New Deacon Anticipates Becoming Air Force Chaplain

MONONA, WI – The Reverend Mr. Mark Wagner, 2d Lt, USAF, a candidate for the Catholic

priesthood and United States Military chaplaincy, was ordained a transitional deacon on Friday,
May 16, in his home Diocese of Madison, WI. The new deacon hopes eventually to serve as a
Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Air Force providing pastoral care to Catholic airmen and their
families with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
(AMS).

“When I became an altar server in third grade,” the Rev. Mr. Wagner reflected, “I immediately
had a thought that I could be a priest. This thought never left me, and over the years grew into
something that I couldn’t ignore. I am blessed to have had a priestly vocation placed on my heart from a very young age.” His diaconal ordination brings him to the final year of preparation for
priesthood.

In a solemn, spring evening Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Monona, WI,
the Rev. Mr. Wagner, 26, received the sacrament of Holy Orders from Bishop Donald J. Hying
through the laying of hands and invocation of the Holy Spirit. AMS Auxiliary Bishop F. Richard
Spencer concelebrated the 7:00 p.m. ordination Mass. Proudly watching from the congregation
were the new deacon’s parents, Chief Master Sergeant Jeffrey Wagner, (USAF), and Mrs. Karen
Wagner, herself an Air Force Veteran; his brother John Wagner and wife Tess, and sister Sarah and
husband Ross Ramsey.

The Rev. Mr. Wagner has pursued his formation at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in
Winona, MN, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Philosophy from Saint Mary’s
University, and St. Francis de Sales Seminary in St. Francis, WI, where he is pursuing a Master
of Divinity (MDiv) from Sacred Heart School of Theology in Franklin, WI.

Upon priestly ordination next year, the Rev. Mr. Wagner will, under his co-sponsorship
agreement with the AMS, spend the next three years honing his pastoral skills as a diocesan
priest in his home Diocese of Madison before acceding to active duty as an Air Force chaplain.

The eventual priestly military service of the Rev. Mr. Wagner and other Catholic chaplain
candidates is greatly anticipated by the Air Force, which, like all other branches of the U.S.
Military, continues to suffer a chronic shortage of Catholic chaplains. Currently, only 73 priests
are on active duty in the Air Force, serving nearly 80,000 Catholic airmen spread worldwide, not
counting their families, whom Air Force chaplains also serve.