By Maria Pisano • Posted December 13, 2021

The second video in the Power of the Priesthood series by the Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood premiered Dec. 12, highlighting the heroic impact of priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

This installment highlights Msgr. Frank Depman, pastor of St. Rocco Parish in Avondale, southern Chester County. “By saying yes to God … it has changed my entire life,” said Msgr. Depman, who was ordained in 1981.

(Watch the new video and the rest of the series, here.)

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The Vocation Office hopes these videos will “show the power of grace working through faithful priests working in our archdiocese,” said Father David Friel, director of the office.

The video features interviews with parishioners and the impact of Msgr. Depman’s priesthood on the community he serves.

As one parishioner said, “… if you ever need someone, you know you can count on Father Frank.”

St. Rocco Parish is the first Hispanic personal parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. One of the youngest parishes in the archdiocese, St. Rocco’s celebrated its 10-year anniversary last August.

(See a photo feature from the anniversary celebration here).

Fittingly, the video premiered on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas. The video was first shown to the seminarians at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary as part of their celebration for the major Marian feast day.

The vocation office — and its many clergy, religious and lay faithful working in parishes and schools to promote vocations — hopes the video will show, as the new episode proclaims, “the beauty, the relevance, the necessity of the priesthood.”

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For more information about discerning a vocation to the diocesan priesthood, call the Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood at 610-667-5778, contact Father Friel at fr.dfriel@archphila.org, or visit the website HeedtheCall.org.