LEWISTON, ME — Father Erin M. Donlon, LT, USNR, a prospective future U.S. Navy chaplain, was ordained a priest on Saturday, May 31, in his home Diocese of Portland, ME. The new priest is on track to go on active duty in three years with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), giving pastoral care to Catholic Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and their families.
The new priest, 31, comes from a pedigree Navy family. “My dad and my grandfather were ’74 and ’49 Naval Academy graduates,” he says. “And so I just remember from an early age just always wanting to go to either the Navy or Marine Corps.” He also dreamed of becoming a Catholic priest. “I was heavily inspired by the great examples of the priests that I was exposed to in my home parish,” he says.
Father Donlon received the sacrament of holy orders from Portland Bishop James T. Ruggieri through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, concelebrated the 10:00 a.m. ordination Mass at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston.
Among those in the pews were the new priest’s proud parents, retired U.S. Navy Commander Michael and Mrs. Rebecca Donlon, who home-schooled the newly ordained priest in childhood, and siblings Meghan Donlon, Ryan Donlon, LT, USN, Sarah Donlon, Katie Scholl, Emily Donlon, and Kieran Donlon. In 2017, Father Donlon earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree in Marine Systems Engineering from the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, ME. From there he set out to follow in the footsteps of his retired father, joining the Navy Reserve as a commissioned Strategic Sealift Officer, but God’s call persisted. In 2018, he began formational studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD. He entered the Navy’s Chaplain Candidate Program. He earned his Master of Divinity (MDiv) and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) in May.
Father Donlon will spend the next three years in the Diocese of Portland gaining hands-on pastoral experience in local parishes before acceding to active duty under his Co-sponsored Seminarian Agreement with the AMS. He is among four future Navy chaplains to be ordained priests this spring, while five other new priests, on track for eventual chaplain service in either the Army or the Air Force, will also be ordained—promising relief for a short-staffed Catholic chaplain corps across all branches of the military.
Young men interested in discerning a priestly vocation, and the vocation within a vocation to serve those who serve in the U.S. Military, can find more information at milarch.org/vocations, or may contact AMS Vocation Director Father Paul-Anthony Halladay at [email protected] or (202) 719-3600.
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