The Diocese of Columbus gained three new deacons on Saturday, March 9, as Bishop Earl Fernandes ordained Kevin Girardi, Joseph Rolwing and Samuel Severance during a Mass at Lancaster Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption.

The three men will serve as transitional deacons for a little more than a year while finishing classes at the Pontifical College Josephinum before their anticipated ordination to the priesthood in spring 2025.

The Mass of Ordination to the Order of the Diaconate was concelebrated by Father William Hahn, the vicar for clergy and director of vocations; Father Steven Beseau, the rector of the Josephinum; Father Craig Eilerman, the rector of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption; and Father David Schalk. 

At the start of the ordination Mass, candidates (from left) Kevin Girardi, Joey Rolwing and Sam Severance stand with their families. CT photo by Ken Snow
The three candidates for the diaconate (from left) Sam Severance, Joey Rolwing and Kevin Girardi listen to the bishop. CT photo by Ken Snow

The Rite of Ordination took place after the Liturgy of the Word with the election of each candidate. Father Hahn presented the candidates to Bishop Fernandes, who sat facing them at the altar.

Father Hahn testified to the bishop that the candidates had been found worthy for ordination. The bishop, accepting Father Hahn’s testimony, formally elected, or chose, the men for the Order of the Diaconate.

The three candidates prostrate themselves before the altar at the Lancaster Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption. CT photo by Ken Snow

Bishop Fernandes reflected on the liturgical readings in his homily. The Mass included readings from the book of Hosea, the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of St. Luke.

The first reading from the sixth chapter of Hosea spoke of returning to the Lord with one’s whole heart. The bishop said that the Lord desires love, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. The Lord offers the people an invitation to return to Him, reversing their fortunes.

The second reading from the Acts of the Apostles spoke of the disciples choosing seven men to serve Greek-speaking widows who were neglected. The bishop said it is notable that the disciples chose men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit, holy and respected by the community of the faithful for the task.

He also noted several themes in St. Luke’s gospel, including the constant presence of the Holy Spirit, preferential option for the poor, the universality of salvation, the foundation of the Church and the reversal of fortune. 

Bishop Fernandes focused on the reversal of fortune in the Gospel of St. Luke, first highlighting the Blessed Virgin’s Magnificat at the beginning of the gospel. 

He told the congregation that their fortunes were reversed when Blessed Virgin Mary said “yes” to the Archangel Gabriel. God looked upon the virgin in her nothingness with favor, the bishop said. She was exalted and became the Mother of God.

The gospel reading, Luke 18:9-14, showed a reversal of fortune again in the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector. The Pharisees kept external practices but did not love God from their heart. 

Bishop Fernandes noted how the Pharisee exalted himself while the publican, or the tax collector, prayed from the heart and humbled himself before God, acknowledging his sinfulness. He went home justified unlike the Pharisee.

“Today, these three men will humble themselves before God,” the bishop told the congregation. “They will prostrate themselves on the floor of this basilica, and they will be raised up to the responsibility of the diaconate.”

Bishop Fernandes said God often reverses fortunes. He said, through no merit of their own, God called people to be His children in holy baptism. 

God reversed fortunes through His Son, Who gave people a share in His life. The bishop said God sent the Holy Spirit to strengthen His people in the sacrament of confirmation to witness to Christ and defend Him and His Church.

“To you three men who will be ordained to the diaconate: This was Christ’s gift to you, and with every gift there comes a task,” he said.

The bishop spoke of the duties that the men will undertake once ordained to the Order of the Diaconate. He pointed to the ways in which they will share in the Church’s mission as deacons.

“You will share in the mission of evangelization, which involves three inseparable elements: the kerygma, the leitourgia (liturgy in Greek) and the Diakonia (Diaconate). With the kerygma, we speak of the proclamation of the faith, and the deacon is one who must announce the Gospel with joy, not only in the sacred liturgy but constantly.”

Bishop Fernandes said many do not know that God comes to save people from their sins and give them life. The bishop told the candidates that they are called to proclaim the kerygma, the essential message of the faith, that God became flesh, and He offers eternal life to anyone who will have communion with Him.

“You are called to share in this ministry and in the liturgical ministry through no merit of your own,” Bishop Fernandes said. “It is a gift.”

He told the candidates that the leitourgia involves proclaiming the Gospel and interceding for God’s people at Mass and in praying the Liturgy of Hours, which is recited by the clergy several times throughout the day. Bishop Fernandes said deacons are called to distribute the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ to the people of God.

The bishop also noted the responsibilities of the Diakonia, which, he said, is the service of Christ the Deacon. Bishop Fernandes said it is a service of charity, especially charity to the poor.

He reminded the congregation that there are different forms of poverty – material poverty and spiritual poverty, which includes loneliness. He told the three men that they must be men of charity and communion, serving in imitation of Christ the Deacon and witnessing to the whole Church the gift of God’s love.

“Today you are called out of your nothingness to greatness, to the greatness of the diaconate,” the bishop said. 

“The Pharisee felt entitled – he fasted, he tithed, he performed the necessary rituals – and sometimes people accuse the younger generation of being entitled or they accuse clergy of feeling entitled, but this must never be true for you. You are called to a ministry of service, and we can be humble in our service when we are like the publican, humbling ourselves before God.”

