Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
August 9, 2000
National award presented posthumously to priest
By Peter Droege
Pamela Norwood, coordinator in the Office for Deacons accepted a prestigious service award presented posthumously to Father Marcian O'Meara during a national gathering of deacons in June.
Representatives of Pope John Paul II, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Latin American bishops' council were joined by a record 920 deacons and their wives at the National Catholic Diaconate Conference held in June at St. Mary's College in Moraga, Calif.
"There is no way to express the passion and love Father O'Meara had for the diaconate," Norwood told the Register. "He was known and loved throughout the United States and the program he helped develop continues to serve as a model for diaconate programs around the country," she added.
Held every three years, the national conference is the largest gathering of U.S. deacons and their wives. This year's theme was "The Deacon in the Third Millennium: A New Evangelization."
Norwood accepted the "Bart O'Leary Award" for outstanding service to the National Association of Diaconate Directors in memory of Father O'Meara.
Father O'Meara attended Conception Seminary in Conception, Missouri, and was ordained by John Cardinal Cody on May 30, 1959, and received his Benedictine abbotial blessing from John Cardinal Carberry on April 14, 1972.
After serving at Conception Seminary and St. Pius X Abbey, Father O'Meara left monastic life and was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Denver on Aug. 12, 1980. He was assigned as a chaplain to St. Anthony Hospital and began to establish a reputation as a visionary leader.
In addition to his duties at St. Anthony, Father O'Meara served as a chaplain to the nuns at St. Walburga Abbey, as the secretary for Religious and for the Permanent Diaconate, as the director of the Office for Vocations, as pastor at Good Shepherd Parish and numerous other assignments in the archdiocese.
"I worked with him for 13-and-a-half years," recalled Norwood. "The award presented in his memory is a tribute to him, and a real honor for the Archdiocese of Denver," she added.
On June 1, 1970, the diaconate formation program was established by Father Leo Horrigan, now pastor of Notre Dame Parish. In October, 1971, Father Robert Amundsen, now pastor of John XXIII University Parish in Fort Collins was assigned to assist with the program. Father Robert Harrington and Msgr. Edward Madden, now pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Boulder, also assisted. In 1980, Father O'Meara was appointed to direct the program.
In addition to Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States, and the Latin American and Canadian representatives, speakers at the national deacons gathering included Auxiliary Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Chicago, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Diaconate and Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles. Deacon Alfonso Sandoval, secretary for the diaconate in the Archdiocese of Denver, also attended the gathering.
Since the diaconate was restored as a permanent, distinct ministry in the church in the late 1960s, U.S. dioceses have ordained some 13,000 deacons - about half the total worldwide.
