From Marianist Teachings to Jesuit Vows

In May during a ceremony at Fordham University, Peter Folan was one of 16 new seminarians to take the final steps of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, becoming a full member of the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church, also known as the Society of Jesus.

“I looked back and asked myself if I was happy,” Folan, 34 of Massapequa Park said in an interview. “I looked back at the big picture and found that I was happy. That was a really good hint.”

This summer Folan will begin his ministry as the new pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Washington, D.C. Prior to entering the priesthood, Folan, a 1996 graduate of Chaminade High School, worked in for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops education and public policy and was a teacher at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, MD. He holds a bachelors degree in liberal studies and German from the University of Notre Dame.

His decision for a priestly lifestyle was not an easy or immediate one as he entered the the Jesuit order in 2003 for a two-year journey to discover is the life of a priest was really for him.

“The longer I stayed there and the more I invested myself in the Jesuits, the more I knew I wanted this life,” he said.

Folan has not cut his ties with his home community, recently holding a mass at Our Lady of Lourdes. His mother still lives in the home in which she raised her still children, though Folan's brother and sister have both moved away and his father passed away in 1994.

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