Two deacons will be in charge of leading the diaconate formation program for the Diocese of Little Rock starting this fall.
Deacon Robert Wanless of Hot Springs, who was ordained in Tyler, Texas, in 2001, will be the director of the English program. Deacon Marcelino Luna, a familiar face throughout the state as Hispanic ministry director, will lead the Spanish program.
A new diaconate class will begin meeting in August for one weekend a month at St. John Center in Little Rock. Candidates would be ordained in 2012.
The new appointment means that Luna will have to reduce his hours ministering in parishes, but he believes he is being called.
“I just think it’s a call to the next chapter in my ministry,” said Luna, who is one of two deacons in the state that speaks Spanish. “That is the way (God) has done things for me. My response is that I go where he needs me.”
Luna said informational meetings in Spanish in February and March have included more information on exactly how deacons serve the Church.
“We have to teach what the diaconate is,” he said. “It is something that is new to our community. It is not very common in Mexico. They know it is a ministry, but they are not knowledgeable about what it is.”
Luna, a deacon at St. Edward Church in Little Rock and a native of Mexico, was ordained in 2002. He has worked for the diocese since his ordination.
In an interview with Arkansas Catholic, Wanless said his journey to the Catholic Church was interesting. He converted in 1988 after attending a retreat at a Jesuit retreat center.
“I heard the Lord call me to become Catholic,” Wanless said. “He said, ’Set your differences aside and become Catholic. I have work for you to do.’ … I wasn’t looking to become Catholic.”
Wanless worked for 22 years at the Federal Aviation Administration Academy in Oklahoma City and Texas until his retirement in 1990. In 1996 he and his wife Mary moved to Tyler, Texas. Following his ordination in 2001 he served at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and led retreats and Scripture study classes.
In 2005 Wanless and his wife attended the Arkansas Catholic Charismatic Conference in North Little Rock and got to know several priests and deacons and found themselves more interested in living in the Diocese of Little Rock. In 2005 they decided to move to Hot Springs after spending many years visiting the area on vacation.
“I have always enjoyed Arkansas, the clear water, the rolling hills,” he said.
After relocating to Hot Springs, he was assigned to St. John Parish, where he assists with RCIA, Cursillo and Why Catholic?
Wanless, 72, said he felt God was calling him to the new diocesan ministry.
“I have a love for the diaconate,” he said. “I have a strong interest in seeing people formed in a practical way – very much based on Scripture and the catechism. I’m not trying to make theologians out of them.”
Since the announcement of the formation program was made in early February, Luna and Deacon John Marschewski, minister to deacons, have been traveling the state to conduct informational meetings for inquirers. The final sessions will be held in North Little Rock March 15 and Hot Springs March 16.
By March 10, Marschewski said more than 130 men and their wives attended sessions in English and Spanish. He said he was pleased with the turn out in Fort Smith, Rogers and Springdale with about 50 percent of inquirers attending one of those three meetings. He said the deacons and priests in western and northwestern Arkansas encouraged men to attend and even wrote personal letters to prospective candidates.
Marschewski said he was concerned about the lack of interest of eastern and southeastern Arkansas. One of the goals of the formation program was to recruit deacons for areas where there are few.
In the Eastern Deanery (which encompasses 10 parishes including West Memphis, Forrest City and Helena), there are no deacons currently assigned and only one possible applicant. In the 14-parish Southeastern Deanery, excluding Pine Bluff, there are no deacons currently assigned and no possible applicants.
“For me personally, that is the only negative part of this whole effort,” Marschewski said.
The next step for the program is receiving applications, Marschewski said. Packets, including copies of sacramental records and a photograph, are due by April 8. Following in-person interviews and a discernment period, the final selections will be made in July, he said.
When classes begin August, Wanless said English-speaking and Spanish-speaking candidates and their wives will meet in separate classes, but prayer services, Masses and meals will be held together. When possible, they will bring in bilingual teachers to lead the formation program, he said.
