May 17, 2018 – Cardinal to Ordain Seven to the Priesthood

Saturday, May 19, 2018 - Procession 9:45am - Ordination 10am - Mission Church 

Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley will ordain seven men to the Priesthood this Saturday, May 19, 2018, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as Mission Church, located at 1545 Tremont St, Boston, MA. The Ordination rite begins with a procession at 9:45 AM, followed by Mass at 10:00. The Ordination has been moved to the Basilica due to the ongoing renovations at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

Cardinal Seán said, “We give thanks to God for the blessing of these seven men who have generously responded to the call to service in the Church as priests. The Archdiocese of Boston welcomes them to our parishes and the ministry of celebrating the sacraments, sharing the gift of faith and witnessing the loving, merciful presence of the Lord. We pray that their priesthood will be the source of many graces for them and the people they serve as we go forth with the mission of building up the Church in the world today."

The Most Reverend Peter J. Uglietto, S.T.D., Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Boston, said, "As we welcome these seven newly ordained priests, we want to thank the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province for hosting this celebration. We also express our gratitude to St. John Seminary, Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, Redemptoris Mater Seminary and the Vocation Office of the Archdiocese of Boston for guiding these men through their formation. We pray for them, their families, friends and all who helped them to discern their vocation and for their willingness to hear the call of Christ."

Rev. Daniel Hennessey, Director of the Vocation Office, said, ""The Ordination of seven new priests is a real blessing to the Church and a reminder that God continues to call men of all ages, cultures, and situations to serve His Church in Boston. A big congratulations to our new priests, their families, and the excellent seminaries who have formed them!"

The Pilot, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, is publishing a special edition that includes feature profiles of all the candidates in this week’s edition. Look to next week’s edition (Friday, May 25, 2018) for full coverage of the ordination. For more information please visit The Pilot by clicking here.

The CatholicTV Network will record the Mass of Ordination to the Priesthood from the Mission Church. The Ordination will air at 8:00 PM Saturday evening.

CatholicTV can be viewed locally on Comcast-268, Verizon FiOS-296, RCN-85 and also in HD at CatholicTVLIVE.com.

Photo's will be available to view at BostonCatholicPhotos.

Planning is underway for Live video from the ordination will be available at: facebook.com/bostoncatholic.

Following are the candidates for ordination:

 

Baldemar Garza 
 

 A native of Corpus Christi, Texas born Jan. 13, 1967 he is the second child of Mary (Rodriguez) Garza and the late Jimmy Garza. He has four siblings: an older brother Jimmy; a brother Joe, who is a permanent deacon of the diocese of Orange in California; and two sisters Laura Brewton and Maria Hewett. He attended lcao schools in Fannin Elementary, and South Park Junior High, both in Corpus Christi; his family moved to the Golden State where he completed middle and high school in Santa Ana, McFadden Junior High and Saddleback High. His undergraduate degree, A.B. is in liberals arts from Cal State at Long Beach. 

Prior to entering Pope St. John XXIII Seminary he worked in the retail business in California and Massachusetts.

Father Garza will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on May 20, at noon, the Solemnity of Pentecost at St. Agatha Church, Milton; the parish’s pastor and Pope John XXIII former rector, Father William Palardy will be the homilist. Father Garza spent his deacon internship year at the Milton parish.

Joseph Kim 
 

Father Joseph Kim is one of the two sons of Chong Sok and Soon Ja (Kim) Kim, He was born Feb. 23, 1987 and has a younger brother Gabriel Jason Kim. His attended schools in Georgia and North Carolina. 

He completed his undergraduate studies at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio from which he received his A.B. specializing in philosophy. An alumnus of St. John Seminary, he comes from St. Antoine Daveluy Parish in Newton where he will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on May 20 at 11:30 AM with the parish’s pastor Father Dominic Jung, CPPS as the homilist. He has been deacon intern at the parish this past academic year. 

