New deacon seen as gift to Hispanic community

VANCOUVER—The ordination of a permanent deacon from El Salvador marks a new dawn in his life and in the lives of local Hispanic Catholics.

Deacon Raul Solano was ordained at Holy Rosary Cathedral Dec. 8 at a Mass celebrated entirely in Spanish.

“I feel very excited. I expected it was going to be a nice celebration but I didn’t expect it was going to be so beautiful,” said Deacon Solano. “I really felt the presence of God.”

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, celebrated the Mass, including the entire ordination rite, in Spanish, something the new deacon sees as a “great gift to the Latin American community.” It was “a pure gesture of the Church, as a mother, including everybody as her children.”

Deacon Solano grew up in El Salvador and spent five years in a Franciscan seminary before deciding the priesthood wasn’t for him. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in Guatemala, got his master’s in Spanish literature in Texas, married Maria, moved to Canada, and raised their four children along with many foster children.

Then, nearly 30 years after leaving the seminary, the call to ordination sounded in his life again and he joined the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s permanent diaconate program.

He called his ordination a “special moment” in his life. “I started singing, but then when I heard the people asking for (intercession from) all the saints and the Virgin Mary, there was a moment that my voice went off. I felt in communion with the saints.”

Father Richard Zanotti, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, which hosts weekly Spanish Masses, said the solemn ceremony gives a message to the wider Church.

“While we celebrate, we’re proud of having a member of the community becoming a deacon, but it’s also a message to the local Church that we’re here and we want to contribute,” he told The B.C. Catholic.

“We’ve come to this country but we have a lot we brought with us and we want to participate fully and contribute to the growth of the Church.”

Deacon Solano is the second permanent deacon fluent in Spanish to be ordained for the archdiocese. The first was Vancouver-born Deacon Bruce Fraser, ordained in 2015.

Maria, Deacon Solano’s wife of nearly 30 years, is incredibly proud. “Throughout the whole Mass I felt really connected and really joyful, but the moment (of consecration) was really special.”

She felt a “strong connection with the Hispanic community” and was grateful to Archbishop Miller for celebrating the whole Mass in her native language. “I like the way he speaks. He does it with his heart.”

During his homily, Archbishop Miller admonished the new deacon to invite the faithful to participate in deeper conversion and holiness.

“You should maintain an intimate and personal contact with Jesus through his word so that you communicate it effectively and comprehensively in the community,” he said in Spanish.

“In a special way, you should preach the word of God by your example in the environment in which you serve, in your family, in your work, in every place.”

Deacon Solano reached out to migrant farm workers from Guatemala as a lay person and anticipates he’ll continue to do so as a permanent deacon.