Tomorrow afternoon His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, will ordain eleven men to the Sacred Order of Deacons in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. One of the men to be ordained, Scott Snider, is a seminarian for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

A former Protestant minister, Scott entered the full communion of the Catholic Church in 2003 with his wife Pam and has been working as a Pastoral Associate at St. Gregory the Great parish in Chicago since 2004.

After Scott completed his studies and formation for the priesthood at Mundelein Seminary, Bishop Paprocki requested the permission of the Holy Father to ordain Scott to the priesthood under what is known as "the pastoral provision."

Last week the Holy Father granted his permission; the timing of the response did not allow time to publicize the announcement.

When Scott learned of the affirmative response of the Holy Father he asked to be ordained by Cardinal George, who was already scheduled to ordain ten men tomorrow to the diaconate; Bishop Paprocki granted his permission.

Please keep Scott in your prayers.

I will attend the ordination and hope to be able to provide a few pictures.