The Diocese of Colorado Springs is sponsoring two Spiritual Retreats for deacons and their wives in 2026. Information regarding the retreat leaders is provided below. If you would like to attend one of these retreats to meet your canonical requirement for an annual spiritual retreat, please register for the retreat you want to attend and indicate if your wife will also be attending. Retreats are limited to 30 deacons.
May 15-17, 2026 - Franciscan Retreat Center
(Registration Deadline: April 17, 2026)
Deacon Dominic Cerrato, Ph.D., is the Director of Diaconal Ministries and Editor of The Deacon magazine, published by The National Association of Diaconate Directors. He has taught theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Duquesne University of the Holy Ghost, and Holy Apostles College and Seminary, and has more than four decades of experience in pastoral ministry at both diocesan and parish levels.
Deacon Dominic holds a BA in Theology from Franciscan University, an MA in Theology from Duquesne University, and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from the Graduate Theological Foundation. Ordained in 1995 as the first permanent deacon of the Diocese of Steubenville at the age of thirty-five, he is a national speaker, author, and retreat master. In addition to numerous scholarly articles and popular writings on the diaconate, he has published several books on diaconal theology and spirituality.
In 2020, he was appointed by Pope Francis to an international papal commission to study the question of women and the diaconate. Deacon Dominic and his wife, Judith, have been married since 1982 and are blessed with seven children and many grandchildren.
October 9-11, 2026 - Franciscan Retreat Center
(Registration Deadline: September 11, 2026)
Deacon Matthew Newsome serves in campus ministry and the office of catechetical formation in the Diocese of Charlotte. He is the author of The Devout Life: A Modern Guide to Practical Holiness with St. Francis de Sales (Sophia Institute Press, 2023), and writes a monthly column for the Catholic News Herald. His writings have also appeared in The Deacon, Envoy, This Rock (now Catholic Answers Magazine), and online at Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Dappled Things and Catholic Exchange.
Deacon Matthew holds a master’s degree in Theology from Holy Apostles College & Seminary. His homilies, reflections, and musings on ministry can be found at teachingandpreaching.substack.com.
He and his wife Joannie have seven children and live on a little plot of land in the mountains of North Carolina that they share with a small flock of sheep, a smattering of chickens, and an ornery old donkey.