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

“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