Live streaming of priest ordination 2017

By Communications Department - Archdiocese of Miami

Archbishop Thomas Wenski will ordain nine seminarians to the archdiocesan priesthood on Saturday, May 13, at 10 a.m. in St. Mary Cathedral, 7525 N.W. Second Ave., Miami. (This is the same day in which the Church celebrates the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.) Admission to the ceremony is by invitation only but everyone can watch on the Internet via the link below.

 

** CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE LIVE STREAMING ** 

Below also are brief biographies of those who are being ordained.  

Deacon Oswaldo Agudelo

Deacon Oswaldo Edilson Agudelo was born Nov. 8, 196 2 in El Carmen de Atrato, Colombia. He is the second child of Gabriel de Jesus Agudelo and Paula Beatriz de Agudelo, and has one brother and one sister. His older brother is also a seminarian and will be ordained in 2018 for the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York.

Before entering the seminary, Deacon Agudelo studied social communication at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia, with a specialization in mass media. He also studied art at the School of Arts of Barcelona, Spain, and pursued additional studies on the conflict in the Middle East in different institutions in Spain and Colombia.

He has worked as an executive producer for television networks RCN (Colombia), Telemundo International-NBC (U.S.) and Univision (U.S.). He also worked for Lufthansa (German airline), as a director in its public relations department. He served as a Middle East expert for different TV and radio stations around the world, and has visited the region several times over the last 25 years.

With his background in art, Deacon Agudelo also opened art galleries in Miami and New Orleans, and during the past 20 years he has been an expert in certification of Old Master paintings.

Deacon Agudelo attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami and St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach.

His home parish is Little Flower in Coral Gables, and he has served his diaconate year at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Doral. He will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday, May 14, at 1:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Deacon James Arriola

Deacon James Mathew Rabon Arriola was born Nov. 17, 1988 in Atsugi Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan. His parents, Juan and Veronica Arriola, have seven children, of which Deacon Arriola is the third.

He attended George Washington High School in Guam, U.S., before entering the Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores Catholic Theological Institute for Oceania, which is affiliated with the Lateran University in Rome. Missioned to the Neocatechumenal Way's Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Miami, he received his Master of Divinity degree from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

He has served as a missionary in the Dioceses of Santa Fe and Gallup, New Mexico, and Amarillo, Texas. He will celebrate his Mass at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 14, at St. Cecilia Church in Hialeah.

 

Deacon Edgardo “Gary” De Los Santos

Deacon Edgardo De Los Santos was born June 29, 1962 in Zamboanga City, Philippines. He is the youngest of six children born to Ernesto De Los Santos and Antonia Santiago.

Deacon De Los Santos holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration, with a major in accounting and a minor in banking and finance from the University of East Manila, Philippines.

As an accountant, he worked for one of the largest banks in the Philippines, and after migrating to the U.S. in 1991 he worked as an investment banker and a trust analyst. He later shifted his accounting expertise to working with non-profit organizations that serve the homeless in Miami-Dade County.

Since 1991, he has been an active parishioner at St. Rose of Lima, Miami Shores, where he served as sacristan and then as parish manager. Before entering the seminary, Deacon De Los Santos also attended the culinary school at Johnson and Wales University in North Miami.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. John Vianney College Seminary, and a Master of Divinity from St. Vincent de Paul Seminary. He has served his deaconate year at St. David Church in Davie.

He will celebrate his first Mass Sunday, May 14, at 11 a.m. at St. Rose.

 

Deacon Luis Flores, Jr.

Deacon Luis Alberto Flores, Jr., was born Marc h 9, 1976 in Lima, Peru. His parents are Luis Alberto and Norma Flores. He is the oldest of three brothers and a graduate of Annandale High School in Annandale, Virginia.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from St. John Vianney College Seminary and a Master of Divinity from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary. He served his pastoral year at St. Louis Church in Pinecrest, and his deaconate year at Assumption Church, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

He will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday, May 14, at 1:30 p.m. at his home parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in Miami.

 

Deacon Joseph Maalouf

Deacon Joseph Maalouf was born Feb. 15, 1958 in Zahle, Lebanon, to Fouad and Josephine Maalouf. He is the youngest of four children and speaks Arabic, French and Spanish in addition to English.

He studied and graduated from schools in Beirut, Lebanon, before coming to Miami, where he was an active member of St. John Neumann Parish. In December 2010, he was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Miami and assigned to Visitation Church in North Miami. After discerning a vocation to priesthood, he has studied at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts.  

He will celebrate his first Masses at St. John Neumann, on Saturday, May 13 at 5 p.m. in English; and on Sunday, May 14, at 9 a.m. in English and 1 p.m. in Spanish.

 

Deacon Luis Pavon

Deacon Luis Manuel Pavon was born May 20, 1981 in Miami to Manuel and Luisa Pavon. He is the second of four siblings (one older sister, two younger brothers) and graduated from Christopher Columbus High. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Florida International University.

He studied for the priesthood at St. John Vianney College Seminary and St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary. His home parish is St. Augustine in Coral Gables, and he has served his deaconate year at Immaculate Conception Church in Hialeah.

He will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday, May 14, at noon, at St. Augustine Church.

 

Deacon Alexander Rivera

Deacon Alexander Rivera was born Dec. 18, 1987 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Eduardo and Ana Rivera. He is the oldest of four, three brothers and a sister.

A graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, he attended Florida International University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. Deacon Rivera then entered St. John Vianney College Seminary, and obtained a Master of Divinity degree from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

His home parish is Our Lady of the Lakes, Miami Lakes, and he has served his deaconate year at Nativity Church in Hollywood. He will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday, May 14, at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of the Lakes.

 

Deacon Juan Salazar

Deacon Juan Carlos Salazar was born Oct. 24, 1975 in El Santuario, Antioquia, Colombia to Pedro Luis Salazar and Martha Lucia Gomez. He is the second of four siblings.

He graduated from Liceo Salazar y Herrera High School in Medellin, Colombia and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Universidad de Medellin, Colombia.

After living and working in Miami for a few years, he entered St. John Vianney College Seminary, and obtained his Master of Divinity from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

His home parish is Our Lady of Lourdes in Kendall, and he has served his diaconate year at Our Lady of the Lakes in Miami Lakes.

He will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday, May 14, at 1 p.m. at St. Agnes Church on Key Biscayne.

 

Deacon Mathew Thomas

Deacon Mathew Padickal Thomas was born May 9, 1968 in Kerala, India to Thomas and Katrina. He has two brothers (the eldest is deceased) and three sisters, and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India.

Deacon Thomas also earned a bachelor’s in philosophy from the Jeevalaya Institute of Philosophy, Bangalore, India, and a bachelor and master’s in theology from the Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram Bangalore and Christ University, Bangalore, India.

In India, Deacon Thomas served as a counselor at the Amala Cancer Hospital in Thrissur, Kerala, and helped the disabled at the Pope John Paul Mercy Home in Athany, Thrissur. In Bangalore, he taught poor children and women how to tailor and stitch at a center for the young and a self-service society for women.

After completing his theology studies, Deacon Thomas came to the U.S. and worked in Father Tom Coughlin's missionary outreach to the deaf and disabled, including a food bank in San Antonio, Texas. He also served at Camp Mark Seven, a Catholic deaf youth camp in Old Forge, New York.

He has helped out in the soup kitchens run by the Missionaries of Charity in Missouri and Miami, and worked at Schott Communities in Cooper City during his pastoral year. He has served his diaconate year at St. Helen Church in Lauderdale Lakes.

He will celebrate his first Mass Sunday, May 14, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Helen.