This is the second article in a series profiling the five men who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on May 16, 2026.



WESTON -- Deacon Steve Baruffi's first brush with religious life was in 1978, when he moved to Massachusetts to study with the Maryknoll Missionaries in Hingham.

He decided that such a lifestyle wasn't for him and that God was calling him to start a family. He met Donna Chen, married her, and they had three children and five grandchildren. They remained together until Chen's death.

"I think processing that is a lifelong endeavor," he said. "There's stages to it. Obviously, God is our strength, and it was my belief in Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother that gave me the wherewithal, the stamina, the thinking, the discernment, to know how to move forward from that because it was a devastating effect for the family."

Deacon Baruffi is in the final year of his studies at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, the only seminary in the U.S. dedicated to forming men over 30 for the priesthood. At 75, he is one of the oldest seminarians there. He and his fellow seminarians learn from each other.

"In terms of spiritual and personal formation, it's been a fantastic experience," he said.

He is currently a transitional deacon at St. Eulalia and St. Mary Parishes in Winchester, helping out with Masses, baptisms, funerals, and pastoral care. To help those who are grieving, he thinks of his own experience with the loss of his wife, parents, and brothers.

"It's a privilege to be with families and try to help them in any way we can, in some way, in what are sometimes difficult and trying times," he said.

On May 16, Deacon Baruffi and four other men will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Boston.

"It's humbling, a little bit daunting," he said. "There's so much that I still need to learn, so I'm looking forward to it."

He was born on Feb. 16, 1951, in Highland Park, Illinois, and grew up in Northern Virginia. His father was a carpenter, and his mother, who raised him and his three siblings, was a devout Catholic. She and her parents would give food from their bakery to seminarians at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Deacon Baruffi attended Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Vienna, Virginia, from first to seventh grade, and attended Mass faithfully with his family.

"As Catholics, there was no other way," he said.

He said that foundation of faith was "instrumental" for the rest of his life. After graduating from a public high school, he went to George Mason University before transferring to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, where he studied business administration and marketing. He then worked in construction and served in the Army for over three years. His service took him across the U.S.

"I learned that people can be interesting, and I learned leadership, and I learned responsibility," he said.

Deacon Baruffi was in law school when he married Chen.

"She was intelligent, holy, and a good person," he said.

They lived in Buffalo, New York, then spent four years in Taiwan, Chen's home country. Deacon Baruffi worked at a law firm, while Chen worked in marketing for Ford. Their home was in Tianmu, in the northern part of the metropolis of Taipei. Life there was fast-paced, and hours were long. Still, he found time to volunteer at an orphanage for children with disabilities run by Dutch religious sisters. He brought his own children there to teach them "the importance of being brothers and sisters in Christ to everyone you know, regardless of their race or ethnicity or abilities or disabilities."

"That's what we're here to do," he added. "That's part of our DNA, (it's) to love and help others.

Many of the children in the orphanage had been abandoned because of their disabilities. One little girl was born with jaundice and put in an incubator without proper eye coverings, blinding her. Seeing a girl whose injury was preventable haunted him.

"They all seemed to be joyful in their own way," he said of the orphans.

Deacon Baruffi went back to Illinois after being hired by Abbott Laboratories. His new job took him to China, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. He saw the Great Wall of China and tried snake meat in Shanghai ("Tasted like chicken," he recalled).

"I've always been interested in people, and it gives me a broad perspective of different cultures, and probably makes me more sensitive to the different cultures that I encountered here in Massachusetts," he said.

He and Chen were also active in St. James the Greater Parish in Boston's Chinatown, home to the archdiocese's Chinese Catholic community. When Deacon Baruffi retired, he bought a house in Duxbury and divided his time between there and Illinois. He entered Pope St. John XXIII in 2022. After the death of his wife, becoming a priest was "an automatic no-brainer" for him.

"However many years I have left in me -- and I'm blessed with good health and decent cognition -- that I want to do whatever I can for God, and that would be the best way for me to do that," he said.