Bishop Tobin to Ordain Two Men to the Priesthood

(PROVIDENCE, RI) – Two transitional deacons will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, June 25 at 10:00 am in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence.  The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence will preside at the ordination of Deacons Jorge V. Rocha and Nathan J. Ricci with Auxiliary Bishop Robert C. Evans and other clergy concelebrating. 

Rocha, son of the late Fatima and Victorino Rocha, graduated from Classical High School and Franklin Pierce University where he received a B.A. degree in Journalism in 2000.  In 2005, he graduated from Providence College receiving an M.A. degree in History.  He began his seminary formation in 2012 at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. While a seminarian, he attended the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and held a summer assignment at St. Timothy Parish in Warwick.  Rocha was ordained to the transitional diaconate in 2015 by Bishop Robert C. Evans and assigned to St. Philip Parish in Greenville.  
Father Rocha will celebrate his first Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, June 26 at 3:30 PM at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Providence.
    
Ricci, son of Ann and Albert Ricci, Jr., graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick in 2008.  He began studies at Providence College in 2008 and entered the Seminary of Our Lady of Providence in 2010, graduating from Providence College in 2012 with a B.A. degree in Political Science and Philosophy.  He continued his seminary formation at the Pontifical North American College studying at Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome where he received a S.T.B. degree in Sacred Theology.  While a seminarian, Ricci was assigned to St. Pius X, Westerly, St. Patrick, Providence, Rhode Island Hospital and Sts. John and Paul in Coventry.  Ricci was ordained to the transitional diaconate in 2015 by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, in the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican City.  

Father Ricci will celebrate his first Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, June 26 at 1:30 PM at St. Dominic Chapel, Providence College.