By Priscilla Greear

ATLANTA—Reflecting the continuing growth of the largest Hispanic nationality in North Georgia, the first two priests from Mexico were ordained for the Atlanta Archdiocese in late June at their native parishes.

Rev. Mr. Jose Refugio Oñate Melendez was ordained June 20 at Holy Family Church in Jesús María, Jalisco, a Mexican state bordering the Pacific. Rev. Mr. Abel Guerrero-Orta was ordained June 16 in the parish hall of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Villa de Reyes, in San Luis Potosi, located in north central Mexico.

Father David Talley, archdiocesan director of vocations, said the men bring, among other things, a love and knowledge of Mexico to share with the diverse community of the archdiocese.

“These are the first two Mexican vocations that have been ordained for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Most of our (Hispanic) priests that have been ordained are from Colombia. Because so many of our Hispanics in this diocese are Mexican, these men will bring a great cultural knowledge of their own people to assist the Latino community with us,” said Father Talley.

Of 11 Hispanic seminarians now studying for the archdiocese, five are Mexican.

Rev. Mr. Oñate Melendez was ordained by Bishop Navarro Rodríguez of the Diocese of St. John of the Lakes, Jalisco, where he had attended St. John Seminary of the Lakes. Among the 40 concelebrating priests were Father Talley, Father Luis Guillermo Córdoba Isaza of Colombia, who was just ordained for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and Father Elkin Fernando Alvarez, rector of the National Seminary of Christ the Priest in Colombia where the seminarian completed his theology studies.

Archdiocesan seminarians Rene Pulgarin Zapata and Fabio Alvarez Posada, both from Colombia, and 12 other seminary friends also attended. After his own ordination Father Guerrero-Orta also made the trip from San Luis Potosi to Jalisco to concelebrate the ordination of Rev. Mr. Oñate Melendez, who served as a deacon during the San Luis Potosi ordination.

The Jalisco parish was packed full on the hot, sunny day with family, friends and other supporters of Rev. Mr. Oñate Melendez including five parishioners from Our Lady of the Americas Mission in Doraville, where he had served a pastoral internship from fall 1999 through this spring. It began as a mariachi band led members of the congregation from the transitional deacon’s home to the church. The state choir of Jalisco sang during the service as well. Family members brought forth the gifts and Father Alvarez vested the new priest.

The Jalisco priest’s first Mass was celebrated June 21 in the nearby mountainous pueblo of San José de la Paz, Jalisco, with homilist Father Alvarez. An outdoor reception followed in a park setting. Father Talley also celebrated Spanish Mass on June 25 at Holy Family Parish.

Rev. Mr. Guerrero-Orta was ordained by Archbishop Don Luis Morales Reyes of the Archdiocese of San Luis Potosi, located in northern Mexico. It was concelebrated by about 15 priests including Father Córdoba Isaza and those from seminaries the new priest attended in Mexico. Supporters overflowed from the church including two parishioners from St. Matthew’s Church, Winder, where the seminarian had served a pastoral internship in 1998. The intimate ceremony also opened with a mariachi procession to the church. Family members brought the gifts forward and Father David Flores, a former seminary classmate of Father Guerrero-Orta, vested the new priest.

Father Guerrero-Orta, 32, celebrated his first Mass on the fresh and sunny afternoon of June 17 outdoors in the zócalo, or public square, of Villa de Reyes. The homilist was Father Guerrero-Orta’s classmate through eight years of seminary, Father Rodrigo Martinez. A lively fiesta followed nearby.

In a phone interview from St. Joseph Church in Dalton, where Father Guerrero-Orta is serving his first assignment as a parochial vicar, he spoke of the joy he felt on his ordination day.

“I was very excited and I was so happy to see all my family, especially my parents,” he said.

Though Father Guerrero-Orta’s father is ill, he was able to attend his son’s ordination.

“I think it was the best medicine for him,” Father Guerrero-Orta said. “He was so happy and he cried the whole time.”

The Mexican priest is proud to be the first ordained from his country, but hopes he is not the last.

“I feel a big responsibility to do the best work I can, because I know the archdiocese is looking for Mexican priests,” he said. “I know many people who were seminarians in Mexico, but they moved here to work to help their families. I would like to invite them back.”

During both ordinations, Father Talley said he gave one of the eucharistic prayers, testified concerning the worthiness of the seminarians to the ordaining bishops, and thanked the congregation on behalf of Archbishop John F. Donoghue and the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

In a phone interview from Mexico following his ordination, Father Oñate Melendez said his ordination was truly a family affair.

“It was a great experience. There were many reasons it was—because it was the first time all my family was together, my 12 brothers, my two sisters and my parents. That was important for me ... I was excited. The choir was very special. My people were more than 1,000.”

And it was quite a long time coming for the 32-year-old priest.

“I was studying and I was preparing for 17 years. I went to the seminary when I was 15 years old and (for) a long time I waited for this moment,” he said. “It’s great and now I’m (celebrating) Masses every day. I need to practice. I was nervous in my first Mass, very nervous, but now I’m doing better day by day.”

The Jalisco priest originally had wanted to serve the St. John of the Lakes Diocese, but said that many siblings “were in the U.S. and I felt God’s call to me to work in that country. I have (had) questions, but now I feel God calls me to work in Atlanta,” he said, adding with relief that “in the U.S., in Atlanta, you can find everything from Mexico. It was more difficult when I was in Colombia studying four years. In Atlanta I can find lots of people from Mexico, food, everything.”

Father Talley said both ordinations “were incredible experiences ... well attended by the townspeople with great fiestas afterwards.” The ordinations were held in Mexico, he said, to facilitate attendance. Both priests “wanted to give that gift to their parents.”

Father Talley said, “Both are great men. Abel has an easy smile and a very easy laugh. Jose Refugio has the same kind of easy smile, (and) is a bit more reflective and both will bring great strengths to their new assignments. Both are good friends not only to each other but great friends with many of the Hispanic seminarians.”

Reflecting their understanding of the needs of Hispanics in the archdiocese, he recalled how the two men initiated and organized a successful “encuentro” for Hispanics discerning vocations in April. Another is scheduled for September. And sharing their rich Mexican heritage, the vocations director added, the two priests, following their ordinations, took Colombian seminarians sightseeing in Guadalajara and in Mexico City.