Philippine Consul General meets first-ever Fil-Am catholic priest to be ordained at SF archdiocese

Consul General Neil Ferrer and Rev. Fr. Jerald Geronimo at the 5th floor meeting room and museum of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco. | Photo courtesy of San Francisco PCG

PHILIPPINE Consul General Neil Ferrer received Reverend Father Jerald Geronimo, the first Filipino American to be educated and ordained as a Catholic priest at the Archdiocese of San Francisco since its founding in 1853, during the latter’s call at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco on Friday, June 17.

ConGen Ferrer was joined during the call by Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona and Vice Consul Adrian Baccay. Accompanying Father Geronimo was his family, and Peter and Estrelle Chan of the Filipino Catholic Ministry of the San Francisco Archdiocese.

Consular officials as well as family members and friends of Rev. Fr. Jerald Geronimo pose with the newly-ordained priest at the Consulate in San Francisco. | Photo courtesy of San Francisco PCG

ConGen congratulated Father Geronimo, who was ordained as priest by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone last June 4 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco.

During the ordination ceremony, Archbishop Cordileone himself acknowledged the historical significance of Father Geronimo’s sacerdotal ordination to the Filipino American Catholic community. Vice Consul Baccay attended Father Geronimo’s ordination on June 4, as well as the latter’s first Eucharistic celebration as a priest at the Church of the Epiphany in San Francisco on June 5.

As a gift, Consul General Ferrer gave Father Geronimo a copy of “Rekindling Travel,” the Third Edition of the “Bucket List Philippines” series of the Philippine Department of Tourism.

Consul General Neil Ferrer presents a gift, a copy of “Rekindling Travel,” to Rev. Fr. Geronimo.

Father Geronimo was born and raised in Daly City, with his parents tracing their roots in Bulacan, Philippines. In an interview published on the San Francisco Archdiocese’s official website, the 28-year-old priest said, “My Filipino culture has played a significant role in my upbringing. Through my culture, I have learned the values of family, communion and self-sacrifice. These values will be of the utmost importance as I soon embark on a vocation that is precisely centered on sacrificial love, all for God and neighbor.” (San Francisco PCG Release)