Bishop O'Connell to ordain four new priests June 3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2017
CONTACT:  Rayanne Bennett, Executive Director
                    (609) 403-7188, cell (908) 347-1137

Four men who have been called by the Lord to follow in his footsteps will be ordained to the priesthood by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., during a 10 a.m. Mass on June 3 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. 

The Ordination of these four men to the priesthood will be carried via live video stream on the home pages of DioceseofTrenton.org and TrentonMonitor.com beginning at 10 a.m.  An archive of the video stream will be available later in the day on the same websites.

The priest candidates, all of whom are currently ordained transitional deacons, are Deacon Roy Aris B. Ballacillo, Deacon Thomas John Barry, Jr., Deacon Michael A. Gentile, Jr. and Deacon Michael Kennedy.

Following are brief profiles of the four candidates:

Deacon Roy Aris B. Ballacillo, 31, was born October 1985, and 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, earning a master’s degree in theology and master’s degree in divinity.

Deacon Thomas John Barry, Jr., 41, was born July 1975, 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 has pursued a master’s degree in systematic theology and master’s degree in divinity.

Deacon Michael A. Gentile, Jr., 41, was born July 1975, 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 would prepare to become a priest for the Trenton Diocese. 

Deacon Michael Kennedy, 47, was born September 1969, in Philadelphia. 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, for the Trenton Diocese in 2011; subsequently he earned a bachelor’s degree in theology and has been pursuing a master’s degree in divinity.