Bishop Fernandes noted how the Blessed Virgin was assumed body and soul into heaven because she allowed the Holy Spirit to overshadow her, and she surrendered everything in humility and obedience to God. The bishop reminded the candidates that it was also by humbling himself before God that the tax collector was exalted.

“It is this type of humility that truly gives witness to the Church: to say I am a sinner, but I am not lost,” he said. “I was lost, but now I am found and embraced by the merciful Father, and because I have been embraced by the merciful Father, I will serve my brothers and sisters in charity, and I will carry out my sacred duties in the liturgy, and I will proclaim the joy of the Gospel to all creatures under heaven and on earth.”

The seminarian candidates for the diaconate make a pledge of obedience to Bishop Earl Fernandes. CT photos by Ken Snow 

After the bishop’s homily, the examination of the elect took place. The bishop questioned the three candidates about their resolve to undertake and faithfully fulfill the ministry to which they were about to be ordained. He also questioned the men about their willingness to serve the Church in union with Christ.

The candidates then promised obedience to Bishop Fernandes. They ascended the steps of the altar and knelt before the bishop in humility, promising to respect and obey him and his successors.

The candidates also made a vow of perpetual celibacy. Unlike permanent deacons who are usually married, transitional deacons are in formation to become priests. They are typically ordained to the Order of the Diaconate six months to a year before their priestly ordination.

After promising their respect and obedience, the candidates prostrated themselves on the floor before the altar during the Litany of Supplication. The congregation knelt and implored God’s mercy as well as the intercession of Holy Mary, Mother of God, and the saints.

Bishop Earl Fernandes lays hands on the three deacon candidates. CT photos by Ken Snow

The candidates were then called forth to the altar for the laying on of hands. In silence, Bishop Fernandes placed his hands on the head of each candidate, who knelt before him. The gesture, which is Scriptural, is used by the Church to signify the conferral of the Holy Spirit.

Bishop Fernandes then prayed aloud the prayer of ordination. With his hands placed on the head of the candidate, the bishop asked God to dedicate the candidate to the service of the altar and the word. Through the laying on of hands and the prayer of ordination, the men were ordained to the diaconate.

Each newly ordained deacon was then vested, or dressed, in the dalmatic and stole. The vestiture are signs of the ministry and office of the deacon in the Catholic Church. The choir sang a chant as several deacons in the diocese came forward to help invest the new deacons.

Deacon Tony Bonacci (center) of Plain City St. Joseph Church places a dalmatic on Sam Severance. CT photo by Ken Snow

The bishop then placed the Book of the Gospels in the hands of each new deacon, saying, “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” By receiving the Book of the Gospels, the deacon accepts responsibility to proclaim God’s Word.

Joey Rolwing receives the Book of the Gospels from Bishop Earl Fernandes. CT photo by Ken Snow

Afterward, Bishop Fernandes extended a greeting of peace to the new deacons. Known as the fraternal kiss of peace, the gesture is a sign that the bishop and deacons are co-workers in the ministry of the Church.

Diocesan deacons present at the Mass came forward to extend a sign of peace to the newly ordained. The choir sang a chant as deacons in attendance came forward to offer the fraternal kiss of peace.

The ordination Mass continues with the three new deacons at the altar with Bishop Earl Fernandes. CT photo by Ken Snow

Deacon Girardi, 30, from Columbus Our Lady of Victory Church, graduated from Hilliard Bradley High School in 2012. He played basketball during high school and studied abroad in China during college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 2016. 

He worked in Ann Arbor, Michigan for two years after college as a design engineer for Toyota. He entered the Josephinum in 2018, where he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy two years later. 

Deacon Girardi said he first thought of entering the priesthood at the time of his First Communion and began thinking about it again at age 23. While working as an engineer, he said serving at daily Mass and making a daily Holy Hour at his local parish before work was a major part of his discernment. 

He has served in parish assignments at the Perry County Consortium (Junction City St. Patrick, New Lexington St. Rose and Somerset Holy Trinity and St. Joseph churches), Westerville St. Paul the Apostle, Newark St. Francis de Sales and Sunbury St. John Neumann churches. He served his pastoral year at the Knox County Consortium (Danville St. Luke and Mount Vernon St. Vincent de Paul churches).

Deacon Rolwing, 26, from New Albany Church of the Resurrection, graduated from New Albany High School in 2016. He attended the University of Ashland for a year on a basketball scholarship and transferred to the Josephinum in 2017. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the seminary four years ago. 

He has served in parish assignments at Columbus St. Cecilia, Zoar Church of the Holy Trinity, Dover St. Joseph and Marion St. Mary churches. He served his pastoral year at Columbus Christ the King Church.

Deacon Severance, 28, from Columbus Holy Family Church, graduated from Columbus Bishop Watterson High School in 2014. He graduated from the College of Wooster with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2019 and entered the Josephinum later that year. 

Growing up, he received his sacraments at various parishes throughout the diocese. He was baptized at the former Columbus St. Anthony Church, received his First Holy Communion at Plain City St. Joseph Church and was confirmed at Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare Church. 

He has served in a parish assignment at Columbus Our Lady of Peace Church and completed two Spanish immersions in Columbus and Mexico City, Mexico. He also worked a summer job at Jones-Schlater Flooring during seminary.