Priest Ordination

Bishop O'Connell ordains four men to priesthood

Four men who have been called by the Lord to follow in his footsteps were 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 new priests are Father Roy Aris B. Ballacillo, Father Thomas John Barry, Jr., Father Michael A. Gentile, Jr. and Father Michael Kennedy. You can read more about the Ordination in this story from The Monitor.

Following are brief profiles of the newly ordained priests:

Father Roy Aris B. Ballacillo, 31, was born in 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.

Father Thomas John Barry, Jr., 41, was born in 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.

Father 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.

Father Michael A. Gentile, Jr., 41, was born in 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, Father 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 prepared to become a priest for the Trenton Diocese. 

Father Michael Kennedy, 47, was born in 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.

Father 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 as well as a master’s degree in divinity.

Also of interest
An archived version of the live stream from the May 20 Ordination of four transitional deacons, as well as more information about the four deacons is available here.