Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr. ordained nine new permanent deacons for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington during a Mass of Ordination for the Permanent Diaconate on June 28, 2025 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
The new permanent deacons ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington are Deacon Michael Derral Brooks, Deacon Eduardo Macapagal Deausen, Deacon Eugene de Ribeaux, Deacon Christopher Alexander Lindsey, Deacon Allan Jason Lising, Deacon Robert Stanley Nisson Jr., Deacon Rey Navarro Robles, Deacon Trach Thanh Vo, and Deacon Terence Wynn Sr.
They were ordained as permanent deacons, who, unlike transitional deacons, are not on the road to the priesthood. Also unlike priests, permanent deacons may be married. Deacons participate in the life of the parish by proclaiming the Gospel and preaching homilies at Mass, assisting at the altar during Mass, celebrating Baptisms and weddings, bringing Communion to the sick, conducting funeral rites and serving in ministries of charity.
“Strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit, they will help the bishop and his priest in the ministries of the word, and the altar, and of charity,” Bishop Campbell said in his homily, given after the calling and presentation of the candidates for diaconate ordination, and after the bishop approved the choice of the candidates, and by their applause, the congregation affirmed that decision.
In his homily, Bishop Campbell noted the diaconate’s apostolic origins. “We first learned of a deacon’s’ ministry of charity in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles, when the twelve said: ‘It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve in faith. Brothers: select from among you seven reputable men,’” the bishop said.
Bishop Campbell referenced the Parable of the Good Samaritan from that day’s Gospel reading in Luke 10:25-37, calling on the newly ordained to be like the Good Samaritan, not like the priest and the Levite who left the man on the side of the road to die.
“No one can serve two masters. Look upon all impurity and greed as serving false gods,” he said.
Bishop Campbell offered a final message in his homily to the men about to be ordained as permanent deacons: “Hold fast to the ministry of faith with a clear conscience and express by your actions the word of God which your lips proclaim, so that the Christian people brought to life by the Spirit may become a pure offering accepted by God, and so that you yourselves when you go out to meet the Lord on the last day may be able to hear Him say, ‘Well done good and faithful servant, enter now into the joy of your Lord.’”
The Rite of Ordination included the examination of the candidates, with the bishop questioning the candidates for ordination to the diaconate. Then each candidate knelt before the bishop, placed his hands between the bishop’s hands, and promised obedience and respect to the archbishop of Washington and his successors.
During the invitation to prayer, the Church offered prayers for the candidates, calling upon the intercession of the angels and the saints.
Then during the laying on of the hands and the prayer of ordination, each ordinand knelt before the bishop, who laid his hands on him as the outward sign of his ordination. The bishop then asked God to dedicate the newly ordained deacons to the service of the Gospel.
The new deacons were then vested with a stole and dalmatic that signify their office.
Then Bishop Campbell presented each newly ordained deacon with a Book of the Gospels, as a sign of his duty to preach the Word of God.
The bishop then gave each of the newly ordained deacons a sign of welcome, and some of the deacons present also took part in that rite.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist continued, and at the end of the Mass, the nine new permanent deacons stood with Bishop Campbell for a group photo, and they processed from the altar and down the basilica’s main aisle as the congregation applauded them.
After the ordination Mass, several of the new deacons expressed how their call to the diaconate unfolded.
“I first heard it in my 20s,” said Deacon Eugene de Ribeaux. “I kind of understood it, sort of ignored it, and then 15 to 20 years later, a couple of things going on in my life made me turn more to the Lord.”
Deacon Christopher Lindsey echoed that point, saying, “I think the call has been kind of coming over a long period.”
Deacon Terence Wynn Sr., on the other hand, was convinced of the call over the course of a weekend, when Msgr. Raymond East, the pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Washington, said he would be a good candidate for the diaconate. “Thursday, of course, it was ‘no.’ Friday, it was ‘no,’ but Msgr. Ray East is very persistent, and so he worked on me,” he said.
Deacon Wynn was not the only ordinand to reference the role of clergy in his vocation. Deacon Robert Stanley Nisson Jr. said not only is he a deacon because of other deacons, but the deacons in his life were the reason he converted to Catholicism. “I came to the church when I was 37 years old. I had no religion before that. Basically, I was drawn in by some deacons, and they got me into the RCIA program, and… I could always lean on (them for support),” he said.
Link to the Mass of Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate on June 28, 2025 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rxEo6YGjro
Link to article profiling nine new permanent deacons for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington:
