Detroit — Four Sacred Heart seminarians were ordained transitional deacons April 11 during a special liturgy at the seminary’s chapel.

Deacons Paul Graney, Dominic Macioce, Kevin Roelant and Timothy Wezner were raised to holy orders by Auxiliary Bishop Francis Reiss. All four men are in theology studies at Sacred Heart Major Seminary and are on track to be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 2016.

The four new deacons will serve parish internships during the summer months, after which they will return to the seminary in the fall to finish their studies. They will serve at the same parishes where they completed internships last summer as seminarians, said Fr. John Vandenakker, CC, director of graduate pastoral formation at the seminary.

Deacon Graney, originally from St. Joseph Parish in Lake Orion, will return to serve at National Shrine of the Little Flower Parish in Royal Oak; Deacon Macioce, originally from St. Jane Frances de Chantal Parish in Sterling Heights, will serve at St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills; Deacon Roelant, originally from St. Anne Parish in Monroe, will serve at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Farmington; and Deacon Wezner, originally from SS. Cyril and Methodius (Slovak) Parish in Sterling Heights, will serve at St. Edward on the Lake Parish in Lakeport.

In addition to those for Detroit, eight other seminarians will be ordained deacons for the dioceses of Kalamazoo, Lansing and Marquette during the month of May in their home dioceses. They are Bruno Okoli, Jose Haro, Paul Redmond and Andrew Raczkowski (for Kalamazoo); Peter Lawrence and Ryan Riley (for Lansing); and Aaron Nowicki and Jernej Sustar (for Marquette).

A transitional deacon is no different theologically or canonically from a permanent deacon; “transitional” refers to their anticipated ordination to the priesthood. The new deacons share the primary ministries of an ordained deacon, including baptizing, witnessing marriages, presiding at funerals and preaching the Gospel at Mass.