Father Henry Groover, OP, who has served as campus minister at the University of Georgia in Athens since last fall, was ordained to the priesthood Feb. 22.

The ordination ceremony took place at St. Dominic Church in New Orleans. Bishop William R. Houck of Jackson, Miss., presided.

Father Groover celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving at UGA’s Catholic chapel on March 1. He will continue his work in Athens through June 30 and will begin campus ministry at Barry University in Miami this fall. Before going to UGA, Father Groover lived with fellow Dominicans at Holy Cross Church in Atlanta, where he helped structure a Scripture reflection/homily preparation group for parish deacons. During that time, he also helped Father Ray Dowling in his ministry to prisoners at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.

Father Groover, 37, grew up in the Savannah area and entered the Southern Dominican Province of St. Martin de Porres after working for years as a licensed tug and crew boat captain on the Savannah River. “I was in the union, making good money,” he said, but found something missing. A three-month leave of absence spent at Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina convinced him he had a vocation.

“Jesus selected folks who had a background in water,” Father Groover said, adding that he was attracted to the Dominicans because they preached the Good News to the marginalized: the poor, prisoners and students.

Father Groover completed theological studies at St. Martin de Porres Novitiate in Columbia, S.C., and at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, Calif.

He is the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Groover of Savannah.