With a voice that carried throughout the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy announced, “Today I have tidings of great joy” as he greeted the large congregation of faithful on the warm, sunlit morning of June 21 for the annual Mass of Priesthood Ordination in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
Concelebrants included Cardinal Wilton Gregory and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishops emeritus of Washington; Auxiliary Bishops Roy Campbell Jr. and Evelio Menjivar, and more than 125 priests from the archdiocese and invited clergy.
“Today, each of you comes to this altar equally set apart by God and called to lifelong devotion to Him,” Cardinal McElroy said as he addressed the candidates for priesthood, expressing gratitude to the families and naming the ordinands’ parents. “The sacrifices you have made for your sons are deeply appreciated,” he said.
The five new priests, Father Marco Cerritelli, Father Gerard Gayou, Father Louis McHale, Father Daniel Morrison, and Father Chukwuma Odigwe came to the altar with varied life stories and vocations, united by a common call.
“Five men, rich in talents and heart, devoted to the Lord our God, caring for His people, filled with compassion and understanding the sacrifice, the joy and the wonders that lie ahead of them, today give their lives in service to our local Church of Jerusalem here in Washington, D.C.,” Cardinal McElroy said.
In his homily, the cardinal spoke of moments that crystalized the men’s call to priesthood. He recalled Father Daniel Morrison’s childhood, when priests often visited his family’s home and inspired him with their joy and prayerfulness.
Father Chukwuma Odigwe, he said, found clarity in high school when he attended a novena Mass and watched the priest raise the host, and thought, “This joy might someday be mine.”
Father Marco Cerritelli felt a deep sense of calling during a college class on the Eucharist at Notre Dame, when he sat among seminarians and, in that moment, “mystically…sensed with greater clarity than ever” that he wanted to be a priest.
Father Louis McHale’s pivotal moment came one evening before Christmas during his pastoral year, when he felt overwhelming grace in the silence of a parish church, filled with a powerful sense of God’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
And for Father Gerard Gayou, it was a morning at the George Washington University Newman Center when a student arrived desperate to see a priest. The priest was unavailable until evening, and the student left in sadness. Reflecting later, Father Gayou said he came to understand “the depth of the man’s need at the level of his heart” and felt called to live and serve at that level.
“In each of these moments, so rich in grace and intensity,” Cardinal McElroy said, “God called you … to the profound beauty of spiritual service. By these diverse pathways, the Lord has brought you together in this place, at this moment, for a common commitment that will stretch over the whole of your lives.”
“The priesthood you receive today is not your priesthood. It is God’s priesthood,” he said. “It is not a possession or a status or an achievement. It is the continuing call to conform yourself to the person of Jesus Christ.”
He urged the men to walk “in solidarity, common discipleship and love” with the people they serve. “It is in this dimension of the priesthood, the ministry of accompaniment, that you mirror the ministry of Christ, who spent the vast majority of His own public proclamation of the Kingdom (of God) accompanying the apostles as they grew in faith and struggled to understand the mission that was being entrusted to them,” he said.
The cardinal said that through that accompaniment, priests can help bring men, women and families closer to Christ, and in turn, they can do the same for their priests. Emphasizing the priests’ ministry in the sacramental life, which he called “the lifeblood of the Church,” Cardinal McElroy said, “There is no greater gift that you will give in your priesthood than celebrating for your community the sacraments that bind us to God so intimately and provide our consolation, our challenge, our peace and our strength in this earthly pilgrimage.”
He reminded the ordinands that their role was rooted in service and sacrifice. “There will be many moments of profound sacrifice that lie before you in the priesthood — times of self‑questioning, of failure, of loneliness or regret,” he said. “But a priesthood which excluded the woundedness of these realities would be merely a superficial priesthood, one which did not care enough to risk or to genuinely sacrifice for the people of God entrusted to your care. That would certainly not be the priesthood of Jesus Christ, who hung on the Cross for every one of us. It is precisely in your sacrifices as a priest that you will encounter the deepest glory of the Risen Christ – which is the ultimate foundation for our lives, our discipleship and our priesthood.”