Benito Stanley Moreno Rosario  

Father Moreno is the third child and only son of Benito and Maria Altagracia Rosario. He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on June 15, 1984. His five siblings are Edayme Moreno Manzanillo; Roxanna Moreno Manzanillo; Mirna Moreno Rosario; Judith Moreno Rosario and Maria Moreno Rosario.

His pre seminary education was all in his native Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: elementary and middle school at Colegio Divina Providencia; secondary school at Liceo Fabio A Mota; and pursing studies in civil engineering at Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.

He completed seminary formation at Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary in Brookline and has been serving his deacon internship at Immaculate Conception Parish in Revere.

On Pentecost Sunday, May 20, Father Moreno will celebrate and preach at Masses of Thanksgiving at the Revere parish at 10:30 A.M. in English and in Spanish at 12:30 P.M.

Lambert Nieme  

One of 12 children of the late Emmanuel and Germaine (Bawomba) Nieme, Lambert is the ninth child in his family. Two of his siblings: Clementine and Joseph are deceased; his other siblings, as is Lambert, are natives of Lufu-Toto in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Medard, Emmanuel, André, Julienne, Bernadette, Josephine, Davide, and Michel.

All of Lambert’s pre-seminary education was in either Africa or Europe. In Lufu-Toto he attended elementary and middle school; with secondary school in Nbanza Ngungu. A diligent student he has doctoral degrees in philosophy from the Catholic University of Congo; and in theology from the Catholic University of Leuven la Neuve, the great Catholic University of Belgium.

In addition to his undergraduate education he has completed two doctoral degrees.

Father Nieme has been deacon at St. Catherine at St. Catherine of Alexandria, Westford this past year. He will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving there on May 20 at 11:00 A.M. Archdiocesan Director of Vocations, Father Daniel Hennessey will be the homilist.

Andrea Povero  

A son of Ivrea in northwestern Italy some miles north of Turin and east of the French border, Father Povero is the youngest child of Rita (Silmo) Povero and the late Franco Povero. His eldest sibling is his brother Mario and two older sisters Valentina (Povero) Ceci and Anna (Povero) Martini. His home parish in Ivrea is San Lorenzo. He was born on Nov. 27, 1987.

Before coming to the United States, he completed his pre undergraduate education in his native Ivrea.

An alumnus of Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Brookline, Father Povero has been deacon at St. Patrick Parish in Brockton, where he will celebrate and preach a Mass of Thanksgiving on May 20 at 10:15 A.M.

Michael Stephen Rora    

A native of New York he was born in Binghamton on April 5, 1990. Father Rora is one of the three children of Michael and Margaret (Farrell) Rora. His has a twin sister, Mary (Rora) Alexander and a younger brother, John. P. Rora. The family moved to Massachusetts and Michael was educated in local schools in Stoneham: Central Elementary; Stoneham Middle and Stoneham High Schools before traveling west to pursue his undergraduate studies. In 2012 he received a bachelor of science in integrative biology from the University of Illinois and Urbana-Champagne.

An alumnus of St. John Seminary, Father Rora has been deacon intern at St. John the Baptist Parish in Peabody and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Salem. Father Rora will be the principal celebrant and homilist of a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Patrick, Stoneham on May 20 at 6:00 P.M.

Eric Josias Velasquez 

Father Velasquez was born on July 29, 1986 in the capital city, Tegucigalpa, of Honduras. He is the second child and only son of Eric and Neli (Alonzo) Velasquez. He has one older sister, Miriam; and three younger: Dylia, Debora, and Margarita. The family’s home parish in Tegucigalpa is San Juan Bautista.

Before arriving at Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary in Brookline for seminary formation he completed his education in his native Honduras: elementary school at Jose Pineda Gomez; and middle and secondary at Comaihucan in Comayagua. Undergraduate education was at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras in Tegucigalpa.

During his deacon year, Father Velasquez served at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chelsea. He will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Joseph Parish in Lynn on May 19 at 7:30 P.M. The homilist will be fellow classmate and fellow Redemptoris Mater Alumnus Father Benito Moreno.