The Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge will ordain Deacon John “Vic” Gournas to the Priesthood at 10 a.m. on May 22^nd at Sacred Heart Cathedral. A native of Raleigh, Deacon Gournas is the son of Johnny and Helen Gournas, both of whom passed away. A graduate of Sanderson High School in Raleigh, he holds bachelor of science and master of science degrees from North Carolina State University.

Coming from an evangelical Protestant background, Gournas experienced a spiritual renewal in his 30s that led to his joining the Catholic Church. “My experience in the Protestant church was that the emphasis was more on the individual and one’s emotional response,” Gournas says. “Reading about the Catholic Church, I found it tremendously reassuring that we didn’t have to reinvent the Church; it came from Jesus. And worship didn’t depend on how I felt; I could always go to the Eucharist and know that I could participate and be nourished.”  

After his ordination to the transitional Diaconate last June, Deacon Gournas served a summer assignment at Saint Catherine of Siena Parish in Wake Forest, before returning to Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia for his final year of Theology in preparation for Priesthood.