Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, will ordain five new priests for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on Saturday June 21, 2025 during a 10 a.m. Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
The five new priests include:
- Deacon Marco Cerritelli, 32, a native of Washington, D.C., who grew up as a member of St. Jane de Chantal Parish in Bethesda, Maryland, and attended St. Anselm’s Abbey School in Washington. After earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and theology from the University of Notre Dame, he worked as a campus missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and at the University of Vienna in Austria, before becoming a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Washington. He will return home to St. Jane de Chantal Church and celebrate his first Mass on Sunday June 22 at 10 a.m. Link to related article:
- Deacon Gerard Gayou, 31, a native of St. Louis who worked as an assistant editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal before entering the seminary. After graduating from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and Chinese language and literature, he worked with Princeton in Asia, an affiliate of Princeton University, as a teaching fellow and a journalism fellow in China. He will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday June 22 at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington, D.C. Link to related article:
- Deacon Louis McHale, 26, a lifelong resident of the Washington area who was born in Manassas, Virginia, and grew up in Olney, Maryland. He attended the Heights School in Potomac, Maryland, a Catholic school sponsored by Opus Dei. His vocation was inspired by the example of his family and the priests he knew. He will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday June 22 at 4 p.m. at Annunciation Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., and the homilist will be Father Patrick Mullan, his cousin who serves as the chaplain for the archdiocese’s Office of Deaf and Disabilities Ministry. Link to related article:
- Deacon Daniel Morrison, 26, whose six siblings include two older brothers who serve as priests of the Archdiocese of Washington, and a younger sister preparing to make her first vows as a woman religious. Father James Morrison, who was ordained in 2020, has been appointed to serve as the administrator of Our Lady Queen of the Americas Parish in Washington, and Father Nicholas Morrison, who was ordained in 2021, serves as a parochial vicar at St. Peter’s Parish on Capitol Hill. Sister Mary Sophia Morrison will be making her first vows as a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville in August. After his ordination to the priesthood, Father Daniel Morrison will celebrate his first Mass at their family’s home parish, St. John Neumann in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on Sunday June 22 at 11:30 a.m. Link to related article:
- Deacon Chukwuma Odigwe, 29, who earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland in College Park. Before entering the seminary, he worked as a volunteer coordinator for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington and as a systems engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration, coordinating research on drones. He grew up attending St. Columba Church in Oxon Hill, Maryland, where he will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday June 22 at noon. Link to related article:
People are invited to pray for the ordinands to the priesthood at a Eucharistic Holy Hour on Friday June 20 at 6 p.m. at the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Father Mario Majano, the pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Landover Hills, will be the presider and homilist.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington includes 671,000 Catholics in 140 parishes and nine missions, with 90 Catholic schools in the District of Columbia and in the five surrounding Maryland counties of St. Mary’s, Charles, Calvert, Prince George’s and Montgomery. After the ordination of the five new priests, there will be 287 priests of the Archdiocese of Washington.
