Angelus News | June 3, 2022 | Vol. 7 No. 11

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The men being ordained transitional deacons for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, from left to right: Michael DiPietro, Emmanuel Sanchez, Hieu Nguyen, Rene Haarpaintner, Bro. Cesar Galan, FSP (in wheelchair), Sergio Sandoval Martinez, Enrique Piceno, Luis Gerardo Peña. | FATHER RAY MARQUEZ THE OTHER EIGHT Not to be overlooked, this year’s crop of transitional deacons for Los Angeles are ready to embark on a life of ministry. BY MIKE NELSON A 30-year-old accountant. A 60-year-old dairy farmer/chiropractor/family man/widower. A 49-year-old former gang member/ paraplegic/religious brother/hospital chaplain. Their stories could not be more different, and yet their common destination will bring them together on Saturday, May 28, when these men and five others are ordained transitional deacons for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The eight men will begin a year of service in LA parishes as deacons, while completing their theological studies at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. Recently, several of them spoke with Angelus about the experiences that have prepared them for a life of ministry. The beauty of the process Born and raised in Pasadena, the sixth of eight children in an active Catholic family, Michael DiPietro attended St. Philip the Apostle School, St. Francis High School in La Cañada, and Hillsdale College, a small liberal arts school in Michigan, where he earned degrees in accounting and philosophy. Priesthood? He thought of it in seventh grade, again in high school, and more seriously in his junior year of college. “But after graduation,” he said, “I didn’t know what would be in store for me — priesthood or marriage.” So he earned his CPA license, worked in accounting for “some real world work experience,” and paid off student loans. And then, with the support of his family, he entered St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo where he admitted his formation process 28 • ANGELUS • June 3, 2022
“hasn’t always been pretty.” “I tend to be kind of intense sometimes, even a little abrasive, and here you rub against different personalities and situations that challenge you to throw off your old self and put on Christ more fully, to take what the seminary has to offer.” DiPietro said that life, including the time in the seminary, has shown him that “there is some suffering, but that’s the beauty of the process. Because only through the cross do we see the beauty that’s before us.” He has drawn inspiration by the words and examples of two saints, St. Paul, and the newly canonized St. Charles de Foucauld. These words from the latter’s famous “Prayer of Abandonment” has inspired DiPietro: “As soon as I believed there was a God, I could do nothing else but live for him.” Having served his internship at St. Cornelius in Long Beach and St. Rita in Sierra Madre, DiPietro looks forward to serving his transitional diaconate at his home parish, and to “keeping the fire alive.” “I want to be on guard against letting the most sacred and holy parts of our faith — like the celebration of the Eucharist — become ordinary or mundane, to make sure I’m not just going through the motions,” he said. “When we get to know each other, we can do great things. That’s a lesson and a blessing for me, to accept people where they are at.” It was a lesson Brother Galan learned the hard way. Born in Torrance and raised in Artesia, he fell into gang life as a teen, which ended when he was shot by a rival gang member. While recovering at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, he found his way out of bitterness and despair with the help of Brother Richard Hirbe, minister general of the Friars of the Sick Poor and a St. Francis chaplain. Brother Galan eventually forgave the man who shot him, became a hospital chaplain, and in 2015 professed his vows as a religious brother with the Friars. “But the idea of being a priest had been knocking at my door,” he said. “I said, ‘Hey, God, I’m already serving you as a chaplain.’ The thing is, it’s not about you; it’s about surrendering to God.” He entered St. John’s, where steps were the least of his challenges. “Study has never been easy for me,” he admitted. “I’ve always had to work extra hard. Coming here was a huge leap of faith.” But the leap has paid off. Brother Galan has completed his internship at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo, where he will also serve as a transitional deacon. A year from now, God willing, he will be ordained as the first paraplegic priest in the history of the archdiocese. “I just pray that God always gives me a heart for service,” he said. “In my darkest days, I couldn’t imagine myself doing this. But here I am. And to those discerning a vocation, I encourage them to look forward, and pay attention to what the Lord is telling you.” A doctor of souls In all likelihood, few dairy farmers in the village of Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, can imagine themselves as priests. Nor can many race-walkers on the Swiss national team, nor many chiropractors in the Mid-Wilshire area. And certainly not many husbands or fathers, wherever they live. Rene Haarpaintner, though, fits all of the above descriptions. And a year from now, when he is 61, he will be a father in more ways than one. Surprising? Yes, and no. “I never expected the call to priesthood,” he said with a wry smile. “But God calls us in different ways and at different times, right? Because nothing is impossible with God.” Haarpaintner remembers first hearing that “call” at age 18, when he was living close to a monastery, and was ‘It’s about surrendering to God’ There are challenges to living in a wheelchair — like steps. “Yeah, the steps are not my friend,” chuckles Brother Cesar John Paul Galan, a wheelchair user since he was shot and left paralyzed 21 years ago in a gang-related incident that took the life of his brother. “I have to remind myself not to give up, to push past steps or whatever obstacle there might be so I can serve the Lord as he wants me to.” But there are blessings as well. “Here at St John’s,” said Brother Galan, “my situation gives my brother seminarians the opportunity to be charitable — and to understand and appreciate differences.” Brother Galan said that experiencing the universality of the Church through the diversity he found at St. John’s has been key. Where they’re going next On May 28, eight men will be ordained transitional deacons for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Here are their parish assignments for the next year (their home parishes, except where noted): Michael DiPietro — St. Philip the Apostle Church, Pasadena Brother Cesar Galan, FSP — St. Mary Magdalen Church, Camarillo (home parish: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels) Rene Haarpaintner — St. Brendan Church, Hancock Park Hieu Nguyen — Incarnation Church, Glendale Enrique Piceno — St. Pius X Church, Santa Fe Springs Luis Gerardo Peña — St. Martin of Tours Church, Brentwood Emmanuel Sanchez — St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church, Santa Clarita Sergio Sandoval — St. Joseph the Worker Church, Winnetka June 3, 2022 • ANGELUS • 29
Page 1: ANGELUS HOW THEY GOT HERE LA’s ne
Page 4 and 5: POPE WATCH BECOME A CAMP COUNSELOR
Page 6 and 7: WORLD ■ Vatican-backed app launch
Page 8 and 9: LOCAL Father José Guadalupe Rivas
Page 10: IN EXILE FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER,
Page 13 and 14: SERVANTS Yet, here they are, ready
Page 15 and 16: “When I first came to St. John’
Page 17 and 18: Blessed Sacrament. But soon enough,
Page 19 and 20: Still, something told him to stick
Page 21 and 22: Martinez at his first Communion in
Page 23 and 24: “I was in the hospital for months
Page 25 and 26: It drove him to become more active
Page 27 and 28: that the work he had once viewed as
Page 29: joyful about it. Imagine yourself a
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Page 35 and 36: equest. More broadly, the situation
Page 37 and 38: Robert Brennan writes from Los Ange
Page 39 and 40: will demonstrate. But summer is iro
Page 41 and 42: Heather King is an award-winning au
Page 43: ■ FRIDAY, MAY 27 San Pedro Region

Angelus News | June 3, 2022 | Vol. 7 No. 11

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