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Four men, ages 31 to 59, to be ordained transitional deacons for Archdiocese of Detroit

Separate ordination Masses will be held for seminarians at Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament; priesthood ordinations set for June

by Michael Stechschulte

Four men will be ordained to the transitional diaconate — the last major step before their ordination as priests next year — for the Archdiocese of Detroit starting this week.

Unlike in prior years, when each of the transitional deacons would be ordained in a single ceremony at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, four separate ordination Masses will take place, each at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The four men to be ordained include Robert Voiland, 59; John Dudek, 54; Zaid Chabaan, 31; and Ryan Eggenberger, 34. Two of the seminarians, Chabaan and Eggenberger, are studying at Sacred Heart, while Voiland and Dudek are studying at St. John XXIII Seminary in Boston. St. John XXIII Seminary typically forms men who are later-in-life vocations.

Each of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s four auxiliary bishops will ordain one of the men. Bishop Donald Hanchon will ordain Voiland at 10 a.m. Friday, May 15; Bishop Robert Fisher will ordain Dudek at 2 p.m. Friday, May 15; Bishop Arturo Cepeda will ordain Chabaan at 10 a.m. Friday, May 22; and Bishop Gerard Battersby will ordain Eggenberger at 2 p.m. Friday, May 22.

In keeping with social distancing guidelines, the ordination Masses are not open to the public. All of the Masses will be livestreamed on Sacred Heart Major Seminary’s Facebook page.

Five additional seminarians, who are already transitional deacons, will be ordained priests in June. A separate Detroit Catholic story on them will be coming next week.

Read more about each of the four men to be ordained on Detroit Catholic

by Michael Stechschulte

Michael Stechschulte

Michael Stechschulte is editor of the Detroit Catholic news service of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

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Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a Christ-centered Catholic community of faith and higher learning committed to forming leaders who will proclaim the good news of Christ to the people of our time. As a leading center of the New Evangelization, Sacred Heart serves the needs of the Archdiocese of Detroit and contributes to the mission of the universal Church.