Day: May 16, 2026

Two new priests begin ministry following June 13 ordination #Catholic –

On Saturday, June 13, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will ordain two seminarians of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., as priests “ready to teach, love, and serve” during a Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, which will start at 10 a.m.

At St. John’s, the Mother Church of the diocese, Bishop Sweeney will ordain Rev. Mr. Lucas Folan, a member of Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Parish in the Cedar Knolls neighborhood of Hanover Township, N.J. The bishop will also ordain Colombian-born Jender Arley Medina Palencia, who serves at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Morristown, N.J.

“These two men will enter the cathedral as deacons and leave as priests, forever changed. Not only will God change their lives, but he will also use them to lead others to Christ,” said Father Charles Lana, diocesan vocations director. “The Church is being gifted with two wonderful priests, who are humble and generous. They will be shepherds ready to teach, love, and serve. May God bless their lives and ministries,” he said.

The Mass, rooted in early Church tradition, will be celebrated in English and Spanish. The bishop will preside and deliver the homily. Priests from the diocese and beyond will concelebrate. Deacons and seminarians will assist.

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The Ordination Mass will be live-streamed.

Well-wishers — including family, friends, priests, parishioners, and diocesan faithful — are invited to attend the ordination and support the new priests.

Biographies of the two men to be ordained are presented below:

• • •

Rev. Mr. Lucas Folan, 27, was born on Jan. 13, 1999, in Denville, N.J., to Ken and Cristina Folan. He belongs to Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Parish in the Cedar Knolls neighborhood of Hanover Township.

Rev. Mr. Folan graduated from Parsippany Hills High School in 2017. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music with a minor in philosophy from Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., in 2020. In 2023, he completed his philosophy studies at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. He completed his theological studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome in 2026.

Last year, Rev. Mr. Folan was ordained a transitional deacon. He was ordained with his classmates from the Pontifical North American College in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

“Experiences of service, especially trips to Guatemala, Georgia, the Dominican Republic, and West Virginia as a teenager and college student, opened my heart to the poor and the desire to serve,” Rev. Mr. Folan said. “I discovered my vocation to the priesthood through my friends and experiences in the Newman Club at Hofstra University,” he said.

• • •

Rev. Mr. Jender Arley Medina Palencia, 37, was born on Jan. 31, 1989, in San José de Cúcuta, Colombia, to Carlos Ariel Medina Pérez and Ligia Rosa Palencia Camacho.

Originally from Colombia, Rev. Mr. Medina belonged to Holy Apostles Parish (Santos Apóstoles). For the past four years in the U.S., he has been a member of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Clifton, and he is currently assigned as a deacon at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Morristown, N.J.

Rev. Mr. Medina graduated from high school from INEM José Eusebio Caro in 2005. He also completed eight semesters of Public Accounting at Francisco de Paula Santander University and Uniremington University.

“As a child, I was an altar boy. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say, ‘a priest,’” said Rev. Mr. Medina. He worked as an accounting assistant, a retail salesperson, and a sales representative at Samsung Electronics. “I was an atheist for about 12 years until I had a profound encounter with God through the Virgin Mary,” he said.

– On Saturday, June 13, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will ordain two seminarians of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., as priests “ready to teach, love, and serve” during a Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, which will start at 10 a.m. At St. John’s, the Mother Church of the diocese, Bishop Sweeney will ordain Rev. Mr. Lucas Folan, a member of Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Parish in the Cedar Knolls neighborhood of Hanover Township, N.J. The bishop will also ordain Colombian-born Jender Arley Medina Palencia, who serves at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Morristown, N.J.