(Left to right) Seminarian Conrad Jaconette, Bishop William F. Medley, and seminarian Christopher Kight smile for a picture after the Oct. 24, 2021 Rite of Candidacy at St. Joseph Parish in Bowling Green. COURTESY OF BISHOP WILLIAM F. MEDLEY
Two seminarians complete the Rite of Candidacy
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
On Oct. 24, 2021, seminarians Christopher Kight and Conrad Jaconette completed the Rite of Candidacy during Mass at St. Joseph Parish in Bowling Green, at which Bishop William F. Medley had presided.
Fr. Daniel Dillard, vocations director for the Diocese of Owensboro, told The Western Kentucky Catholic that the Rite of Candidacy is the step in the formation process where the seminarian publicly declares that he intends to become a priest, and is therefore considered a candidate for Holy Orders.
For Kight, this is the final step before he is ordained to the transitional diaconate. Jaconette will still need to receive the ministries of Lector and Acolyte.
Fr. Dillard said this is because when Kight was on his two pastoral years at St. Joseph Parish, St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology (where the Owensboro diocese sends its seminarians for major seminary) changed where candidacy falls in the overall process.
“They were following the lead of other U.S. seminaries in moving it from just before diaconate to the beginning of first theology,” said Fr. Dillard.
The celebration was held at St. Joseph Parish because the two seminarians share a strong connection to the parish. Jaconette considers it his “home parish” even though he grew up outside the diocese (he joined the Catholic Church in 2017), and Kight spent the last two years stationed there.
Learn more
To learn more about vocations in the Diocese of Owensboro, visit owensborovocations.com.
Originally printed in the December 2021 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
