His Excellency Bishop Barry C. Knestout has called to holy orders eight seminarians from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, three of whom will be ordained priests and five to be ordained as transitional deacons, the last step on the road to the priesthood.
On Saturday, May 19, Bishop Knestout ordained as transitional deacons seminarians Tochi Iwuji, Chris Masla, Dan Molochko, Kyle O’Connor, and Cassidy Stinson at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, in Richmond.
On Saturday, June 2, 2018, Bishop Knestout, will ordain to the priesthood John Baab, James O’Reilly and Nick Redmond at the Cathedral.
These will be the first ordination Masses His Excellency will celebrate as the 13th bishop of Richmond. The public is invited to both liturgies, which begin at 10:30 a.m.
Called to be Ordained as Priests
John Baab, 32, son of Carl and Cathy Baab, is a 2004 graduate of J.R. Tucker High School and 2008 graduate of Radford University with degrees in business administration and philosophy. After college he was working in direct marketing when he had a profound experience of God during Mass one day and heard the first whispers of a call to the priesthood.
After several years discerning whether his was a call to the priesthood or married life, he enrolled in St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore. Six years later he eagerly awaits serving God through the priesthood. He wants to dedicate his ministry in a special way to those who struggle with their faith, especially lapsed Catholics.
“I have a lot of friends and family members who grew up Catholic and have fallen away from the faith for various reasons,” he said. “I see my ministry in a special way as dedicated to working toward bringing those people back into the fold – going after the lost sheep, as Jesus said.”
James O’Reilly, 28, the son of Thomas and Teresa O’Reilly, grew up in a military family and moved around the U.S. and abroad before the family settled in Yorktown. He grew up in St. Joan of Arc Parish. Since 2012, he has lived in Baltimore, where he is completing his priestly formation at St. Mary’s Seminary and University.
Besides youth ministry and Boy Scouts – he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout – music has always played a key role in his life. An accomplished alto sax and soprano sax player, he studied at Shenandoah University in Winchester and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. He’s performed in various musical ensembles and participated in local music competitions and sees music as a way to reach others for God.
“I use music as a form of evangelization. One of the pieces I play is “Gabriel’s Oboe” from “The Mission.” In that movie, Father Gabriel was playing the oboe, using his talent, evangelizing people. I want to do that as a priest,” he told the Catholic Virginian.
Nick Redmond, a native of Silver Spring, MD, in suburban Washington, D.C. and a University of Virginia graduate, was living a full life in 2011. He was teaching high school Spanish in Charlottesville, actively involved at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, satisfying his zest for sports by refereeing football, basketball and soccer games, and spending time with his girlfriend. That’s when God “smacked” him upside the head and made clear he could no longer ignore the call to the priesthood he’d first heard as a child.
Now, after completing seminary at Theological College at The Catholic University in Washington D.C, Deacon Redmond, 40, the son of Daniel and the late Suzanne Redmond, believes those experiences as a young man will inform how he approaches life as a priest, he told the Catholic Virginian.
“When it comes to these things, those life experiences those skills, I have no question that God wants me to be able to use them, but now through the lens of prayer, through the lens of the Church, through the lens of a very deep, personal relationship with him. I feel like all of those things are going to be put to much better use than I can ever have imagined when I was out there in the world doing what I wanted to do,” he told the Catholic Virginian.
Called to be Ordained as Transitional Deacons
Tochi Iwuji, 38, whose home parish is St. Thomas More, Lynchburg, is a graduate of Liberty University and is attending St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore
Chris Masla, 27 in May, whose home parish is St. Bede, Williamsburg, is a graduate of Virginia Tech and attends Theological College, the National Seminary of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Dan Molochko, 31, whose home parish is Ascension, Virginia Beach, is a graduate ofFranciscan University of Steubenville and is attending St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore.
Kyle O’Connor, 27, whose home parish is St. Andrew’s, Roanoke, is a graduate of The Catholic University of America, and attends the Pontifical North American Seminary in Rome.
Cassidy Stinson, 26, whose home parish is St. George, Scottsville, is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and attends Theological College, the National Seminary of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.