valentine Nworah, 33, was born in Onitsha, Anambra, a state in the southeastern part of Nigeria. He is the fourth of six children. In a country where just 2% of the population is Catholic, Nworah describes his faith foundation this way: “My parents made sure I and my siblings ate and drank Catholicism.”

He is a graduate of Our Lady’s High School and earned a degree in mass communication and television journalism from Federal Polytechnic in Oko, Nigeria.  

In 2009, he was admitted to study the apostolic life with the Pallottine Fathers and Brothers in Butare in Rwanda, Uganda.

After spending his novitiate year in Rwanda, Deacon Nworah returned to Cameroon to attend St. Joseph Mukasa Philosophical Institute in Yaounde. While there, he earned his first bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Following that, he headed to Kenya to study theology at the Catholic University of East Africa in Nairobi. After his first year there, he was admitted to Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan, for religious studies. Next came a move to Texas where he earned a speech communication certificate from Lonestar College in Houston. While there, he began to apply to attend the seminary. He was admitted to study for the Diocese of Springfield and then moved to Massachusetts to attend St. John’s Seminary in Brighton.

Since June 2019, Deacon Nworah was assigned to spend his transitional diaconate year at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Easthampton.