The ordination followed the traditional rite of the Church. The candidates were called forth and presented to the archbishop, then promised obedience and fidelity.
During the singing of the Litany of the Saints, the five men lay prostrate before the altar as the congregation knelt in prayer.
What followed was the laying on of hands, the ancient rite that signifies the sacrament of Holy Orders, the moment when a man becomes a priest.
Cardinal McElroy laid hands upon each candidate first, invoking the Holy Spirit, followed by every concelebrating priest. As priest after priest came forward — a rite that lasted nearly 15 minutes — silence settled over the basilica, broken only by the occasional cries of infants or the bustling footsteps of small children.
Each newly ordained priest was then vested in a stole and chasuble, the symbols of the office.
They then knelt one by one before Cardinal McElroy, who anointed their hands with holy chrism — a sign that their hands will now serve as instruments for administering the sacraments.
Mothers of the new priests brought the offertory gifts to the altar.
Then Cardinal McElroy embraced each of the newly ordained priests. A group of priests concelebrating the Mass lined up to offer a sign of peace to the five men, and the new priests also received a sign of peace from Cardinal Wuerl, Cardinal Gregory, Bishop Campbell and Bishop Menjivar.
As the Mass continued, the new priests joined the cardinal at the altar for the consecration and Eucharistic Prayer. Later, they distributed Communion to the faithful.
Just before the conclusion of the liturgy, Cardinal McElroy explained that it is a long‑standing tradition for newly ordained priests to first bless the bishop who ordained them. Referring to the five, he said, “Our new quintet will then bless all of you, the people of God, and especially their families, who remain in their hearts.” The cardinal then knelt before the five new priests to receive their blessing.
The faithful responded with applause and shouts of joy as the new priests processed down the aisle, with incense filling the air.
After the Mass, people gathered in chapels throughout the basilica and in Memorial Hall to receive a personal blessing from the new priests.
“It was an honor to pray for them throughout the year,” said Suzie Gaston of Annunciation Church in Washington. “My sisters and I picked up their prayer cards at a Mass, and together we pray every day.” Her sister, Anne Stvil of St. Patrick Church in Rockville, added, “We spent the year praying for the seminarians — especially the priests ordained today. It felt like a privilege to witness this moment for them and for the Church.”
“It was so inspiring,” said Gabriel Pimenta, a student at the University of Maryland who attended the ordination with his friend Shawn Foh Dame.
Foh Dame, a recent Catholic convert, said, “I came into the Church this past Easter Vigil and met Father Daniel Morrison when he was a seminarian at the Catholic Student Center. I’m so excited for him and for all the new priests — it’s a blessing to be here supporting them today.”
Floyd Jones, who attends Elevation Point Church in Georgia, was among those waiting in line to receive a blessing from Father Gerard Gayou, a friend he first met during college at George Washington University. “I met him when I was his RA. At the time, I didn’t expect him to become a priest, but he was always very virtuous and had a strong faith,” he said. “We shared many deep conversations about God, and I knew then that He was calling him to something more.”
Olivia Santelli‑Werner spoke of her brother, Father Marco Cerritelli. “He was always eager to be an altar server when he was young, and that continued through college. When he came home, he would volunteer to serve at Mass,” she said. Asked for the one prayer she has for him, she added, “That he can guide young people who have strayed from the faith to come back. I stepped away from the Church myself in college, and I hope he can help others find their way home.”
Earlier in the Mass as he concluded his homily, Cardinal McElroy reflected on the sacred nature of the priestly call. “God has brought you by markedly different paths to this moment, and He will launch you on different paths as you leave this church,” he said. “Never lose sight of the humanity and the glory of your priesthood. Never fail to understand that the Lord will walk with you always, as our one Good Shepherd, who never leaves a single sheep behind. Not even for a moment.”
Link to YouTube video for Mass of Priesthood Ordination:
Mass of Ordination to the Priesthood 2025 | The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington - YouTube
