This Saturday, April 27, in Rome, 20 legionaries were ordained priests in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, a ceremony that was celebrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Pro-prefect of the Section for the first evangelization and the new particular churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization. The new priests, who have reached this moment after more than 12 years of formation, are originally from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Spain, the United States, Mexico and Venezuela.
The new priests are: Alexandre Simões, Andrew Torrey, Christian Camilo Martínez, Cristian Fernando Ortega, Diego Adrián Páez, Eduardo Maurilio Perdomo, Gustavo Abraham Godínez, Jefferson Douglas de Souza, Jesús Alberto Mora, Jesús Silva, Juan Pablo Castañeda, Rafael Maria Böhm, René de Jesús Gómez, Santiago Vázquez, Sebastián Sánchez, Manuel Alejandro Mora, Christopher Lyle Daniels, Gustavo Balestrin, Abraham Jae Woo, Darren Wallace, and Kevin Michael O’Byrne.
Father John Connor, LC, general director of the Legionaries of Christ, stated that this is “a time to thank God for the new priests,” inviting them to “serve, to accompany, to make the kingdom of Christ present in the world.”
For his part, the rector of the Legionaries of Christ International School in Rome, Father Ignacio Sarre, L.C., when referring to the newly ordained, indicated that during the years of formation it is very beautiful to witness how the Holy Spirit transforms these young people. And today in this ceremony we clearly see a strong outpouring of the Spirit that through the sacrament configures them with Christ and gives them the certainty that He will continue to act in them and through them.
In his homily, Cardinal Gokim Tagle thanked the families of the neo-priests, as well as their trainers, teachers, seminarians and legionary staff for reaching this moment. Furthermore, he invited the new priests to be friends of Jesus: “He calls all his disciples a friend and, in a particular way, the priests. (…) Let us be eager to hear his words. Let us not be afraid to open our hearts to him. This is how he becomes a friend of Jesus.” Finally, he recalled the importance of “remaining as compassionate brothers to others,” inviting them to be a comforting presence, because only in this way will their priestly ministry of word, sacrament and shepherding build the family of God in communion and common mission.
We congratulate the brothers who have received the sacrament of priestly orders, and we entrust their lives and ministry to God Our Lord so that they may be worthy instruments of Christ to bring his message of hope and salvation to souls.
