2 Men With Belleville Ties Get Ordained As Priests (VIDEO)

BELLEVILLE, NJ — Two men with Belleville ties were recently ordained as priests in a ceremony at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.

As their loved ones looked on with smiles on their faces and tears of joy in their eyes, the four priests-to-be — Robert Burkot, JuHyun Andrew Lee, Bernardo Garcia and Frenel Phanord — were called forward one by one, as Cardinal Joseph Tobin prayed over them during their Rite of Ordination last month (watch the video below).

After the new priests were given their stoles and chasubles and had their hands anointed with oil, they distributed Communion for the first time as priests. Then, once the ordination concluded, they offered their first blessings to congregants.

Garcia is a parishioner of St. Peter’s Church in Belleville. He formerly served as a transitional deacon at St. Aloysius Church and St. Benedict Church in Newark.

Phanord formerly served as a transitional deacon at St. Peter’s Church in Belleville.

Following the ordination, the new priests immediately began serving their assigned parishes, where they will shepherd their congregations while celebrating Mass and the sacraments as parochial vicars. According to the archdiocese:

• Burkot is at St. Paul of the Cross Church in Jersey City
• Garcia is at Sts. Bernard of Clairvaux and Stanislaus Kostka in Plainfield
• Lee is at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in South Orange
• Phanord is at St. Mary Church in Plainfield

The Archdiocese of Newark serves 1.3 million Catholic residents of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties.

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