Father Ordained As Father On Father’s Day In Essex County

NEWARK, NJ — A father became a father on Father’s Day in Essex County earlier this week.

Edmond Ilg was among the 10 men ordained to the priesthood at a ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Sunday.

Ilg, 62, gave his first official blessing to his son, Phillip Ilg, who is also a priest, outside of the main entrance to the Basilica. The Archdiocese of Newark said the rarity – a priest’s dad ordained on Father’s Day – was “moving and special.”

Ilg, who has a chemical engineering degree, didn’t originally plan on becoming a priest. But after his wife died of cancer in 2011, it put him on a new pathway, the Catholic News Agency reported.

During Sunday’s ceremony, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Archbishop of Newark, welcomed the new priests, including Ilg, with open arms and a personal challenge in dark times.

“The circumstances of this ordination make that question even more critical,” Tobin said during his homily.

“Someone recently observed that ‘the future is not what it used to be,’” Tobin continued, referencing the coronavirus pandemic. “Together with the whole society, over the last months every sector of our church has had to respond to unforeseen challenges. Even as restrictions begin to ease, we will need to figure out how to operate in new ways.”

“In short, the whole church and, in particular, bishops, priests and deacons, need to learn the virtue of resiliency, that is, the ability to absorb a shock, and to come out of it better than the competition, especially since our formidable competition consists in cynicism, unbelief, selfishness, division and despair,” Tobin said.

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The other new priests ordained on Sunday included a former naval nuclear engineer, a farmer and a reality TV show hopeful.

“This is an uplifting moment for the Archdiocese,” Eugenio de la Rama, director of the Office of Priestly Vocations said. “In the face of civil unrest and uncertainty surrounding the global health pandemic, the ministerial priesthood is an opportunity to be a strong tower of hope.”

“It’s heartwarming to see these young men want to become priests,” de la Rama said.

The Archdiocese of Newark serves about 1.3 million Catholic residents who live in the four counties it serves: Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union.

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