Diep Quang Nguyen and Thao Van Nguyen, who have both spent time in various parishes across the diocese, will be ordained at a special service at Cathedral Parish of St Michael and St John.

It's one of the final steps the two will make before they are ordained as priests next year, a journey of almost seven years in the making.

READ MORE:

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, Michael McKenna, said their position of deacon will have a special role where they will focus on the concerns of the poor and marginalised people.

"They've been in training for over seven years, on the road to being ordained priests next year. The first step is they are ordained as deacons and at the time they're ordained, they make their promises of obedience and celibacy," he explained.

"Deacons can do many of the things priests can do apart from saying mass or the sacrament of confession. They can preach, baptise, officiate at weddings and funerals.

"They'll be deacons for the rest of their lives, but their special role is to have a concern for the poor and the people on the margins."

Diep Quang Nguyen is currently serving at the Cathedral, while being the chaplain at Charles Sturt University, a role he will continue. He's also served at Orange and Coonabarabran.

Thao Van Nguyen has been in Dubbo and Gilgandra, while currently serving at Lithgow, where he'll remained until he's ordained a priest next year.

Bishop McKenna said he's thankful that Friday night's service will go ahead, considering the current COVID-19 restrictions.

"We thank God we can do this much. Both of them have families in Vietnam as well as Australia, so we new the families in Vietnam couldn't come," he said.

The service will start at 6pm, with numbers restricting capacity to just over 150, with spots served on a first in, best dressed basis.

The service will be live streamed on the diocese's Facebook page.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: