Priesthood ordinations today!!

Please pray for these five men who will be ordained priests today by Archbishop Wuerl at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception:


• Roy E. Campbell, Jr., 59, is a native of Pomonkey (Charles County), Maryland, who moved to Washington, DC as a child. A graduate of Howard University, he had a 33-year career with Bank of America, working his way up from teller to vice president and project manager. He also directed the American Lung Association of Maryland for five years in the 1980s. He was active in St. Gabriel parish in Washington, DC prior to entering Blessed John XXIII Seminary in Boston, MA.

• Brian A. Coehlo, 33, is a native of Kumta, India. He worked in his family’s business of splitting and delivering firewood prior to moving to the United States to enter Redemptoris Mater Seminary. He will serve as a diocesan missionary priest, both in local parishes, but also in overseas missions during his priesthood. He speaks Hindi and three other languages in addition to English and some Spanish. His parents and elder brother will travel to the United States for the ordination.

• John T. Nguyen, 33, is a native of Saigon, Vietnam. He escaped Vietnam with his father and a sister in the late 1980s, arriving in the United States when he was 15 years old. He has extensive pastoral experience, working with youth, at hospitals and teaching religious education. He attended the University of Scranton, The Catholic University of America and then seminary at Theological College in Washington, DC. His home parish is Our Lady of Vietnam in Silver Spring.

• Paul Nguyen, 28, was born in Tan Hiep, Kien Giang, Vietnam. He arrived in the United States at age 11 after several attempts at leaving Vietnam, including a year by himself in an orphanage and refugee camp in Thailand before he was reunited with his family in California. Paul attended the University of California at Irvine and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD. His home parish is Our Lady of Vietnam in Silver Spring.

• Joseph E. Rogers, 35, was an international business executive for eight years prior to entering the seminary. His work took him to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Mexico, Russia and other nations. He participating in the US-Argentina and US-Brazil Business Councils, working on free trade issues. A native of Mobile, Alabama, he attended the University of Notre Dame, and received a master’s degree from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He completed his pre-theology studies at Theological College in Washington, DC and seminary studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He speaks Italian, and some Spanish and German.