Father Erin M. Donlon, LT, USNR
Ordination Date: May 31, 2025
Diocese: Diocese of Portland, ME
Branch of Service: Navy
Father Donlon 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. Read more.
Father Paul Collins, LT, USNR
Ordination Date: May 31, 2025
Diocese: Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Branch of Service: Navy
Father Collins says he began to realize his calling to be a priest when he was 21 while serving as a missionary in Peru. “After returning to the States,” he says, “it became very clear over time that nothing was going to be fulfilling to me outside of responding to my vocation.” He looks forward to serving Catholics in the sea services, particularly “hearing confessions and forming people in the faith.” Read more.
Father Conrad T. Jaconette, 2d Lt USAF
Ordination Date: May 31, 2025
Diocese: Diocese of Owensboro
Branch of Service: Air Force
Father Jaconette says he began to realize his call to priesthood and chaplaincy after earning his undergraduate degree. “After graduation,” he said, “I was applying to medical schools, in a serious relationship, and was unsure what God was asking of me. I needed to discern my next step in life properly—this is what got me in the doors of seminary. It took years of fruitful formation for God to show me that He wanted to use me as one of His priests.” Read more.
Father Michael C. Sampson LT, USN
Ordination Date: June 7, 2025
Diocese: Diocese of Arlington
Branch of Service: Navy
Father Sampson says he discerned his priestly vocation when he “began to pray and meditate on the Litany of Trust” which helped him “be open to what God had planned for me and to have faith in his will and not my own.” Read more.
Father Raymond E. Goins (CPT), USA
Ordination Date: June 7, 2025
Diocese: Diocese of Arlington
Branch of Service: Army
Inspired by the “example of holy priests and chaplains, and the desire to be of better service to soldiers,” Father Goins says his priestly vision is “to serve God and His people, specifically by bringing them the sacraments.” Read more.
Father Alexander “A.J.” Houston, (1LT) USAR
Ordination Date: June 7, 2025
Diocese: Diocese of Knoxville
Branch of Service: Army
Father Houston says he began to discern his priestly vocation during his earlier military service. “I felt the calling to ordained ministry while serving as an active duty soldier at Fort Bliss,” he says. “I saw the need for priests to serve in the Armed Forces while deployed in Iraq, and I was inspired by the preaching and the joy of some chaplains assigned to Fort Bliss.”
“Please keep me in your prayers,” he says, “as you remain in mine.” Read more.
Father Joshua A. Johnson, 2d Lt, USAFR
Ordination Date: June 12, 2025
Diocese: Eparchy of Phoenix
Branch of Service: Air Force
Father Johnson traces his interest in a priestly vocation back to childhood. He says his parents “instilled in me a rich appreciation for the dignity and the duties of all baptized people to re-present Christ in the world through prayer and service.” Read more.
Father James W. Craig, (1LT), USAR
Ordination Date: June 14, 2025
Diocese: Diocese of Corpus Christi
Branch of Service: Army
Father Craig says he began to discern his vocation at a young age. “I wanted to be a priest since I was about eight years old,” he says, “a desire that was fostered through serving at the altar and singing in our cathedral schola. Then I learned about military chaplaincy when I was beginning high school, and that call has stayed with me ever since.” Read more.