On Saturday, May 5, 2018, our brother Akolla Etuge, OFM Cap., was ordained as a deacon at the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. He was ordained along with Carmelite friar Jorge Monterosso, O. Carm., by Washington, DC's Auxiliary Bishop Mario Eduardo Dorsonville. Bishop Dorsonville, a native of Columbia, had the opportunity to confer the sacrament with Br. Jorge, a native of Guatamala, and our own Br. Akolla, a native of Camerun, in a truly international moment for our communities in the United States.
Akolla emimigrated to the United States through the Diversity Visa (DV) program. He writes that "I was in college taking classes in order to go to med school. I also worked for a security company in downtown DC." He would eventually find the Capuchin friars: "I have always wanted to serve people, especially the poor, because I come from a country which, despite being rich in natural resources, has a lot of poverty. My desire to serve others and my uncle’s love for Padre Pio inspired me to join the Capuchins." He joined our Capuchin community and became a US citizen, making his temporary profession of vows in 2012 and his perpetual vows in 2016. In the fall, he will 
complete his studies for the priesthood to receive his Masters in Divinity from DC's Catholic University of America. He will move on to his diaconate internship at St. Paul Friary in Cleveland, OH, where he will assist the friars who work as administrators in area parishes.
Keep Br. Akolla in your prayers, as well as the friars who continue their discernment of our way of life and who prepare to minister in the Church. Akolla joins our current friar deacon, Phil White, OFM Cap. (left) in the ministry - but not for long. Br. Phil's ordination to the priesthood is set for Saturday, June 2, in Pittsburgh, PA.
In these last pictures, Br. Akolla is seen assisting the Bishop at the Altar,
and pictured with the Bishop and our Vicar Provincial Minister, Mike Joyce, OFM Cap.