Costa Mesa man ordained

Elia Powers

Edward Becker was still early in his six-year seminary residency when

the Catholic priest sex-abuse scandal became an international news

story.

A former attorney, Becker said he had looked forward to escaping a

career where controversy was a way of life.

“When the scandal broke, I thought to myself, ‘Man, I just can’t

win,’” said Becker, a Costa Mesa resident and a St. Joachim Roman

Catholic Church member.

Becker said that during his years of studying for the priesthood,

the priest scandal was front and center, affecting how he and many of

his peers viewed the church.

But as far as he knows, the controversy didn’t lead to any

defections in his seminary. In fact, he said, it had a unifying

effect.

“All of us entering the priesthood, it’s a sign to the outside

world that the church isn’t dying, that we are going to come out

stronger than ever,” Becker said.

June 11, he joined six other men, all of whom were sponsored by

the Diocese of Orange, at a priest ordainment ceremony held at St.

Columban Church in Garden Grove.

Bishop Tod Brown presided over the ceremony.

Becker found out last month that he was assigned to become a

parochial vicar at St. Pius V Church, a 5,000-family congregation in

Buena Park. His duties begin July 1.

Ordination ceremonies are held every year, but this one was

unique, said Father Joe Fenton, a spokesperson for the Diocese of

Orange.

“We’ve never, in recent memory, had a class this large,” Fenton

said. “Sometimes we hold ceremonies for individuals. Next year, we

have three people. I’m pretty sure we won’t see a number this large

for some time.”

The ordination class includes four ministers of Vietnamese decent,

including Thai Minh Trinh, who next month begins as parochial vicar

at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach.

Trinh, 32, was born in Saigon and graduated from UC Irvine in

1998. He was set to enter dental school when he decided instead to

take a break.

“There was a battle inside of me, a struggle to see what’s next

for my future,” Trinh said. “I felt a strong call to go in this

direction and serve the people of God.”

Trinh said he recently visited with the Our Lady Queen of Angels

staff. He said learning about the community is his first priority.

“I feel the challenge of being a missionary -- sent to a whole new

area without knowing the subculture,” he said.

Becker, 39, said he is ready to acclimate himself to a new

congregation.

“Now that I’m finished [with seminary training] and almost 40, it

feels very right and very good,” he said.

Becker’s road to the priesthood began six years ago, when he

decided to leave his legal career.

He had worked as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and in Kuwait, and

had been transferred to an office in Irvine.

But the change of scenery wasn’t enough. Sponsored by the Diocese

of Orange, he entered St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo in 1999. His

home parish remained St. Joachim, which he joined in 1994.

Sunday, Becker returned to the Costa Mesa church to preside over

his first Mass as priest, called the Mass of Thanksgiving.

“It was certainly wonderful and emotional,” he said. “You look out

and see people from all parts of your life. These are people who have

been very supportive through the years. It was very comfortable in a

lot of ways.”

In his address, Becker thanked parishioners for “treating me like

a priest, even when I didn’t see myself as one.”

Fenton said the number of participants in Saturday’s ceremony is a

sign that the church is continuing to heal from the wounds brought

out by the sex-abuse scandal.

“These seven men on stage, they are enthused about their role in

the diocese,” Fenton said.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

[email protected].