Meet Our 2022 Ordinandi
Rev. Mr. Peter Lukow
Rev. Mr. Peter Lukow, 36, is the eldest of two children. He has been involved in the life of his parishes in Courtice, Ontario, in some capacity since the age of 9. Growing up as a lector and a music minister, Peter has given his talents to the Church in some manner for over 25 years. While in high school, the thought of priesthood never entered his mind. Peter had a desire to be a teacher, and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at post-secondary education, Peter settled down long enough to join the work force. In 2009, Peter began to discern more seriously the possibility of a vocation to the priesthood. In April of 2013, Peter’s employment was terminated and he began searching for what to do next. While already involved in the Knights of Columbus, and parish music ministry, he decided to assist with the fledgling youth ministry. It was through this ministry that he met the vocations director of the Diocese of Peterborough. He recalls that in August 2013, he went on a retreat and it was there that in the stillness of the Muskokas, being away from the noise of the world that he clearly recalls feeling being guided to the priesthood. It was shortly after the retreat that Peter would enter the discernment program in the Diocese of Peterborough and enter the seminary. Peter is looking forward to his upcoming ordination and serving the people of the Diocese of Peterborough.
Br. John Xinliang Wang, C.D.D.
Br. John Xinliang Wang , 31, was born in Tianjin, China and grew up in a traditional Catholic family as the oldest of two children. He is grateful for the gift of faith received from his parents and the opportunity to get to know God through the lively faith of the community at his parish. From an early age, John was intrigued by the Church and served as an altar server throughout his childhood and volunteered at Catholic summer camps in his teenage years. When he was in high school, he heard God’s voice: “You are going to be a priest”. From that moment on, he decided to respond to God's call. At the suggestion of his pastor, he went to university and continued to discern. After graduating he joined a religious order, the Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord. In 2015, he was sent to Singapore for his Postulancy and Novitiate. In 2016, he made his first profession of vows. After that, he was sent to Toronto for his philosophy formation at St. Phillip’s Seminary. He entered St. Augustine’s Seminary in 2018 to study theology. He made his final profession of vows on December, 27th, 2021 at St. Agnes Kouying Tsao Parish in Markham. In response to the mission of the Order, he is eager to serve the Chinese people inside and outside of China.
Rev. Mr. Alex D’Silva
Rev. Mr. Alex D’Silva, 56, was born in Mumbai, India. Although he felt he had a call to the priesthood in his youth, he did not pursue it then. Being their only child, his parents relied on him to support them. So he felt that the responsible thing to do was to continue with his studies and take up secular work. At 24, he fell in love with a non-Christian woman and married her in the Catholic Church. He was blessed with a daughter a year later. Over the years, his wife’s faith in Christ grew. When they relocated to Canada, his wife joined the RCIA program at their local parish and was baptised. She passed away in 2006 of an advanced cancer. Thereafter, Alex’s earlier call to the priesthood was rekindled as he reflected upon how God had arranged the events in his life. After discerning God’s will for him with a few priests, he left behind his career in the financial sector and joined St. Augustine’s Seminary in 2015. Alex has a Master of Commerce (University of Mumbai, India), a Master of Business Administration (University of Hull, UK) and is a Certified Public Accountant (Colorado, USA). He hopes he can bring his life experiences to his ministry in serving the people of the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Rev. Mr. Daniel Corso
'Rev. Mr. Daniel Corso, 29, Diocese of St. Catharines, is the proud son of Lawrence and Polly Corso. As an only child, he enjoyed quality time with family and friends and playing various sports. He eventually settled on rowing as the sport that would occupy the majority of his time in high school and university. Throughout his life, through the formation of his parents, he attended Mass every Sunday and became familiar with God's love through the love of his father, mother, and various saintly relatives, friends, priests and religious. At the age of 19, one of the priests at his university gave a powerful homily that caused him to seriously consider what God created him for. It didn't take long before a call to the Priesthood became impossible to ignore. After four years of undergraduate study and a year of work, he entered priestly formation at St. Augustine's Seminary in August of 2015. Currently, Rev. Mr. Corso is preparing and looking forward with joyful anticipation to realizing both his own dream and God's dream for him: to love and serve the Church as a Priest of Jesus Christ.'
Rev. Mr. Eduardo Lopez Lopez
Rev. Mr. Eduardo Manuel Lopez Lopez, 33, was born in Zacatecas Mexico. He is the oldest of five children of Mr. Homero Lopez and Mrs. Maria Elena Lopez. Eduardo grew up farming in his family farm: tilling the earth; feeding sheep, cattle, and chickens; milking cows; and attending Sunday Mass. Eduardo served as an altar server at his home parish in Mexico. Later he learned how to play guitar and joined the parish choir. Eduardo moved to the United States and worked in construction for some time. He joined the Spanish choir at Blessed Sacrament parish. Since he enjoys music, he later joined the English Choir and the Schola Cantorum for the Latin mass community. Challenged by his Catholic faith, friends, and himself about his purpose in life, Eduardo began considering his call to the priesthood. He joined the Diocese of Memphis as a seminarian. Eduardo began his formation in the Hispanic Seminary in Mexico City and studied Philosophy in the Lumen Gentium University. In 2016, he came to St Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto Canada to continue his formation. Eduardo will graduate this summer 2022 from St Augustine’s Seminary, and now as part of the Archdiocese of Toronto, he looks forward to serve God and his people in this Archdiocese.
