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one young man to be ordained for the diocese in june

Story by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

The Rev. Mr. Anthony Onyango will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Belleville at 10:30 a.m. June 11 at St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville. Everyone is welcome to the liturgy.

Deacon Onyango comes from the Diocese of Eldoret in the Rift Valley in western Kenya.
He came to the United States in 2007 to study for the diocese after he had been in the seminary studying to be a missionary for the Society of African Missions.

The deacon began to think of the priesthood in the fifth grade, he said, after meeting then Father Anthony Crowley. Now a bishop in a neighboring Kenyan diocese, he inspired the young boy with his prayer and his reverence at the liturgies.

At that time, he thought perhaps God was calling him to the priesthood. Later, he saw a video of St. Damien ministering to people with Hansen’s disease (leprosy) on the island of Moloka‘i, and “then I thought God was really calling me” to the priesthood.

Deacon Onyango is pleased that his mother, Prof. Rosebella Onyango, will attend his ordination along with several of his siblings and other relatives.

His father, Joseph, died in 1995.Since coming to the diocese, the deacon has spent holidays in various parishes, including St. John in West Frankfort, Holy Trinity in Fairview Heights and St. Mary in Belleville.

For the last year, he has lived and ministered in the Carbondale area which includes St. Francis Xavier Parish and the Newman Center.