Still Running Off at the Keyboard

Deacon Joseph Levine is still a deacon in the diocese, but will not be ordained to the priesthood, Marianna Thompson, the diocesan communications director, said Tuesday.

The diocese announced late last week that Deacon Levine would not be ordained Saturday in Paterson as previously scheduled, but released no other details. Four other men were ordained.

Ms. Thompson confirmed Deacon Levine’s ordination is off permanently, a result of the “discernment” process during which the deacon and church officials examined his call to the priesthood.

“As we deepened and widened our discernment process, we discerned not to ordain Mr. Levine,” she said. “He will not serve as a priest in the Paterson diocese.”

Deacon Levine is the former superior general of the Society of St. John, a clerical association once headquartered at a rural compound at Shohola in Pike County. Recognized by the Diocese of Scranton in 1998, the society was suppressed by Bishop Joseph F. Martino in 2004.

Read the rest...