Two Men to be Ordained Priests for Diocese of Worcester

May 31, 2014, WORCESTER, MA – On Saturday, June 7 at 10:00 am Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, STD, Bishop of Worcester, will ordain two men to the order of presbyter, or priesthood, to serve the people of the Diocese of Worcester. They are Deacon James Boland, a native of Northboro and Deacon Charles Omolo, the first Kenyan to be ordained for the Diocese of Worcester. The liturgy, which will take place at Cathedral of St. Paul, Chatham and High Streets, Worcester, is open to the public and will be televised on Sunday, June 8 at 1 pm and Wednesday, June 11 at 10 am on Charter TV3. It will also be available for online viewing at worcesterdiocese.org or on vimeo.com/dioceseofworcester.

Deacon James Boland was born Dec. 25, 1985 in Framingham. He attended Northborough Middle School (now Robert E. Melican Middle School) and Algonquin Regional High School, all in Northborough, and Springfield College. He was awarded a master of divinity from St. John Seminary in Brighton this spring. Deacon Boland’s summer assignments have been at St. Paul Cathedral, St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Fitchburg, The Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., and Immaculate Conception Parish in Worcester. Immaculate Conception’s pastor, Father Walter J. Riley, is to vest him at his ordination.

He will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on June 8 at 2 p.m. at St. Bernadette Parish, Northborough. He will celebrate another Mass of Thanksgiving on June 15 at 10 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Parish, Worcester.

Deacon Charles Omolo was born Feb. 5, 1983 in Kenya. He studied at St. Gabriel Minor Seminary in Kenya and Spiritan Missionary Seminary in Tanzania, from which he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with a minor in Religious Studies and Social Sciences. In 2006 he came to the United States to study for the priesthood with the Glenmary Home Missioners, and attended Brescia University in Owensboro, KY. In 2009 he was accepted by the Worcester Diocese to prepare for the priesthood here. He studied for three years at St. John Seminary in Brighton, and completed his training at St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore this spring from which he received his masters of divinity.

Deacon Omolo’s summer assignments were at St. Christopher Parish in Worcester, Holy Angels Parish in Upton, and St. Mark Parish in Sutton. Last year he did a pastoral year at St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Upton. Father Thomas E. Mahoney, retired co-pastor of St. Gabriel, is to vest him at his ordination.

He is planning to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on June 8 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Gabriel Parish, Upton. He is also planning to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in Kenya this summer.

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