Deacon Joseph Moynahan, Bishop Peter A. Libasci and Deacon David Gagnon

MANCHESTER – The Most Rev. Peter A. Libasci, Bishop of Manchester, ordained Rev. Mr. David Gagnon and Rev. Mr. Joseph Moynahan to the transitional diaconate at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Manchester on May 30.

The diaconate is the first of three ranks of ordained ministry in the Catholic Church, which also include the priesthood and the episcopacy, or the ministry of a bishop. Men studying for the priesthood are ordained as transitional deacons prior to beginning their final year of study before ordination to the priesthood. Deacons are able to preach at Mass, baptize, and celebrate weddings.

“We give thanks to God that, even in these uncertain times, he continues to call men in our diocese to consider a vocation to the priesthood,” Libasci said. “These young men are aware of the challenges but are also emboldened to prepare to be faithful priests who help to build up the Church here in New Hampshire. I ask that you please keep all of our seminarians in your prayers and continue to pray for more vocations to the priesthood here in the Diocese of Manchester.”

Gagnon is the son of Marcel and Constance Gagnon. A parishioner of Saint Anthony of Padua Parish, he grew up in Manchester, and attended Trinity High School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Providence College in Rhode Island, and served as a police officer in Derry from 2016 to 2018.

He is now beginning his fourth year of Theology at Saint Meinrad Seminary, Indiana. He was vested at ordination by Rev. Charles Pawlowski and has a summer assignment at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Manchester.

Moynahan is the son of Robert and Carla Moynahan and is a parishioner of Corpus Christi Parish in Portsmouth. Growing up in Eliot, Maine, he attended Marshwood High School in South Berwick, and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana, Evansvillle, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. He worked as a registered nurse at the Portsmouth Regional Hospital until he entered the seminary. He is now beginning his fourth year of Theology at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts.

He was vested at ordination by Rev. Msgr. Edward Kelley; his summer assignment will be at a parish in New Hampshire to be determined.

The Diocese of Manchester currently has 13 men preparing for the priesthood at seminaries in Brighton, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Saint Meinrad, Indiana; Orchard Lake, Michigan; and Cromwell, Connecticut. For more information about vocations to the priesthood and religious life, visit www.CatholicNH.org/

Vocations.

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