Paterson seminarian among those admitted for candidacy to priesthood

CARLOS
PENAGOS

Carlos Penagos, a seminarian of the Paterson Diocese, was admitted for candidacy to the priesthood during a Mass earlier this month in St. James the Apostle Church in Springfield. He and three seminarians of the Newark Arch­diocese were admitted for candidacy by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R, archbishop of Newark, who celebrated the Mass. Penagos is a third-year theology student at Im­maculate Con­cep­tion Seminary in South Orange. His home parish is St. Anthony in Hawthorne. Admission to Candidacy is an intentional and grace-filled beginning of a man’s final period of preparation for the priesthood. The ritual of admission includes a public affirmation by the candidates for holy orders. The four men will be ordained to the transitional diaconate in the spring of 2024 and, through God’s will, will be ordained priests the following year. Cardinal Tobin (third from right) and Deacon Michael DeRoberts (left), who assisted with the Mass, are pictured with seminarians (from left) Michael Bollinger, Giovanni Cussiol, Penagos, and Raymond Walsh.