69 begin diaconate formation for diocese

Published: May 15, 2017

En Español

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor accepted 69 men into the bilingual, permanent diaconate formation program for the Diocese of Little Rock in May. They will be required to complete five years of formation before being ordained in the summer of 2022. This program is a ministry of the Office of Faith Formation.

Of those accepted, 50 men and their wives attend monthly, weekend classes in English at St. John Catholic Center in Little Rock. The remaining 19 men and their wives attend formation classes in Spanish at Subiaco Abbey in Subiaco. Classes begin in August. For more information, read Arkansas Catholic or contact Father Erik Pohlmeier, faith formation director, at (501) 664-0340, ext. 323.

The 69 diaconate aspirants are:

Central Deanery

• Dan Cartaya and Ron Lee, Our Lady of Fatima Church, Benton
• Juan Argueta, Mark Mize and Calvin Pearcy, St. Joseph Church, Conway
• John Birmingham, St. Jude Church, Jacksonville
• Chris Dorer, St. Francis of Assisi Church, Roland (Little Italy)
• Juan Mares, St. Theresa Church, Little Rock
• Steve Aday and Marc Rios, Cathedral of St. Andrew, Little Rock
• Thomas Cannon, Greg Donaldson, Joe Lukacs, Jerome Ngundue, Randy Spellins, John Suskie and Angelo Vopli, Christ the King Church, Little Rock
• Jim Goodhart, Tom Kirchner and Ted Saer, Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church, Little Rock
• Ed Sweeden, Immaculate Conception Church, North Little Rock

North Delta Deanery

• David Helms, St. John Church, Engelberg
• Bobby Bennett, Marty Huss and Scott Rennels, Blessed Sacrament Church, Jonesboro
• Henry Gross, St. Paul Church, Pocahontas

North Ozark Deanery

• Robert Wochner, St. Peter the Fisherman Church, Mountain Home
• George Gussy, St. Andrew Church, Yellville

Ouachita Deanery

• Nick Moseley, St. Louis Church, Camden
• Roberto Perez, St. Barbara Church, De Queen
• David Rouch, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Magnolia
• Jim McWilliams, St. Agnes Church, Mena
• Bob Berry, Greg Casteel and Leon Pesek, St. Edward Church, Texarkana

River Valley Deanery

• Peter Post, Sacred Heart Church, Morrilton
• Larry Fox, St. Joseph Church, Paris

South Delta Deanery

• Benito Juarez, Holy Spirit Church, Hamburg
• Garry Boccarossa, Duke Fakouri and Pat Anderson, St. Joseph Church, Pine Bluff
• Greg Fisher, Holy Rosary Church, Stuttgart

West Ozark Deanery

• Jason Pohlmeier, St. Joseph Church, Fayetteville
• Sergio Aguilar, Fabio Cruz, Tiburcio Duran, Raul Garcia, Arturo Hernandez, Rob Brothers, Dan Grelle, Larry Grelle, George Hunter, Byron Newton and Tom Parks, St. Vincent de Paul Church, Rogers
• Moises Colon and Jose Zamora, St. Mary Church, Siloam Springs
• Eduardo Andrade, Oswaldo Batres, Raul Herrera, Oscar Lopez, Ernesto Pena, Luis Antonio Sanchez, Carlos Rodriguez and Rob Phillips, St. Raphael Church, Springdale

West River Valley Deanery

• Jaime Flores and Brad Brown, St. Boniface Church, Fort Smith
• Candelario Galvan, Bill Curry and Robert Maestri, Immaculate Conception Church, Fort Smith