Most Reverend Douglas J. Lucia, Bishop of Syracuse, has appointed Tom Andino as the Director of Deacon Formation, effective August 1, 2024. Tom is succeeding Fr. Mark Kaminski who served as both the Director of Deacon Formation and Pastor of Church of the Sacred Heart & St. Mary, Our Lady of Czestochowa, New York Mills. This transition will enable Father Kaminski to provide assistance with pastoral needs in the Greater Utica area. He will continue to teach in the Deacon Formation program.
Tom Andino is well known within the diocese serving as Music Director at Our Lady of Hope Church and St. Michaels-St. Peter Church which he will continue. He served as Director of the Office of Campus Minister, Liturgy and Music at Le Moyne College and an Instructor for the Deacon Formation Program. He has his Bachelor of Music from the State University of New York at Potsdam-Crane School of Music and Master of Arts in Theology from St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry.
Deacon Formation Programs in the Catholic Church are training programs for men interested in becoming ordained as permanent deacons. These programs are focused on the integration of the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral dimensions of ministry. Qualified applicants are practicing Catholic men, age 35 years or older, who feel called to serve as deacons. In the Syracuse Diocese, formation involves a six-year commitment to theological studies, spiritual formation and pastoral training.
For more information, contact Danielle E. Cummings, Chancellor/Director of Communications at 315. 470.1476.