Rev. Mr. Adam Pantaleo
Rev. Mr. Adam Pantaleo, 30, was born and raised in Mississauga. Although he and his family did not practice their faith during his childhood, Dcn. Adam was nevertheless curious about Catholicism from a young age. Near the end of high school, this curiosity led him to begin attending Mass on Sundays – alone at first, and later joined by his family. After graduating from St. Marcellinus Secondary School, Dcn. Adam attended McMaster University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Integrated Science, concentrating in chemistry. Dcn. Adam was fascinated by the world of science and began to dream of becoming a chemistry professor. He continued his studies at the University of Toronto, earning a Master of Science degree in synthetic inorganic chemistry. It was around this time that Dcn. Adam felt called to become more involved in the life of the Church. He began to altar serve at his home parish, St. Joseph Parish in Mississauga. He also became involved at the Toronto Newman Centre, joined the Knights of Columbus, and served as a Totus Tuus missionary. Gradually, and to his surprise, Dcn. Adam began to realize that his passion for ministry was stronger than his love for science and his dream of becoming a professor. He was also surprised to discover, deep in his heart, a desire to serve God and the Church as a priest.
Dcn. Adam entered St. Augustine’s Seminary in 2015. As he comes to the end of his seminary journey, he is excited to begin his priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Rev. Mr. Connor O’Hara
Rev. Mr. Connor O’Hara, 28, was born in Ottawa, Ontario, where he has spent most of his life. He is one of five children born to his parents. Having sensed an inkling of God’s call to the priesthood many years before the end of high school, Connor thought God could not really want him for such a ministry. He initially decided that he first wanted to date, but God had other plans. As he grew in his devotion to Our Lady, who always helped Connor to do whatever Jesus was telling him to do (John 2:5), Connor discerned with his spiritual director that God was indeed calling him to the priesthood, but that he needed some time to prepare for that journey. With this in mind, he decided to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa: a Bachelor of Arts with a Specialization in Philosophy. He found that his studies furnished him with a strong education in the classical liberal arts and modern thought. During this time, he simultaneously worked in the pet food industry for more than 5 years in order to help fund his studies. With renewed confidence that God was calling him to the priesthood, Connor finally entered St. Augustine’s Seminary in 2016. There, he encountered much growth in unexpected ways. In the first place, Connor owes a great debt of gratitude to God’s grace, patience, and inspiration. He also thanks his brothers in the Seminary, in addition to the priest-faculty for their encouragement, example, and dedication in forming men for the Catholic priesthood. Connor will serve the Church in the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall.
Rev. Mr. Fraser McLaren
Fraser McLaren was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and raised in Victoria, BC. The third of four children, he had the great good fortune of being raised by two loving parents who instilled in him a love of the faith and the value of an education.
As a child he was already convinced he wanted to be a priest, he even has pictures of himself at age five pretending to say Mass! But by the time he finished high school, he had his heart set on being a teacher. After earning a degree in history and economics from the University of Victoria, Fraser headed off to the University of British Columbia to get a teaching degree.
Although he enjoyed his time as a teacher, Fraser felt restless and considered that the Lord might be asking him to consider the priesthood. But entering the seminary was not yet a step he was ready to make, so instead, he decided to go back to school and try his hand at accounting. He was pursuing his accounting designation and enjoying his work in accounting when that restless feeling came back again. At this point he knew he had to try the seminary, so after talking with his pastor, he enrolled at St Augustine’s Seminary and has not looked back since. St Augustine’s words really struck true to Fraser when he wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Fraser is now in his final year at St Augustine’s and will be ordained to the priesthood in May of 2022 for the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Br. Matthew Tianwei Wang, C.D.D.
Br. Matthew Wang, 32, was born and raised in China. He is the fourth of five children. Since he was young, his parents handed down the faith to him, and helped him foster a prayer life. Ever since he left home for Secondary School and High School studies, his prayer life had helped him keep his faith. Even though he has several priest relatives in his extended family, he never thought about becoming a priest. His life plan was to enter university, get a good job, and get married. He was very close to his dream. He studied Electronic Engineering in university, and had a girl he loved. However, God had another plan for him and called him to be a missionary. Once, when he was praying in an empty church on a Sunday, a strong desire came to him, and it was to evangelize the Chinese people, most of whom do not know God. His heart was pulled by God in that direction. After a long time of discernment, he answered God’s calling. After university studies, he joined the Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord (CDD), which is a missionary Order focused particularly on the evangelization of the Chinese. He professed First Vows in 2016 and Perpetual Vows in 2021. Now, he is in his final year of theology, and preparing for Holy Orders. He is very grateful for his family, his community members, the faculty and brother seminarians of both St. Augustine’s Seminary and St. Philip’s Seminary, and also for so many friends in both Canada and Asia that have helped and supported him with prayers.
Watch the Ordinandi Dinner below when we met and honoured our ordinandi at St. Augustine's Seminary of Toronto and Redemptoris Mater Seminary. Share with us the unique opportunity to meet our Deacon Class of 2022 and to hear about their own faith journey and their call to the priesthood.
