Scottish Catholic Observer

Deacon Paul Denney, a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in East Kilbride, will be ordained a priest on Friday evening at 6pm — the last of an incredible 12 priestly ordinations in Scotland this year.

Deacon Denney, who was a seminarian at the Scots College in Rome, returns to his home parish as he makes the final step in his journey towards the priesthood, where hundreds of his family, friends, parishioners, fellow seminarians, and clergy from across the Diocese of Motherwell and beyond are expected to attend.

Speaking to the SCO ahead of his ordination, Deacon Denney reflected on the words of Pope St John Paul II, who said ‘don’t be afraid’, for others that might be considering a call to the priesthood.

“I think that’s important,” he said, “To let that vocation, even if it’s at a very early stage in your heart, to be there and to try not to fight it.”

He spoke of engaging in prayer in order to ‘deepen your relationship with the Lord’ while discerning a possible vocation to priestly life, and taking the opportunity to attend daily Mass if possible, as well as speaking to your parish priest or a priest friend about your vocation.

“Openly and honestly let the Lord into your heart to see if He’s calling you,” he added.

Deacon Denney, who himself once worked for the SCO, spent two years in Rome after finishing high school, later returning to Scotland to take on a job in the SCO’s advertising department for six months, before going on to study at the University of St Andrews.

He then returned to the Scots College in Rome as a seminarian, an experience he has ‘loved’.

“I love studying here; it’s been an amazing opportunity and you really get a sense of the universal side of the Church,” Deacon Denney said, and who is currently undertaking a Licence in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, while living at the Scots College. “It’s an incredible place to be.”

He also praised the wonderful sense of friendship he has found there over the course of his studies for the priesthood, speaking of the ‘fraternity’ among the community of seminarians, which he notes as important to have once returning back to the UK to begin priestly life.

Studying in Rome has also given him the chance to make friends from countries all over the world, including Italy, France, Spain and the USA, with whom he hopes to keep in touch.

The ordination Mass will be led by Bishop Joseph Toal of Motherwell, along with parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes, Mgr Thomas Millar, and a number of other members of concelebrating clergy.

Family and friends from England, Canada and Rome are attending his ordination, while most of the seminarians studying alongside Deacon Denney will be returning home to be present at the Mass, as well as parishioners from other parishes he has been in on pastoral placement.

He will be vested by Mgr Millar, not only for his good example as a priest but also too because as parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes he represents the people of the parish, symbolising that Deacon Denney will be vested a priest by the parishioners.

Deacon Denney said he is ‘mostly excited’ for his ordination on Friday, and has been ‘quite overwhelmed by the prayers and support of so many people: family, friends and parishioners I’ve gotten to know over the years’.

It was in his own ‘wonderful parish’ growing up that the ‘seed of the vocation was sown’ while as an altar server in his youngers years, as well as the good example of other priests.

“One of the main things was the example of other priests,” he said, noting that ‘often with a vocation to the priesthood you can feel it’, but it is through the support and help of other priests and with the grace of God that this can be nurtured.

Deacon Denney described the great importance of meeting other priests and seeing their witness to the priesthood, as well as the support of his brother seminarians, both past and present, at the Scots College in Rome.

“You can’t do it alone,” he added.