Of the seven priests ordained June 10 by Archbishop Alex J. Brunett for the Archdiocese of Seattle, one grew up South Snohomish County and another will learn to call this place home.
The seven member ordination class is the largest in the Archdiocese since 1968, when 16 men were ordained.
The Rev. Michael Radermacher, 43, of Lynnwood was a member of St. Pius X Parish in Mountlake Terrace and graduated from St. Pius X School. He has been assigned to St. Charles Borromeo Church of Tacoma, Wash.
The Rev. Duc Nguyen (pronounced “duke win”) has been assigned to St. Thomas More of Lynnwood as parochial vicar. Nguyen was born in Soc Trang in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
“This is an historic event in the life of our faith community and an occasion for celebration and great joy for all Catholics in Western Washington,” Brunett said. “Vocations to the priesthood are an important sign of the church’s vitality and growth.”
The backgrounds of the new priests follow national vocation trends: Of the seven, two are foreign born. Their average age is 36 and six of the seven have post-graduate degrees.
Rev. Radermacher is a graduate of St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif. He earned a bachelors degree in philosophy and a masters degree in theology.
Rev. Radermacher celebrated his first mass June 11 in St. Pius Church.
Rev. Nguyen attended Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Ore., and earned a bachelors degree in philosophy and masters degrees in theology and divinity.
Rev. Nguyen celebrated his first mass June 11 at Immaculate Conception Church of Everett in English at 10 a.m. followed by a mass spoken in Vietnamese at 2:30 p.m.
The other five priests are: Raymond Cleaveland, Bryan Dolejsi, Peter Mactutis, Paul Allen Kaech and Khanh Nguyen.
According to the official Catholic directory, 438 priests were ordained in 2005.
The Seattle Archdiocese ordained one priest in 2005 and five priests in 2004. At the time, the class of 2004 was the largest class for the archdiocese in 23 years.
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