Sioux City's Deman ordained a deacon in Rome

By Franz S. Klein, Special to The Catholic Globe
Oct. 11, 2007

VATICAN CITY -- Through the colonnades that embrace St. Peter's Square, beyond the baldacchino that soars over the basilica's high altar, and underneath the massive alabaster window depicting the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove -- here Shane Deman, one of Greg and Francine Deman's three children and a parishioner at St. Michael Parish in Sioux City, was ordained to the transitional diaconate together with 20 classmates on Oct. 4. If God wills it, Deman will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sioux City on June 28, 2008.

One of the final steps along the path to the priesthood, the transitional diaconate is also the first of the sacramental holy orders, in which a seminarian is configured to the image of Christ the Servant. As a deacon, 26-year-old Deman was commissioned to baptize, to witness marriages, to serve at the altar and to preach the Gospel.

Philadelphia native Archbishop John P. Foley, the former head of the Vatican's Council for Communications and the ordaining prelate at the Oct. 4 ceremony, made the diaconal vocation to service abundantly clear to the Pontifical North American College's fourth-year class during his homily.

"You are being ordained to serve," Archbishop Foley said. "Asking 'What can I do for you, Lord?' -- this could be the daily prayer of the deacon."

Referring to the second reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, where the twelve apostles chose seven men as the very first deacons "to serve at table," the archbishop noted that the service of a deacon is "of a humbler kind."

Archbishop Foley also noted that the men had chosen to be ordained on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, whom he called one of the Church's "most famous deacons" and a great saint of humility. "It is recorded in the Fioretti that St. Francis served his brothers and lepers," the archbishop said. "He did this because he saw in them the image of Christ."

Following the archbishop's homily, the 21 ordinandi, who came to Rome to study three years ago from both the United States and Australia, were named individually. As Deman's name was read, he stood, faced the archbishop and said, "Present."

Then, after promising obedience to their respective bishops, the men lay prostrate as a few hundred priests and the thousands of family, friends and acquaintances in attendance knelt and prayed the litany of supplication. Rising, each man came forward for the archbishop to lay hands on him, ordaining him a deacon.

Deman began his journey toward the diaconate as a student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., where he studied music.

"I was first encouraged by a priest in high school to consider going to the seminary, but I wasn't interested at the time," Deman said in an earlier e-mail interview. "But I kept that invitation in the back of my mind and later decided to act on it once at St. Thomas. I feel it was providential that I went to St. Thomas, since they have a diocesan seminary for undergraduates there."

That seminary was St. John Vianney, where Deman finished his philosophical studies in 2004. After this, former Sioux City Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo assigned Deman to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Deman will spend his diaconal year in the Eternal City, completing a required fourth year of theological studies. He completed his bachelor's in sacred theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome last year, and will begin studying for an advanced degree in fundamental theology at the Jesuit-run university later this month.

"I hope these studies will help my ability to articulate the faith and its transmission through evangelization," Deman said.

Deman, who proclaimed the Gospel and preached for the first time at a Mass of Thanksgiving the day after his ordination, added that he is looking forward to imitating Christ the Servant as a deacon. He also said he sees servanthood as an essential component of his future priesthood.

"I hope to spend this year in greater service to my seminary community and my apostolate," he said.