Twelve men --- the largest group in a decade --- were ordained to the transitional diaconate for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Nov. 17 at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo.

Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar, with Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Solis also present, ordained the 12, plus Augustinian Recollect Brother Michael Stechmann, to the Sacred Order of Deacon. The men will serve as deacons from now until their ordination to the priesthood next spring.

Ordained for Los Angeles (with their home parishes listed) were:

Randy Campos, St. John of God, Norwalk; Angel Castro, St. Matthew, Long Beach; William Crowe, St. John Baptist de La Salle, Granada Hills; Timothy Klosterman, St. Mary, Palmdale; Thai Le, Incarnation, Glendale; Long Nguyen, St. Catherine Laboure, Torrance; Brian Nunes, St. Augustine, Culver City; Fidelis Omeaku, St. Bernadette, Los Angeles; Leo Ortega, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pasadena; Preston Passos, Our Lady of the Valley, Canoga Park; Hieu Tran, Our Lady of the Assumption, Claremont; and Ricardo Viveros, St. Margaret Mary, Lomita.

The last large class of ordinands for Los Angeles was in 1998, when 14 were ordained.

On Nov. 3, Bishop Tod Brown ordained St. John's seminarians William Hubbard and Joseph Nguyen as transitional deacons at Holy Family Cathedral for the Diocese of Orange. And on Nov. 18, seminarian Cal Christiansen was ordained a transitional deacon for the Archdiocese of Seattle by Bishop Eusebio Elizondo.

Ordained for service of charity and the proclamation of the word, deacons continue the ministry of Christ the Servant. As part of their formation for priesthood, all candidates must first be ordained to the diaconate and exercise diaconal service.