Seven seminarians join Diocese of Little Rock this year

Vocations director says six expected be ordained to the priesthood in 2016

Published: August 27, 2015

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Seven new seminarians joined the Diocese of Little Rock this year, keeping the number of men currently studying to become priests at 44.

While the diocese has experienced larger increases in seminarians in the state over the past decade, the number leveled off this year. From 2005 to 2015 the seminarian enrollment increased 65 percent, according to diocesan statistics.

Vocations director Msgr. Scott Friend said the diocese could see its largest ordination class ever in 2018 with eight new priests. The average age of a diocesan priest is projected to drop to 48 years old. When Msgr. Friend was ordained in 1987, he said the average priest was 67 years old.

“We have a very different future than we did just a few years ago,” he said.

The new seminarians this fall are:

Nathan Ashburn, 26, son of Deacon Chuck and Juliann Ashburn. They are members of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. Ashburn will study through the House of Formation in Little Rock.
Tito Zarate, 18, son of Tito and Carmen Zarate. They attend St. Augustine Church in Dardanelle. He also is studying at the House of Formation.
Mark Johns, 19, son of Michael and Julie Johns, now of Baton Rouge, La. Johns, formerly of Blessed Sacrament Church in Jonesboro, is the brother of seminarian Michael Johns. He is studying at Conception Seminary College in Missouri.
John Paul Hartnedy, 18, son of Deacon Danny and Stephanie Hartnedy. They are members of St. Edward Church in Little Rock. He will also study at Conception Seminary College.
Daniel Mayorga, 27, son of Darlen Victoria Soto Cortas of Colombia. He will study through the House of Formation.
Luis Ruiz, 27, son of Javier and Damaris Ruiz of Colombia. He is studying at the House of Formation.
One seminarian joined the diocese in January. Tuyen Ngoc Do, 38, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is originally from Vietnam. He is the son of the late Tam Quang Do and Lieu Thi Tran. He is attending Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corner, Wis.

Six seminarians who were ordained deacons in 2014 and 2015 are scheduled to become priests in 2016. They are:

Deacons Luis Miguel Pacheco, Mario Jacobo and Taryn Whittington, all of Little Rock
Deacon Joseph Chan of Fort Smith
Deacon Norman McFall of Pine Bluff
Deacon Stephen Gadberry of Wynne

Other returning seminarians include:

n Stephen Hart, Patrick Friend, Joseph de Orbegozo, Stephen Elser, Jeff Hebert, Martin Amaro, Jon Miskin, Emmanuel Torres, Joseph Friend, Daniel Wendel, Isidro Negrete, Patrick Saint-Jean, Ben Riley and Brian Cundall, all of Little Rock