Brian Carpenter to be ordained as priest on June 6

Brian Carpenter to be ordained a priest of the Diocese of Rochester

“Pray that I may be a holy and faithful servant of God.”

Bishop Matthew Clark will ordain Brian Kumar Carpenter as a priest of the Diocese of Rochester on Saturday, June 6, 2009. The ordination Mass will be held at Sacred Heart Cathedral, 296 Flower City Park, Rochester, at 10:30 a.m.

“Brian is a very bright, outgoing and deeply spiritual man whom I believe will be an excellent priest and will serve the people of God with conviction, compassion and care,” Bishop Clark said. “I am delighted to ordain him and welcome him into the diocesan priesthood.”

Said Carpenter: “I am excited to have Bishop Clark ordain me to the priesthood. I look forward to sharing this day and all my days as a priest with the people of God, and I ask everyone to pray that I may be a holy and faithful servant of God.”

Carpenter, 33, a native of Indiana, is a 1998 graduate of the University of Notre Dame –he was baptized as an infant on the very same campus by his uncle, also a priest. Among many other activities at Notre Dame, he also served as a student athletics manager, working with the famed Coach Lou Holtz, and was president of Toastmasters International.

Most recently, in 2009, he was awarded a Master’s of Divinity and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from the University of Saint Mary of the Lake-Mundelein Seminary.

Carpenter joined the Diocese of Rochester as a seminarian in 2004. As a seminarian, he has served at St. Paul’s in Webster, the Winton-Culver Catholic Community (now Peace of Christ parish) and St. Mary’s in Canandaigua/St. Bridget’s in Bloomfield.

He was ordained a transitional Deacon on May 31, 2008, by Bishop Clark.

After his ordination, he will be assigned to Peace of Christ parish (Rochester) beginning June 30, 2009.

Besides his studies and his work in service as a seminarian and deacon, Carpenter was a computer consultant in Chicago, volunteered full-time at a soup kitchen run by the Daughters of Charity in Brooklyn, N.Y., and worked for the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service in Washington, D.C.

Carpenter is the son of Dr. Bob Carpenter, a pathologist, and Kathi Carpenter, R.N., of Fort Wayne, IN. He has a brother, Sean, and a sister, Kimberly.

Men who are interested in learning more about the Roman Catholic priesthood are invited to visit www.dor.org/index.cfm/vocations/ for more information, or telephone Carol Dady at 585-328-3228, ext. 1374, or contact her via e-mail: