Catholic church adds 17 new deacons to Fresno diocese, giving help to priests across the region

The 5½-year wait for Paul Patrick Márquez ended Oct. 1 before a packed Holy Spirit Catholic Church as he joined 16 other men in becoming ordained as deacons in the Diocese of Fresno.

Following a 2½-hour Mass of Ordination, the 58-year-old retired Cal Fire firefighter did not have to wait long to spring into action. He conducted mass at 7:30 a.m. the following day at Good Shepherd Catholic Parish in Visalia.

“One day at Mass, one of our deacons in our parish came up behind me, put his hand on my shoulder and asked, ‘You’ve ever thought about becoming a deacon?’” recalled Márquez minutes before the ordination ceremony.

“That kind of started my discernment.”

Diocese of Fresno Bishop Joseph V. Brennan welcomed the 17 new deacons as the provide help to parish priests throughout a diocese that covers more than 35,000 square miles and includes Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties.

Diocese spokesman Chandler Márquez (yes, his uncle is a new deacon) said most dioceses will ordain no more than five deacons at a time. So, he added, the 17 new deacons for the Fresno Diocese are historic.

Brennan said the recruitment of deacons is not a direct effort to address a priest shortage (the U.S. had 59,192 priests in 1970, and 35,513 in 2020) but rather to support the parishes.

“We only do this every three years, but after their formation, they’re good and ready to go,” said Brennan, who became Fresno’s bishop 2½ years ago.

During the Mass of Ordination, the bishop resorted to humor to get his message across about the significance of becoming a deacon.

After mentioning how Saint Thérese, the patroness of the Fresno Diocese, met Pope Leo XIII when she was a young girl and notified him she wanted to be a nun and getting the response, “Listen to your superiors,” Brennan turned to the new deacons and repeated those four words.

Then, he turned to the older crop of deacons and told them, “Listen to your superiors.”

Brennan asked the new crop of deacons to retain the qualities of a child.

“We need to remind ourselves how important it is to be simple again, to wonder at the world that we live in again,” said Brennan, who wore a chasuble with an embroidered Saint Therese for the first time.

Following church tradition, he repeated to each new deacon who kneeled before him one at a time, “Receive the gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read; Teach what you believe; and practice what you teach.”

Márquez joins brother as a deacon

Few new deacons had a smile as big as Márquez.

“The church is full of people, so it’s a beautiful, beautiful day,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for this day for 5½ years, and it’s here.

“We’re truly enjoying it. We’re taking it in, but it’s not for us. It’s for God, for us to serve God.”

Márquez – who graduated from Woodlake High School and now lives in Visalia with his wife and three children – “grew up in a fire station” because that was his father’s occupation.

When he was 21, he joined Cal Fire and stayed there for 30 years. Meanwhile, he kept going to church regularly and had been an altar server.

So, when he was asked about becoming a deacon, Márquez had an easy answer. His younger brother, Pete Márquez, was ordained as a deacon three years ago.

“That kind of started by discernment,” he said.

After retirement, Márquez jumped into the deacon preparation program. He was soon enveloped in studying, discernment, retreats and praying.

“There was a lot of theology, a lot of philosophy, and a lot of praying and asking God to guide me,” said Márquez.

His wife had to give him the green light from year to year to continue his preparation.

“My wife had to be very supportive of it,” he said. “She always had to be willing to allow me to go to the next year’s process.”

Márquez did lean a bit on his younger brother. “He told me a lot of things like what to expect and what not to expect,” he said. “He kind of kept my feet on the ground.”