Historic day: Archbishop Lori ordains largest class of priests in more than 40 years

The June 24 priesthood ordinations at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland marked two happy occasions in the cathedral’s history.

Father Steven Roth, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, announced that the ordination of eight men was the largest single group “in well over 40 years in this archdiocese.” Last year there were five, for instance, and there was one in 2021.

Father Daniel Acquard, Father John Bilenki, Father Javier A. Fuentes Cabrera, Father Paul Kongnyuy, Father Luke Koski, Father Felix Mmuoh, Father Nicholas Mwai and Father Sampson Onwumere prostrate themselves in prayer during the Litany of Supplication. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

And with the use of a rented platform that allowed the archbishop to face the congregation during the consecration, the cathedral’s original high altar was used for the first time in decades to celebrate Mass.

Ordained in the sometimes boisterous three-hour Mass, which also marked the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, before a congregation of more than 2,000, with their assignments beginning July 1, were:

Father Daniel Acquard, to associate pastor, St. Margaret Parish, Bel Air;
Father John Bilenki, to associate pastor (summer), Immaculate Conception Parish, Towson, before resuming advanced theological studies in Rome;
Father Javier Fuentes, to associate pastor, Pastorate of St. John the Evangelist Parish, Frederick, and St. Joseph-on-Carrollton Manor Parish, Buckeystown;
Father Paul Kongnyuy, to associate pastor, Pastorate of Resurrection and St. Paul Parishes, Ellicott City;
Father Luke Koski, to associate pastor, Pastorate of Christ the King Parish, Glen Burnie, and St. Bernadette Parish, Severn, and Chaplain, Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn;
Father Felix Mmuoh, to associate pastor, St. Joseph Parish, Fullerton;
Father Nicholas Mwai, to associate pastor, Immaculate Conception Parish, Towson; and
Father Sampson Onwumere, to associate pastor, Pastorate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Essex, and St. Clare Parish, Essex.

Archbishop Lori’s homily reminded the candidates that they had been entrusted “with a mission impossible.”

Every good priest, he said, “recognizes his inadequacy for the mission entrusted to him,” and knows “that the demands of the job outstrip his native ability.”

More than 2,000 attended the priest ordination celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“The good fruit of the Gospel is measured not by personal success or acclaim, but rather by how many are led to the Lord through preaching,” Archbishop Lori said. “Like John, we will proclaim the Lamb of God, but more than that, in the Mass, you will be instruments of his true presence.”

And the journey ahead will include suffering: “In your lives as priests, the cross will assert itself. It is in the crucible of suffering that we learn to love like Christ loved,” he said.

During the ordination rite, the candidates for priesthood prostrated themselves in the sanctuary as those in the cathedral invoked the saints.

Archbishop Lori laid his hands on their heads, conferring the gift of the Holy Spirit. Dozens of other priests from across the archdiocese and from religious orders did the same, each praying for their newly ordained brothers. Priests selected by the newly ordained men then vested them with stoles and chasubles.

After the archbishop anointed the hands of the new priests, he presented each a paten and chalice. He then embraced them, a gesture repeated by all the other priests.

Moments after the conclusion of the ordination Mass, Father Fuentes beamed a broad smile. He told the Catholic Review he expected to be filled with joy at his ordination.

Archbishop William E. Lori addresses the congregants at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland during ordination ceremonies. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“It’s every bit of the joy I expected from the minute I felt that first call of God to consider the priesthood,” he said. “It’s so amazing to believe that he has walked with me on this journey to the altar and, for, God-willing, many more years to come as a priest.”

The native of Puerto Rico, a former chemical technician at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, said he was inspired to give his life to God after seeing so many “good and holy priests” model what it means to be a spiritual father as he was growing up.

Family and friends of the newly ordained, had a common theme: There was nothing surprising about their vocation.

Father Koski’s mother, Patti, said her son had first expressed interest in the priesthood during his senior year at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, but a cherished family story has the moment nearly preordained.

“He was born at only 26 weeks,” she said. “We were just hoping he was going to live. And his Polish great-grandmother came in and just scooped him up in one hand, even with all the tubes. She noticed that both his hands were not at his side, but facing upward, toward Heaven. And she announced, “this boy is going to become a priest!’”

Father Kongnyuy joins his twin brother, Father Peter Kiamo-oh, who serves at St. Ignatius parish in Hickory, in their calling.

Father Kiamo-oh called it simply “the next logical step” in the brothers’ journey that began in their native Cameroon. “I feel completeness. We will be able to change bread and wine into the body of Jesus Christ together.” And there’s a Biblical parallel: “Paul is following Peter.”

Peter Njau, an accountant in Baltimore and a childhood friend of Father Mwai from their years in Kenya, said the path had “been a little bit difficult, but you have to get through it.”

Eight newly ordained priests join the bishops of Baltimore at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Acknowledging that the ordination made him “very emotional,” he added, “I know I’m looking forward to his preaching. He has a lot of ways to connect to people.”

“We’ve all learned so much about our faith as a result of Daniel’s journey,” said Father Acquard’s mother, Geri. “It’s brought us all closer to God.”

And with tears of joy as well. “I have peace and the happiness in seeing my son be completely happy. And I know that he’s going to make a difference in so many people’s lives.”

Father Bilenki, moments before offering a long line of family and friends his first blessing as a priest, called his ordination “a total gift from Jesus.”

“I’m excited that he’s called me to love him and serve him and his people in this way,” he said. “I’m excited to serve.”

He said he was overwhelmed at the start of the Mass to see the cathedral so crowded with people who expressed their love for the newly ordained.

“It just kind of washes over us and it carries us to the altar,” he said.

In using the high altar during the ordination Mass, Archbishop Lori had more room in the sanctuary for an ordination rite that involved many elements and a large number of priestly candidates.

What is now known as the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in Latin, with clergy facing the altar for much of the rite, went out of regular use in the early 1960s after changes put in place by the Second Vatican Council led to clergy to facing the congregation. A freestanding altar has been used in the cathedral ever since.

A rented platform allowed Archbishop William E. Lori to face the congregation during the consecration and the cathedral’s original high altar was used for the first time in decades to celebrate Mass. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

A platform could be erected behind the high altar because it has space behind it. The original altar, which has steps on three sides, was first used when the cathedral opened on Nov. 15, 1959. Following the ordination liturgy, the cathedral parish used the high altar for Masses over the weekend, and, after parish leaders receive feedback from the community, they may make the use of the high altar permanent.

Removing the freestanding altar restores the sanctuary to its original design, Father Louis A. Bianco, the cathedral rector, said in a Flocknote message sent to members of the cathedral parish prior to the ordination.

“As it stands, the current arrangement of our sanctuary is theologically problematic,” he wrote. “Since the high altar signifies Christ himself, it is fitting that there be only one altar in the sanctuary.”

Father Bianco said it was the intention of the architects that the high altar and the crucifix above it would be the sole focal point of the entire edifice.

Kevin J. Parks contributed to this story.

Video of the full ordination ceremony can be viewed here.

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