5 Salesians were ordained to the diaconate in Jerusalem

By Fr. Eric John Wyckoff, SDB

Jerusalem, Israel, 17 June 2018 -- On Sunday, June 17, five Salesians were ordained to the diaconate at the Basilica of Gethsemane (or “Church of All Nations”) at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

The new deacons are all students of theology at the Studium Theologicum Salesianum, Jerusalem: Brothers Pushparaj Anthuvan (INM), India; Jude Fernando (LKC), Sri Lanka; Odise Lazri (AFM), Albania; Javier Orengo Quiñones (ANT), Puerto Rico; and Jerone Warnakulasuriya (LKC), Sri Lanka.

The ordaining prelate was Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The Salesian theologate in Jerusalem is located at the historic Ratisbonne Monastery, just a short walk from the Holy Sepulcher and the other holy sites. The formators and theologians come from a host of different nations, including Ethiopia, Slovakia, India, Myanmar, Italy, the Philippines, Argentina, Ghana, the USA, Catalonia, Zambia, Poland, Sierra Leone, Bolivia, Tanzania, Brazil, and Angola.

Jerusalem is one of the three campuses of the Salesian Pontifical University’s Faculty of Theology, along with Rome and Turin.

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