By Emily Chaffins -

Photography: Tracy, Granados, Cabrera Jarro

MIAMI | In a very emotional and celebratory ordination on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima — May 13, 2023 — the Archdiocese of Miami gained five new priests.

Those ordained were Saul Holanda Martins Araujo from Brazil, Rikinson Bantou from Haiti, Sebastian Grisales Bedoya from Colombia, Gustavo Andres Santos Higuera from Venezuela, and Andrew Joseph Vitrano-Farinato from Cooper City.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski presided at the livestreamed ordination, which was celebrated at a St. Mary Cathedral packed with family, friends, fellow priests and deacons. Also there to support the new priests were seminarians from St. John Vianney in Miami, St. Vincent de Paul in Boynton Beach, and Redemptoris Mater in Hialeah; religious; and members of the Serra Club of Miami, which promotes vocations.

 

‘EMOTIONAL, EXCITED’

“I’m emotional, so excited, so blessed. It’s almost hard for me to put into words,” said Bernadette Farinato, the mother of Father Vitrano-Farinato, before the ordination. “I think about it and I start to tear up.”

When her son went directly into seminary after graduating from Archbishop Edward McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches, it didn’t surprise her. Father Vitrano-Farinato had been prepared by his life experiences for the priesthood, Farinato said. She noted that he developed excellent public speaking skills as a high school senior, when he joined — and preached at meetings of — the Men of St. Mark group at his parish, St. Mark in Southwest Ranches. Many members of the Men and Women of St. Mark groups attended the ordination to support Father Vitrano-Farinato, as they had throughout his time in seminary.

Other family members present included his father, Richard Vitrano, his grandfather, Deacon Vince Farinato, 97, and his cousins.

Deacon Farinato observed that the line of people waiting for blessings from his grandson was the longest. “Don’t tell anyone I said this,” he added, “but he’s going to be the next Italian American pope.”

In addition to those physically present to celebrate Father Vitrano-Farinato’s priesthood, a good friend was surely cheering him on from heaven. Father Elkin Sierra, who died of cancer April 11, “bequeathed [Andrew] one of his vestments,” Farinato shared emotionally. “Through all of his pain and suffering, he thought to give him this.”

In a God-incidence, perhaps, Father Vitrano-Farinato’s first assignment will be at St. Louis Parish in Pinecrest — Father Sierra’s last assignment.

 

‘HE LEFT EVERYTHING’

Marcos Silva came all the way from Brasilia, Brazil, to support Father Araujo, whom he watched grow up.

Father Araujo had to overcome the “challenges of being far from family and home and entering the seminary at 17 right out of high school,” Silva said. “He left everything, everything: his customs, language, friends, and family.”

Besides Silva, other friends from the Neocatechumenal Way in Brasilia and members of the Miami community also came to show support. Father Araujo’s fellow seminarians from the Neocatechumenal Way’s Redemptoris Mater seminary sang during the Mass, some playing violin and guitar. Members of the Neocatechumenal Way also danced and sang at the reception after Mass, playing guitar, tuba, trumpet, bongos, tambourine, ukulele, and more.

Family also traveled all the way from Brasilia to participate in the ordination, including Father Araujo’s parents, Wilton and Sonia, and four of his nine brothers: Augusto, Lorenzo, Pedro, and Silas.

“He will be a good priest,” Father Araujo’s brother, Silas, said. “I am very proud of him.”

 

‘FIRST PRIEST IN OUR FAMILY’

After Father Bantou’s ordination, his cousin, Aline Bantou, shared the significance of this moment for her family, including her parents, Father Bantou’s uncle Pelicie and aunt Lauzi. “We feel happy ... whole. It’s a major moment for our family. He’s the first priest in our family.”

Father Bantou came to the United States from Haiti in 2017. “When Rikinson came, he lived with us,” Bantou said. “We knew he came to become a priest.”

She added that his greatest gifts as a priest are that “he’s such a compassionate, fair, honest, and genuine person.”

Deacon Eddie Blanco, from St. Brendan High School in Miami, said he too was overjoyed at Father Bantou’s ordination. Deacon Blanco worked with Father Bantou when Father Bantou ministered at the school during his formation.

“He’s a wonderful man, a man of God,” Deacon Blanco said. “For me, it’s one of the best days ever. It’s a gift. God has a good, good priest.”

 

‘A BUNCH OF KINDNESS’

Luis Arroyo, of St. John Neumann Parish in Miami, said his friend, Father Grisales, will bring several gifts to the church, including “warmth, understanding, tenderness, and a bunch of kindness.”

Arroyo was a former coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. John Neumann, where Father Grisales served as a peer minister and coordinator before entering seminary.

“It’s almost like watching your own son being ordained and blessed,” Arroyo said.

Jacob Butz, another friend of Father Grisales, said he has a “very priestly heart, the heart of a father, a heart that loves and guides.”

Among the family present was Father Grisales’ brother, Santiago, who joyfully lined up to receive his brother’s blessing after the ordination.

“I’m very honored to be here and to see my brother go so far. It’s a huge accomplishment for him and our mom. She brought us to this country 25 years ago. I’m so grateful to her for that.”

“The happiness I feel is unexplainable right now,” said their mother, Doriley Bedoya.

Since her son began serving in the church at the age of nine or 10, she said, “Every day he became more in love with what he was doing.”

When he decided to discern the priesthood, his mother was overjoyed. “He asked me my opinion about him becoming a priest, and I said, ‘I’ll support you in whatever decision’ ... I offered him to God the moment discernment began.”

“The process was very difficult,” she said, “but always Father Sebastian and I were close to God, and we continued to move forward.”

“For anything related to God, he never says no,” she added.

 

‘YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE IT’

Father Santos’ family traveled all the way from Valencia, Venezuela, for the ordination, including his mother, Evelyn, father, Roberto, grandmother, Eladia Delgado, sisters, Maria Victoria and Gabriela, and brother, Roberto.

His mother said she was surprised when her 14-year-old son told her, “Mom, you’re not going to believe it, but I want to be a priest.”

“My reaction was, ‘It requires sacrifice. You’re not going to have a family. You will be away from family,’” she recalled.

She added that his response floored her: “It’s more important to have the body and blood of Christ within me than anything else.”

“He’s going to be a good priest,” predicted Fatimo Garcia, who got to know Father Santos at Corpus Christi Parish in Miami. “He’s like a grandson to me.”

Freelancer Cristina Cabrera Jarro and Rocío Granados of La Voz Católica tributed to this report.