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Father Julio Alvarez-Garcia

St. Mary of Piscataway Parish

Father Alvarez-Garcia also served as executive director of the archdiocese’s Spanish Catholic Center from 1989-90.  When he received that assignment, he said, “We are not simply social workers, we have to evangelize the Hispanic community. We have to stress and set out a vision of the Church as welcoming new arrivals and immigrants.”

After his ordination to the priesthood, Father Alvarez-Garcia also served as a parochial vicar at parishes in Miami, and at St. Camillus in Silver Spring, Our Lady of Lourdes in Bethesda, St. Peter in Olney and St. Catherine Laboure in Wheaton. He served on the archdiocese’s Priest Council, as dean of northern Prince George’s County, and as a chaplain for the Knights of Columbus in that county.

Also marking his 40th anniversary as a priest this year, Father Tesfamariam Baraki, a native of Tigray, Ethiopia, has served as a Catholic chaplain at Howard University Hospital since 2001. He was ordained as a Cistercian priest in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1975. While studying at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, he assisted at parishes in the Archdiocese of Newark.

Later, the president of the Ethiopian bishops’ conference, Archbishop Paulos Tzadua of Addis Ababa, invited Father Baraki to serve as a missionary priest to Ethiopian Catholic immigrants and refugees living in the United States. The Ethiopian archbishop presented the priest to the Archdiocese of Washington, where then-Archbishop James Hickey appointed Father Baraki to serve as pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Kidane-Mehret) Ge’ez Rite Parish. Father Baraki served in that role from 1984 to 2000 at the parish, which brought together Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants living in the Washington area – two nationalities that had traditionally been divided. In 1985, he was appointed by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee to serve as a liaison and help dioceses across the country coordinate pastoral care and ministries for Ethiopian and Eritrean Catholics.

Father Baraki, who was incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 2005, earlier received the 1999 Washingtonian of the Year Award from Washingtonian magazine for his leadership and service in helping to unite the area’s Ethiopian and Eritrean communities into a parish where they worshipped together. In 2001, he received the Archbishop Silvano Tomasi Award from the Migration and Refugee Services Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees, for his service in the field of ethnic ministry. At Howard University Hospital, he has also received several awards for his service to the hospital’s Catholic patients and staff.

On Sunday May 17 – the exact date of the 40th anniversary of the priesthood ordination of Father Michael Kelley, the longtime pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish on North Capitol Street in Washington – the parish will host its annual Pentecost Concert. The 5 p.m. concert will be led by St. Martin’s Church Mass Choir, including the parish’s Traditional Choir, Gospel Choir and African Choir.

Father Kelley, a native of Spokane, Washington, was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1975 after earning a master of divinity degree at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. After his ordination, he served as a parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Parish in Washington and at St. Augustine Parish in Washington, before being named pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Washington in 1992, where he continues to serve as pastor.

In 1997, Father Kelley was honored as the “Grass Roots Pastor of the Year” by the Washington Council of Civic Associations, and in 2011 he received a Caritas Award from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. In a 2004 interview, he reflected on his ministry at the city parish, in a neighborhood that includes new people moving into the city. He said St. Martin’s wants to reach out to its new neighbors while continuing to serve longtime residents, especially the poor. “To me, it’s about how we share faith, give people hope, (and) link up God’s healing with people’s brokenness,” he said, adding that he loves being a priest and serving his people. “Every day, I know that God’s used me to bless someone in a special way.”

Another priest marking his 40th anniversary this year, Father Raymond O’Brien, is a professor at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America and has taught on the faculty there since 1977. A native of Washington, he is a graduate of St. John’s College High School, and of La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he earned a degree in government. After earning a law degree from the University of Virginia, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps. Later he entered the seminary and studied at Theological College and earned a doctorate in ministry from Catholic University. He was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1975. Before joining the faculty at Catholic University’s law school, he served as a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda.

Father O’Brien has authored or co-authored many books, and he has taught at the Georgetown University Law Center for nearly three decades and at other law schools across the country. He has also served as a visiting priest at St. Elizabeth Parish in Rockville since 1993, and earlier was a visiting priest at St. Rose of Lima in Gaithersburg, Resurrection in Burtonsville, St. Edward the Confessor in Bowie, and St. Matthias in Lanham.

Also marking his 40th anniversary as a priest this year, Msgr. Michael Wilson has served as pastor of Our Lady, Star of the Sea Parish in Solomons since 2011. He earlier served as pastor of St. Mary of the Mills Parish in Laurel from 2002-11, at St. Raphael Parish in Rockville from 1992-2002, and at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Lexington Park from 1987-92. A native of Fort Monroe, Virginia, he and his family attended St. Elizabeth Parish in Rockville since it was established in 1964. He later entered the seminary, studying at Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg before he was ordained in 1975 as a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Following his ordination, Father Wilson served as a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Parish in Bowie and later at Nativity Parish and at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington. From 1982-84, he served as archdiocesan director of vocations for men, after earlier serving as associate director. In a 2005 Catholic Standard interview after he was named a monsignor, he said he encourages people considering a vocation to pray to God for guidance. “Remember, you become a priest for others, not for yourself. Always do for others,” he said, offering advice to people thinking about the priesthood.

Over the years, Msgr. Wilson has also served on the Priest Council and as a chaplain for the Knights of Columbus and for the Serra Club, which promotes vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Reflecting on his priesthood and his parish assignments, he said, “I love being a priest… People are nice everywhere you go.”