The ordination will be carried via live video stream on the home pages of
DioceseofTrenton.organd
TrentonMonitor.com beginning at 10 a.m. An archive of the video stream will be available later in the day on the same websites.
Also, connect with the Diocese of Trenton on
Facebook and
Twitter for live posting from the Cathedral.
The Monitor’s reporting and photos from the priest Ordination will be posted to TrentonMonitor.com beginning June 3, and will be published in a keepsake magazine titled “In His Footsteps,” that will be mailed to all subscribers June 15.
Brief background on the four soon-to-be priests, who are currently transitional deacons, follows:
Deacon Roy Aris B. Ballacillo, 31, grew up in the province of Abra, in the northwest Philippines. He attended Holy Cross School in Lagangilang, Abra, and entered St. Joseph Seminary High School, Bangued, Abra, at age 12. Deacon Ballacillo attended Christ the King Seminary, Manila, receiving a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. After spending two years working for the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources, he decided to re-enter seminary life, and was invited to apply to the Diocese of Trenton’s formation program. Deacon Ballacillo has spent the last four years at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore, and earned a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology and a master of divinity degree.
Deacon Thomas John Barry, Jr., 41, was born in Long Branch and grew up in Hazlet. He attended Lillian Drive and Union Ave. Middle School, and Raritan High School, both in Hazlet. Upon graduation he attended Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, earning an associate’s degree in criminal justice in 1996. He went on to Rutgers College at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, receiving a bachelor’s degree in administration of justice in 1998. Deacon Barry entered Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange, in 2011, where he earned a master’s degree in systematic theology and master’s degree in divinity.
Deacon Michael A. Gentile, Jr., 41, was born in The Bronx, N.Y. He attended that borough’s Holy Rosary School and Mount St. Michael Academy. He then entered Marist College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., earning a bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, radio, television and film in 1997. After a move to North Carolina and jobs in the airline industry proved unfulfilling, Deacon Gentile entered a pre-seminary program in New York in 2001. He eventually moved to New Jersey, joined St. Ann Parish, Lawrenceville, and resumed studies for the priesthood, only this time in Immaculate Conception Seminary, South Orange, where he earned master’s degrees in systematic theology and divinity.
Deacon Michael Kennedy, 47, was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Manasquan, where he attended Manasquan Elementary School and High School, followed by University of New Mexico, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1998. Deacon Kennedy returned to New Jersey, and after a break of several years, he studied at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, earning a master’s degree in English in 2015. He then began to consider a call to the priesthood, entering St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore, in 2011, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theology and a master of divinity degree.