{"id":62299,"date":"2026-07-31T08:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T08:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/62299\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T08:05:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T08:05:02","slug":"sydney-archdiocese-prepares-to-ordain-three-new-priests-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/62299\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Archdiocese prepares to ordain three new priests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Deacons Lukasz Golab, Peter Van Khu\u01a1ng Tran. Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography \u00a9 2026<\/p>\n

Three men preparing to be ordained priests for the\u00a0Catholic\u00a0Archdiocese of Sydney on 8 August at St Mary\u2019s Cathedral have reflected on the faith, formation and moments of grace that led them to answer God\u2019s call.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Deacons Lukasz Golab, Peter Van Khu\u01a1ng Tran and Stephen Howard, the journey to the priesthood has been marked by years of discernment and pastoral formation, with each sharing how God gently guided them through personal challenges and a growing desire to serve the church.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Growing up in Poland, Deacon Lucas said his love for the\u00a0church developed from an early age.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite interesting because\u00a0the desire to\u00a0go to church\u00a0came from me,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very close to the\u00a0church, not only on Sunday, but also on weekdays.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As he grew older, friendships with priests and seminarians in the Diocese of Warsaw-Praga became an important source of encouragement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been a great inspiration for me.\u00a0I think all of that culminated and brought me here, where I am now,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deacon Peter also credits his childhood for nurturing his vocation. Raised in a deeply Catholic family, attending Mass was a daily part of life, often beginning before dawn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he never doubted God\u2019s call, he admitted questioning his own worthiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never doubted\u00a0God\u00a0but\u00a0I\u00a0doubt myself. Am I suitable for this,\u00a0am I\u00a0ready to take up this lifestyle\u00a0because\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not worthy,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there are times\u00a0I told Jesus,\u00a0as St Peter\u00a0did,\u00a0\u2018I am a sinful man,\u00a0don\u2019t come close to me.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why there are times I doubt, but it\u2019s\u00a0about myself rather than doubt in God\u2019s call for me,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Deacon Stephen, his vocation began to take shape\u00a0a year\u00a0after returning to the sacraments while studying at the University of New South Wales.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI became involved with an Alpha program on campus, and from there was invited to a FOCUS conference in Chicago,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Deacon Stephen Howard. Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography \u00a9 2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe powerful moments in\u00a0Eucharistic\u00a0adoration and Mass with 9000 other young Catholics, and the stirring witness from speakers like\u00a0the actor\u00a0Jim Caviezel, helped me to take my faith more\u00a0seriously.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He went on to read\u00a0St Augustine\u2019s\u00a0Confessions\u00a0and serve\u00a0the poor with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata\u00a0while\u00a0deepening his discernment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Upon returning to Australia, he applied to the seminary\u00a0and began his formation\u00a0that has taken\u00a0him from Sydney\u2019s Seminary of the Good Shepherd to the Pontifical North American College in Rome.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy formation been full of incredible privileges to be at the heart of the\u00a0church, so close to the bones of St Peter and the first Christians,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although living overseas has been one of the greatest challenges of formation, he said it has also deepened his appreciation for Australia and strengthened his desire to serve the local\u00a0church.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As\u00a0their\u00a0ordinations\u00a0draw near, each deacon\u00a0has been\u00a0preparing in\u00a0different ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since October, Deacon Lucas has been serving at St Michael\u2019s Parish, Meadowbank, where pastoral ministry has become an important part of his transition from seminary life to ordained ministry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Deacon Peter, the final weeks include a retreat, sustained\u00a0prayer\u00a0and practical preparation to celebrate the sacraments for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time for me to learn how to celebrate Mass and hear confessions so I can better minister those sacraments,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deacon Stephen recently completed a silent retreat in a Benedictine monastery in southern England\u00a0and\u00a0said he is looking forward to bringing people back to Christ through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am greatly looking forward to being an instrument of God\u2019s love and mercy,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so convinced of\u00a0his desire to tell all people of\u00a0his tender\u00a0heart.\u00a0To let them know it will be okay, that\u00a0he loves them, and there is nothing that can stand in the way of\u00a0his love.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deacons Lukasz Golab, Peter Van Khu\u01a1ng Tran. Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography \u00a9 2026 Three men preparing to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6433,72362,72363,8604,247,72364],"class_list":["post-62299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-highlights","tag-priesthood","tag-seminary-of-the-good-shepherd","tag-st-marys-cathedral","tag-sydney","tag-vocations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}