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Further information:
Contact Deacon John Reardon (570) 208-5836
or Sandra Faux, Public Relations (570) 208-5958

HOLY CROSS TO ORDAIN TWO PRIESTS

IN WILKES-BARRE ON JANUARY 3

Dec. 22, 2003 -- For the first time in more than thirty years, the Congregation of Holy Cross will celebrate priestly ordinations in Wilkes-Barre. Two Holy Cross Deacons, Walter E. Jenkins, C.S.C., and John P. Reardon, C.S.C., will be ordained priests by the Most Rev. Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., D.D., Bishop of Peoria, Ill., on Jan. 3, 2004, at St. Nicholas Church.

The choice of Wilkes-Barre as the site for the ordination reflects both new priests’ strong ties to King’s College and the area. Deacon Walter Jenkins is the son of Walter and Frances Jenkins, both originally from the Parsons section of Wilkes-Barre. He graduated from King’s College in 1988. He received a Masters of Divinity from the University of Notre Dame in 2001 and since then has served in residence life and campus ministry at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.

In honor of his King’s background and Wilkes-Barre roots, the node of the chalice Jenkins’ parents are presenting him for his ordination will contain a piece of coal similar to that used to construct the coal altar in the King’s Chapel of Christ the King.

Deacon John Reardon, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, grew up in Scituate, Mass. He graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in Political Science in 1983 and holds a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Divinity from the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas. Reardon has served at King’s College in a number of roles since 2001. In addition to teaching theology, he has been the advisor to the King’s Council of the Knights of Columbus, the coordinator of King’s Hispanic/Latino Outreach Team, and the regional vocation representative of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Reardon began as a seminarian working with the Spanish-speaking community and then expanded to ministering among the entire parish community as a deacon.

As King’s liaison to the Scranton Diocese’s ministry to Hispanic Catholics, Reardon became involved with the Hispanic community at Holy Rosary Church in Wilkes-Barre and serves both Spanish-and English-speaking communities at the parish.

When he made perpetual vows last June, Reardon received the Profession Cross originally worn by the late Rev. James Doyle, C.S.C., a priest who served at King’s and was active in the Wilkes-Barre area for decades. As an ordination gift, Reardon’s parents, John and Mary Reardon of Scituate, Mass., are restoring Father Doyle’s chalice for him to use.

The Ordination Liturgy will take place on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 1 p.m. at St. Nicholas Church, 226 S. Washington St., Wilkes-Barre. A reception will follow at the church. On Sunday, Jan. 4, Father Reardon will celebrate the 9 a.m. Mass of Thanksgiving, and Father Jenkins will celebrate the 11:30 p.m. Mass of Thanksgiving in the King’s College Chapel of Christ the King on Jackson Street.

The Congregation of Holy Cross was founded in 1837 by Basil Anthony Moreau, a priest of the diocese of Le Mans, France. Holy Cross founded King’s College in 1946. Holy Cross is a growing international Catholic religious community with more than 1,700 priests, brothers and young men in formation all across the world.

Sandra Faux
Director, Public Relations
King's College
133 N. River Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
email: jsfaux@kings.edu
phone: (570) 208-5958
fax: (570) 825-9049
 http://www.kings.edu