May 7, 2007VOL. 45, NO. 9Oakland, CA

Two men to be ordained for the Oakland Diocese

By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

Bishop Allen Vigneron will ordain Carl Arcosa and Paul Chen as priests for the Oakland Diocese on May 18. The ceremony will take place at All Saints Church in Hayward at 7 p.m. Below is a brief profile of each of the future priests.

Carl Arcosa

Carl Arcosa
Carl Arcosa begins a new chapter in his journey of faith on May 18. He credits two women for giving life and shape to that journey – his mother and his grandmother.

Arcosa, 30, said it was his mother who taught him and his two brothers the value of love, diligence, dedication and patience. She taught not only with words but also by example. An elementary school teacher in a barrio in the Philippines, she helped to supplement the family income (his father worked in Saudi Arabia) by opening an eatery near a transportation hub in Iloilo City.

“Early in the morning, she would go to the market, cook the food to be sold in the eatery and afterwards go to school to teach. A very tiring routine, but I could see in her eyes the love of a true mother. She was always ready to sacrifice her time and all that she had for her children,” Arcosa said.

While his mother tended to his physical needs, Arcosa’s grandmother, whom he called “Lola Lumen,” nurtured his spirit. She helped him develop a love for the Mass by first taking the then four-year-old to morning Mass. She taught him how to pray novenas to Our Lady and prepared him for his First Communion.

“My Lola was a very pious person. She participated in the daily Masses and prayed the Rosary almost every day. I looked up to my Lola as my second mother.”

Arcosa became involved in parish life at an early age. He was an altar server, assisting Jesuit priests who were from the China Province. The Jesuits provided him with food, catechesis and shared their love for the Eucharist and “faithful service.”

Arcosa remembers “the old Father Clement,” who rode around town on his bicycle to visit the sick, an outreach that the young altar server admired. Another priest gained the youth’s attention for his commitment to the ministry of reconciliation.

“He stayed many hours in the confessional box hearing the confessions of many wounded and broken people.” Both priests would later help Arcosa to enter the seminary.

During his high school and college years Arcosa attended Jaro Archdiocese’s St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary where he overcame a low grade point average, a disciplinary issue, and self-doubts to graduate from the philosophy program with honors.

He took a break from his seminary studies to address some family issues before resuming his theological studies and formation at San Jose Major Seminary in Manila.

He continued his formation in the Oakland Diocese and enrolled at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park in 2005. He spent the last two years as a pastoral minister at St. Ignatius Parish in Antioch and St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Livermore.

As his ordination approaches, Arcosa believes that God’s love brought him to this point in his life’s journey. “I am convinced that God calls me to serve him as his priest and to be a servant of his people.”

Paul Chen

Paul Chen
Paul Chen’s joy at being ordained to the priesthood on May 18 is not his alone. That joy will be extended to generations of his family.

“My family are all Roman Catholic,” he told The Voice. “My family started Catholic life with my great-grandmother. My family has been Catholic for six generations – they are happy about my priestly vocation.”

His ordination is not likely to have occurred if he had remained in the land of his birth. A native of Fujian, China, Chen did not pursue the priesthood because of religious persecution of Chinese Catholics who are loyal to the pope and the Church in Rome. Clergy and seminarians of this so-called “underground church” are sometimes arrested and detained by the Communist government.

“My parents were very scared about the situation,” Chen said. After leaving China in 1991, he was freed from the threat of persecution and able to follow this calling from God.

“I strongly believe that my priestly vocation came from God and I am so happy that God chose me to be his servant working in the Church,” he said.

Chen, 53, noted that the word “priest” means father of the soul or spiritual father. “The priest is a leader of the souls and I am happy with it. Being a priest means a lot to me. I can freely serve God and the Church, working for the souls of the people. I can introduce God to the people and bring God’s love to them.”

The oldest of four siblings, Chen attended elementary and high schools in China. He studied to receive a special license in quality control for construction businesses and worked in that field as well as being a furniture maker for a number of years.

Chen joined the Order of the Servants of Mary in 1993. He left the order in 2000 when he was studying in Rome and was accepted by the Oakland Diocese as a diocesan seminarian. Previously, he had studied philosophy at St. Carlos Seminary in Manila and recently completed his theological studies at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park.

Chen looks back on his experiences at the seminary with gratitude.

“First, in the seminary one learns theology and it strengthens one’s faith and love. Secondly, in the seminary one can easily find one’s shortcomings. It is a wonderful time for one to be formed and corrected.”

Most importantly, he added, his time in the seminary allowed him to “grow in love of God and others.”

In addition to being able to celebrate the sacraments with the community of God, Chen said he is most looking forward to helping bring more people into the Catholic Church.

“That is my dream and desire. I believe that a healthy Church must be a missionary Church. I will try to form Catholic communities to be mission communities because only by the effort of all members of the Church can evangelization become possible.”

back to top

home