Seminarian Nye Joseph Wiley will be ordained a transitional deacon by the Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 2, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling.
Priests, deacons and religious of the diocese, as well as Wiley’s family and friends, will gather for the ordination where he will promise obedience to the bishop and his successors and take on the vow of celibacy. As a transitional deacon, Wiley will then spend a year preaching the Gospel preparing for ordination to the priesthood. He will begin his ministry as a deacon through his summer assignment at the Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Charleston, W.Va.
During his ordination, Wiley will be vested with the stole and dalmatic by either fellow deacons or priests. He will also take on the vow of celibacy. The bishop will then present to Wiley the Book of the Gospels, so that he may proclaim the Good News and model his life after Christ. As he presents the Book of the Gospels, the bishop will say to him, “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach.”
Wiley converted to the faith 13 years ago. He was baptized at the Seoul Cathedral in South Korea in 2005 and confirmed at Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2008. He is the only son of Nye and Mary Wiley. He grew up in Minneapolis and spent eight years working in South Korea as an English teacher.
Wiley received a degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2009. As a seminarian, he studied philosophy for two years at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and is currently working on a Masters of Divinity at Theological College Seminary at the Catholic University of America.