Deacon Philip Gerard Johnson was ordained to the priesthood for the Raleigh Diocese by Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge at an ordination Mass celebrated Jan. 7 at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Wake Forest, N.C.
Bishop Burbidge served as head of the Raleigh Diocese for a decade prior to his Dec. 6 installation as the fourth bishop of Arlington.
Father Johnson, a Greensboro native and former naval officer, served two deployments to the Northern Arabian Gulf. He completed his studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., in 2016, and celebrated his first Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Church Jan. 8.
The ordination took place despite the fact that a winter storm dumped six inches of snow and ice on the region, making travel conditions hazardous.
