The Archdiocese of New Orleans thanks to the late Archbishop Hannan was one of the first places to implement a very aggressive Catholic Deacon vocation program.
This year The Archdiocese will be ordaining 20 Deacons. Here is a story on them Permanent deacons emerge from all walks of life
They also highlighted one soon to be Deacon in another story . See New deacon had a lifetime mission that talks about Lieu “Leo” Tran . His personal story is pretty gripping but this part caught my eye:
...“Our Lady of La Vang has a special place in my heart,” he said, adding how his wife converted to Catholicism there.
Diaconate misunderstood
Tran realizes he faces a challenge being accepted in the Vietnamese community as a deacon. He is only the second Vietnamese deacon in the archdiocese, due, he thinks, to the Vietnamese Catholics’ misconception of the deacon’s role. Many only think a deacon helps the priest at Mass and don’t realize they are ordained and can baptize, perform marriage ceremonies, distribute the Eucharist, preside at funerals, minister to the sick, and lead Communion services in the absence of a priest.
“Permanent deacons are perceived as a common man serving on the altar,” Van-Ha Tran said.
When he returned to Vietnam in 1994, even his grandmother said she would quit the Catholic Church if he became a deacon.....
That is pretty amazing especially in how the Catholic Vietnamese community for their numbers gives us so many priests and religious.
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