Pinpointing when he first felt the call to the priesthood is easy for Deacon Aaron F. Zanca: “I think it’s always kind of been there.”
Born June 25, 1997, in Pensacola, Fla., to Anthony and Tamra Zanca, he grew up in a military family and spent four years of his childhood in Germany. That experience would bear fruit later.
“All my first memories are in Europe: seeing beautiful churches and being very much attached to the faith, the history of the church, all things that really influenced who I would become,” he said.
His family returned to the U.S. when he was 7. “I spoke a bit of German, I had an accent,” he said. But his European faith formation never left him.
Deacon Zanca said his parents’ devotion to the faith prepped him for the priestly vocation. His mom, a convert, fostered a devotion to Mary, particularly Our Lady of Lourdes. His dad endowed him with a love of church history and theology. “I remember being in the car after Mass, and my father and my older brother and I would talk about liturgy, we would talk about theology, the catechism, saints,” he said. “That’s where I can definitely begin to see the fostering of a vocation.”
In high school, “I had it all planned out,” he said. “Go to Trinity College in Dublin to get a pre-med degree. I was going to be a doctor. I was going to get married right out of college.” But then, at a Georgia Catholic summer camp, Camp Covecrest, he felt God speak to his heart.
“I remember being so drawn to Our Lord in the Eucharist during adoration, and hearing his voice: ‘Be my priest,’ ” Deacon Zanca said. “That was where everything changed.”
After that summer, he knew he was bound for the priesthood. But a parish priest encouraged him to go to college first after his high school graduation in 2015. “So, I got a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of West Florida, which is right in Pensacola,” he said. While he was in college, he spent his summers studying in Spain, where he said he fell in love with Spanish culture.
He began his seminary formation in Spain, starting at the Metropolitan Seminary of Seville and continuing at the Conciliar Seminary of St. Indaletius of Almería in Southern Spain. “It was just such a beautiful experience to learn within a Catholic culture what being a parish priest means,” he said. “But, as much as I love Spain, a couple things happened.” First, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Then, his dad was hospitalized. “You start waking up to some realities,” he said. He began discerning: “Is this where God is really calling me? … Or is God leading me somewhere else?”
He connected with a priest friend serving in the Arlington diocese, Father Mauricio R. Pineda. “I knew of Arlington’s great reputation,” he said, which attracted him to the diocese to work as assistant director of youth and young adult ministry at the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria. He had never envisioned himself as a youth director, but “a priest needs to be a priest for all, including the youth. And I fell in love with the ministry.”
A year later, he was accepted as an Arlington seminarian and began a pastoral year, serving six months each at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Winchester and St. Leo the Great Church in Fairfax. He finished his final two years of studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., and served his diaconate year at Holy Family Church in Dale City. “I’ve gotten to know a lot of parishes,” he said.
While Deacon Zanca spent less time at St. Charles than the typical seminarian, those years were jam-packed with memories, including winemaking. “We had a grape-stomp party. We had a bottling party,” he recalled. “It’s really good wine.” Deacon Zanca said he’ll experience the fruits of his labor in a special way. “I’m planning to use it as the wine for my first Mass,” he said.
Looking ahead to the priesthood, Deacon Zanca eagerly anticipates hearing confessions.
“Being that minister of the mercy of God in the confessional — it’s something I pray with a lot,” he said. “Just knowing how many times the Lord has been merciful with me, the joy that it’s brought me — it’s really awe-inspiring.”
