BY ERIKA ANDERSON
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Family and friends gathered at Holy Spirit Church June 13 for the
culmination of the journey to priestly ordination for three candidates.
While their friends and relatives wiped away tears, Father Liam Coyne,
Father Kevin Peek and Father Pedro Poloche became the newest additions to the
brotherhood of priests serving the Archdiocese of Atlanta. They are among nine
ordained for the church of North Georgia in June.
The church was filled to capacity with those who were anxious to see them
fulfill their desire to become a priest.
During his homily, the three listened intently as Archbishop John F.
Donoghue offered his advice.
“My beloved sons--for such does the Holy Spirit make you to me--I offer
you these simple instructions, from the ancient wisdom of our Holy Mother the
Church,” he said.
“You must apply your energies to the duty of teaching in the name of
Christ, the chief teacher. You must share with all mankind the word of God you
have received with joy. You must meditate on the law of God, believe what you
read, teach what you believe and put into practice what you teach; you must
never, never forsake the guidance, the wisdom and the protection of our holy
Church.”
During the ordination rite, Father David Talley, director of vocations,
presented the candidates to the archbishop and the congregation, who accepted
them with applause.
Each then knelt before the archbishop, pledging to serve the archdiocese,
the archbishop and his successors.
The three men then prostrated themselves in front of the altar, while the
kneeling congregation interceded for them and for their priesthood.
Following this prayer, the archbishop placed his hands on the head of each
man individually, as they knelt before him, conferring ordination upon them.
Dozens of concelebrating priests repeated this gesture, also laying their hands
upon the new priests and praying for them.
Each new priest was then helped to vest by chosen friends and family
members.
Father Peek was assisted by his mother, Mary, and a former seminary
classmate, Father Mark Reilly, who serves in Ogdensburg, N.Y. Father Coyne was
vested by his father, Richard, and by Father Paul Berny, the pastor with whom
he served during his diaconal year. Father Poloche was vested by friends Jose
and Luz De La Torre.
Newly vested, the new priests were prepared for the celebration of the
Eucharist as their hands were anointed by the archbishop and each received a
chalice.
“Accept from the holy people of God the gifts to be offered to
Him,” the archbishop prayed.
After this prayer, the new priests were embraced by their brother priests
and joined the archbishop on the altar for the Eucharist.
The joy and excitement was evident in the faces of the new priests, as well
as in their family and friends.
Father Coyne’s mother, Marie, spent much of the Mass with her rosary
clutched in her hands.
“I’m just praying everything will go well for him. I hope he will
make a good priest,” she said. “This is a very special day.”
She said she is happy because her son, 30, has wanted to become a priest for
a long time.
“I’m very pleased. This is what he wants,” she said. “It
seems he always wanted to be a priest. Religion was always very important to
him.”
Father Coyne’s family, including his parents, younger brother,
grandmother, aunt and cousin, made the journey from Kilrush, County Clare,
Ireland, to be with him. He earned his degrees in Dublin where he also worked
as an addiction counselor.
“It’s been a long time coming, and when the day arrived, I never
did so much crying,” his father said. “I went through a spell of
(crying) when I went to Medjugorje, but this was five times more intense. I am
delighted.”
Members of the Church of St. Gabriel in Fayetteville also came to support
the young man they had come to love while he served the parish as a deacon.
“He’s part of the family at St. Gabriel’s,” said Marie
Mulvenna, parish liturgy chairperson. “He is everyone’s son or
brother. We all love him. He entered into the life of the parish and really
made it unique. We feel very blessed to have had him.”
Mulvenna also said she had “mixed emotions” because Father Coyne
will be moving on to his first assignment as a parochial vicar at All Saints
Church, Dunwoody.
“I am sad to see him go, but happy to see him take the last steps of
priesthood,” she said. “The people of All Saints are very fortunate
to be getting him.”
Father Berny, pastor in Fayetteville until his reassignment to St.
Joseph’s Church in Marietta, said Father Coyne is a “wonderful
preacher.”
“The people of All Saints need to get ready for some spectacular
homilies,” he said.
Father Peek, 28, who grew up in Atlanta as a member of Immaculate Heart of
Mary Church, is one of 11 children, and had a large gathering of friends and
family present.
Throughout their long friendship, Father Peek has had a definite influence
in the life of Andrea Jaramillo, who attended her senior prom with him. She
also attended Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., after urging from Father
Peek, who received a bachelor’s degree in history from the school. She
said that coming to his ordination was important to her.
“It is such an important occasion for him and I told him I’d
always be there for him,” she said. “He’s very special to our
family. We are really excited for him because this is what he’s always
wanted to do.”
Joseph Peek affectionately kissed his son’s hands as he was called
forth by the archbishop to be ordained. His mother described her son’s
ordination as “overwhelming.”
“It is such a special gift from God,” she said. “It’s
nothing of our doing--it’s my son’s response to God’s
call.”
Mrs. Peek, who has a daughter who is a cloistered Carmelite nun, said God
has blessed their family in many ways.
“The graces and what the Lord has given our family have been a
tremendous gift,” she said. “It’s like a mystery of our faith.
It’s incomprehensible--you never know the value of it and it’s not
anything you can work for. It’s just a tremendous gift.”
The family stayed after the ordination to pray a decade of the rosary for
the newly ordained priest. Mrs. Peek said that she was excited that the date of
the ordination was June 13, an anniversary of an apparition of Mary in Fatima.
“My whole aim in life for my children is I just want them to be
holy,” she said. “Any direction I’ve ever given them has always
been based on holiness.”
Father Peek will begin his first assignment as a parochial vicar at Holy
Trinity Church in Peachtree City.
Father Poloche, 29, a native of Colombia, South America, has been assigned
as a parochial vicar at St. Jude the Apostle Church in Atlanta, where his
duties will include leading the Hispanic ministry.
Father Poloche studied at the Seminario Nacional de Cristo Sacerdote in La
Ceja, Colombia, for six years and for two years at the Universitario
Politécnico Grancolombiano in Bogotá.
Although his family was unable to make the trip from Colombia, Father
Poloche was supported at his ordination by many members of Holy Family Church,
Marietta, where he served as a deacon, assisting with Hispanic ministry and
sacramental life.
Eduardo Rivera, a member of the Holy Family choir, said that Father Poloche
has become a part of the parish family.
“He’s a nice person--he’s very friendly,” he said.
“A lot of people love him.”
Jose De La Torre and his wife, Luz, grew especially close to Father Poloche
during his time at Holy Family.
“He has been like our son really,” De La Torre said. “He
considers us, in my eyes, the only family he has in the states. We try to make
him feel like he has a family here in the states.”
De La Torre also expressed a little sadness to see Father Poloche leave Holy
Family.
“We are sad to see him leave, but, at the same time, he has
accomplished what he came here to do and we are celebrating with him,” he
said.
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