Diaconate ordination set

PATERSON  For the first time in his episcopacy, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will preside over the ordination of two men to the transitional diaconate during Masses on different dates in their respective home parishes. This is their final step before being called to be ordained as priests of the Diocese next year.

Bishop Sweeney will ordain Joseph Anthony Mactal of St. Thomas the Apostle, Oak Ridge/St. John Vianney, Stockholm on Friday July 31 during a 7 p.m. Mass at St. Thomas. The Bishop installed Mactal as an acolyte on July 12 at his first pastoral visit to St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison during the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass with the young adults.

On Sunday, Aug. 9, Bishop Sweeney will ordain Francis Hamilton Balfour Lennie IV of St. Pius X Parish in Montville at his home parish during a noon Mass.

For these two ordinations, a limited number of well-wishers — family, friends, priests and religious of the Diocese and members of the home parishes of the two men — will be invited to attend as a sign of encouragement to them on their vocation, because the parishes must follow state mandates as to the number of congregants at Masses to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Born on May 23, 1989 in Manila, Philippines, Mactal is the son of Benjamin Antonio Mactal Jr. and Araceli A. Mactal. His educational background includes having graduated in the Philippines from Immaculate Conception Academy in 2002, Colegio De San Juan de Letran in 2007 and San Carlos Seminary, 2011. In the U.S., he was graduated from Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, N.Y., in 2013 and, this fall, will enter his fourth and final year of theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.

Mactal’s apostolic work includes having served as head of seminary vocations in Manila and a faculty member and basketball coach of St. Mary’s Academy in Caloocan City in the Philippines.

Born in Dover, Lennie is the son of Frank and Coleen Lennie. He was baptized at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Flanders and received his First Commun­ion and Confirmation at St. Pius X. He was graduated from the former St. Pius X School and DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne and earned a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University in South Orange. This fall, Lennie will enter his fourth and final year of theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange.

Lennie’s apostolic experiences include working at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Paterson and at St. Pius X. In the seminary, he has served as a sacristan, been part of the schola cantorum and served as its vice president.