Chris Malano signed his third renewal of temporary promise to the Paulist Fathers during Mass Sept. 8 at Notre Dame Chapel at Trinity University in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy Chris Malano / 2023)
By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
School is back in session for Paulist seminarian Chris Malano, but this academic year is much more than just his final year of theological studies toward a master of divinity degree.
It also marks his sixth year of formation with the Paulist Fathers, the last one before he is ordained a priest.
On Aug. 31, Malano will make his final, lifetime promise to the Paulist Fathers; a week later, he will be ordained to the transitional diaconate.
He will spend a year as a transitional deacon in Washington, D.C., where he has been studying at The Catholic University of America. Then — “God willing,” Malano said — next May he will be ordained a priest at the Paulist Fathers Motherhouse in New York City.
Malano’s impending ordination is another step in a journey that started with a “nudge or an inkling that I could be responding to the Holy Spirit in a different way,” he said.
The Oahu native was already a lay leader in the church, working in campus ministry at the Newman Center/Holy Spirit Parish at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
One year he decided to participate in a “Busy Person’s Retreat,” which gave him an opportunity to reflect more deeply on his vocation.
“Through imaginative prayer, I was able to see beyond responding to that inner voice as doing more or better or doing something new in the realm of what I was already doing,” Malano said. “I could imagine myself in a completely different role in the church, as a religious, as a priest.”
Malano was drawn to the Paulist Fathers for a couple reasons. The order’s foundation in missionary work was one factor — “my favorite aspect of religious life is being able to serve people in different parts of the country,” he said.
Another reason was the Paulists’ focus on ecumenical and interfaith relations. As Malano explained, his family includes people “who have found for them a spiritual home in other religions, as well as in other Christian denominations”; he saw the Paulists as a religious community that aims to “build bridges between people and ideas.”
He began his Paulist formation as a novice in 2019, about a year before making his first temporary promise and beginning his theological studies in Washington. Over the past five years he’s spent much of his time in the nation’s capital, though he’s also served in Massachusetts, California, Illinois and Tennessee.
His ordination to the transitional diaconate will take place in Los Angeles rather than in Washington. Malano said that California is an easier location for his family in Hawaii to reach as well as for the family of his classmate, who is from California’s Bay Area.
“The Presidential Board of the Paulist Fathers was kind enough to consider Los Angeles as the ordination location,” Malano said. He added that the next two classes of seminarians are also from California, so the Los Angeles ordination is “an acknowledgement of sorts” of the western U.S.’ contributions in vocations to the Paulists.
During his deacon year, he will be assigned to the Jesuit-run Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown. He said he hopes to preach at liturgies as well as take part in baptisms, weddings and funerals.
“I am looking forward to working on some of the Paulist mission priorities, such as addressing the toxic polarization in our country and in the church,” Malano said. “I also am excited to help with the ministries at the parish where I will serve in areas of service to the community, and other works of charity and justice.”
Once he is ordained a priest, Malano will fully embrace the Paulists’ missionary foundation and “go wherever my religious superior, the Paulist president, tells me where to go.”
“I hope to be as open as I can to new experiences, to different places, to accompanying people in the low points of their lives and celebrating with them in their moments of victory, and to embracing challenges without fear,” he said.
While traveling to different places appeals to Malano, he also admitted it can be difficult to move on to another location after sharing work, ministry and milestones with the people there.
However, he said, “there is a sense of freedom from fear of loving deeply because we know that we can be, and eventually will be, moved to different assignments. So, why not make the best of the time we have together, however limited or abundant it might be?”
For men considering vocations or who might be uncertain about their path forward, Malano advised paying attention to the “nudge that doesn’t go away, that curiosity at the back of your head that pops up at the most coincidental moment.”
Just as he determined that his calling to vocations was greater than his work as a lay leader, “don’t let the love you have for your career blind you from responding to God’s call.”
