I always wanted to learn more

By Bob De Witt

Eric Schorr remembers as a teenager in 1974 reading about the first class of permanent deacons ordained for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and being interested in their ministry.

“I was intrigued because it seemed like they had one foot in the religious world as clergy, and one foot in the secular world as married or single men,” he said. “I always wanted to learn more.

“St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (12:4-8) talks about each of us having the grace to use our God-given gifts to serve the Church. I believe I’ve been given the grace to serve as a deacon.”

On June 13, 2020, Deacon Schorr was one of eight men ordained as permanent deacons for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Effective July 1, he is assigned to the Ministry of Sacrament and the Ministry of Word at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Dormont/Mt. Lebanon/Scott, and to the Ministry of Service and Charity in this parish.

Deacons are ordained ministers with a special calling to perform works of charity and service, proclaim the word of God, and assist in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church. They coordinate their part-time ministry with job and family responsibilities.

Schorr, 59, is an accountant with American Zinc Recycling, an environmental services provider to the U.S. steel industry. He and his wife Maureen are parents to three adult children. They are members of St. Michael the Archangel Parish.

Growing up with his four siblings at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Pleasant Hills, Schorr said the entire family went to daily Mass. He spent first grade in the parish school, and then attended schools in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District before earning his BS in business administration and MBA from Duquesne University.

The most meaningful aspect of the deacon formation experience was the growth in his spiritual life and his relationship with God.

“This is the most important relationship I have,” Schorr said, “followed closely by my relationship with my family, especially my wife, then by the bonds I have formed with the other men in my class.

“I am looking forward to serving the Church in the person of Christ the Servant.”

Click here to meet the other new deacons.