When Bishop George Murry, S.J., ordained Christopher Cicero and John Sheridan as the two newest diocesan priests July 17 in St. Columba Cathedral, the celebration had all the appropriate liturgical pomp and circumstance associated with such a significant day in the life of the Diocese of Youngstown.

But as more than a few persons in the congregation remarked afterward, it was the thick, dark hair of the two new members of the clergy amid a sea of mostly gray in the opening procession and in the sanctuary that stood out starkly as a symbol of this day. It reminded those present that these two young men – along with Father Brian Cline, ordained May 29 by Bishop Murry in the same cathedral – will be part of the foundation of the priesthood in the diocese for decades to come.

The ordination of Father Cicero and Father Sheridan brings the number of priests age 40 or younger in the diocese to nine. With several more ordinations scheduled for 2011, the day was a bright sign of hope for a diocesan church that has struggled in recent years with a decline in the number of active clergy. The latter was one of the driving factors behind the recent reconfiguration of diocesan parishes announced by Bishop Murry in May of this year. That process will complete its second phase over the next two years.

The combined choirs of Warren St. James (Father Cicero’s home parish), Boardman St. Charles (Father Sheridan’s home parish), and St. Columba Cathedral provided the music for the ordination, held on a hot and muggy morning in a spacious cathedral without a seat to spare.

The two new priests, who celebrated their First Masses the following day in their home parishes, will return to Rome this fall for additional graduate study, before returning to the diocese late next summer for their first pastoral assignments.

Father Cline received his first assignment this week, that of parochial vicar (associate pastor) of Canton St. Michael Parish.