Amid what the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) describes as a shortage of Catholic chaplains, a newly ordained transitional deacon from the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, says he hopes to address the need and serve as a U.S. Navy chaplain, according to a June 9 AMS press release.
Deacon Paul Keenan's future service comes as the Navy continues seeking additional Catholic chaplains, according to the release. The Navy currently has 55 priests on active duty and 16 in the Reserve serving more than 130,000 Catholic sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and their families worldwide.
Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing ordained Deacon Keenan to the transitional diaconate June 6 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Coffey of the Archdiocese for the Military Services concelebrated the ordination Mass.
According to the release, Keenan is expected to be ordained to the priesthood in 2027. He will then serve three years in the Diocese of Lansing before becoming eligible for active-duty military chaplaincy.
As Zeale News previously reported, a record 38 men participated in an AMS discernment retreat earlier this year focused on the “vocation within a vocation” of serving as both Catholic priests and U.S. military chaplains.
“I felt the Lord calling me to follow Him closely,” Keenan said in the release. “Sharing life with Him deeply and seeking to make His love visible to others.”