Do you already have the heart of a deacon? Do you have passion for Christ-like charity? Do you exhibit diaconal gifts in everyday life? Deacons share in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way. The call to diaconal service is a gift of the Spirit to the Church.

Are you called to diaconal service? Father Steve Pautler, director of permanent deacon formation for the Diocese of Belleville, says most permanent deacons are called by their community because they have taken an active part in their local parish.

A young man who grew up in the parish of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville was ordained to the sacred priesthood for the Diocese of Belleville. Bishop Michael McGovern conferred the sacrament of Holy Orders upon Father Thomas Lugge June 4 at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville. Father Lugge had a calling to ordained ministry from an early age, first thinking about the priesthood in third grade. The idea stayed with him until junior year in high school when he began to seriously discern if God was calling him to be a priest. Father Lugge was appointed Parochial Vicar at St. Nicholas Parish in O’Fallon, effective July 1, 2022.

Each year on Holy Saturday during the Easter Vigil, thousands are baptized into the Catholic Church in the United States. Parishes welcome these new Catholics through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). This is true for individuals and families from around the Diocese of Belleville, who made professions of faith to the Catholic church, receiving the sacraments of confirmation and communion, or were baptized. Sister Laura Reynolds, a Franciscan Sister of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, is one of many coordinators of RCIA throughout the Diocese of Belleville. For 10 years, she has served in Franklin County, which includes three parishes and two chapels.