A salesman, a butcher and a pilgrim — three men who chose to exit the secular world and don the priest’s collar. On Saturday, a morning Mass marked the ordination into the priesthood of Daniel James D’Antonio, Thomas Glynn Kadlick and Jacob Henry Gruber at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. The new church leaders come at a time when the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has been undergoing a consolidation effort, with 40 parishes in the diocese merging into 14 new groupings in 2021. During the Mass, Bishop David Zubik likened their varied histories to those of the early apostles. “I think that maybe some people might want to have some proof that God does have a sense of humor, and if you didn’t feel that whenever Jesus chose the first apostles, let me tell you these three guys will put the icing on the cake,” Zubik said. “And I mean that with all due respect.”

Photo Credit: Asha Blake/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review