May 15, 2019 (Louisville, KY)–On Saturday, May 25, 2019, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. will ordain Deacons Anthony Leo Cecil, Jr., Steven James Reeves, and Kirby Brecklyn Rust to the diocesan priesthood for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville. The ordination will take place at 11:00 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption, 433 South Fifth Street.
Deacon Anthony Leo Cecil, Jr., 26, is a native of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He is the son of Anthony L. Cecil, Jr. and Violet J. Vincent who live in Elizabethtown. Deacon Cecil earned a bachelor of arts in Catholic studies from Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana, a master of divinity from Saint Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana, and a bachelor of sacred theology in liturgy from the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome, through Saint Meinrad Seminary. Deacon Cecil will celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, May 26, 12:15 p.m., at Saint James Parish (307 West Dixie Avenue, Elizabethtown). After ordination, he will serve as associate pastor of Epiphany Catholic Church and Saint Martin de Porres Parish in Louisville, Kentucky.
Deacon Steven James Reeves, 33, a native of Conway, South Carolina who grew up in Louisville, is the son of Robert and Elza Reeves of Anderson, South Carolina. Deacon Reeves was raised in the Southern Baptist tradition and was received into the Catholic Church in 2010. He earned a bachelor of science in mathematics, a master of arts in secondary education and a master of arts in mathematics from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. In seminary, he earned a master of arts in Catholic Philosophical Studies and a master of divinity from Saint Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana. Deacon Reeves will celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, May 26, noon, at Saint Louis Bertrand Parish (1104 South Sixth Street, Louisville). After ordination, Deacon Reeves will serve as associate pastor of Saint Boniface and Saint Patrick Parishes in Louisville, Kentucky.
Deacon Kirby Brecklyn Rust, 26, is a native of New Haven, Kentucky and the son of Chuck and Beth Rust of New Haven. He earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri and a master of arts in theology and a master of divinity from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary of the West in Cincinnati, Ohio. Deacon Rust will celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, May 26, at 11:00 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Saint Catherine Parish (413 1st Street, New Haven, Kentucky). After ordination, Deacon Rust will serve as an associate pastor of Saint James Parish in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
These three men will serve as diocesan priests for the Archdiocese of Louisville. A bishop ordains diocesan priests, also called secular priests, for a particular geographical area called a diocese or archdiocese. Diocesan priests usually serve in parishes, though they also may serve in schools, hospitals, prisons or diocesan offices, depending upon local needs. Diocesan priests ordained for the Archdiocese of Louisville serve in the 24 counties in Central Kentucky that make up the Archdiocese.
Media wishing to interview any of the deacons should plan on interviews after the ordination liturgy (at approximately 1:00 p.m.) or contact us for an interview in the days before the ordination.
For information, call: Cecelia Price at 502/585-3291 (office) or 502/417-7187 (cell).
