William C. Manaker, SJ, and Orlando Portalatin, SJ, will be ordained priests on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in New Orleans. Both are members of the USA Central and Southern (UCS) Province of the Society of Jesus.
The Most Reverend Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville, will preside at Holy Name of Jesus Church.
For those who cannot join us for the celebration in New Orleans, a livestream will be available at bit.ly/JesuitOrdinations2025. The worship aid is available here.
Deacons Manaker and Portalatin are among 22 Jesuits to be ordained in the United States, Canada and Haiti this year. All have undergone extensive and holistic training intentionally designed to equip them to serve as pastors, educators, ministers and leaders in the Catholic Church of today – and tomorrow.
Meet the soon-to-be priests for the Church from the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province:
William C. Manaker, SJ, comes from a military family. Born in the United Kingdom, William lived in California, Utah and South Carolina before his family finally settled in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2005. Initially drawn toward science and engineering, he noticed a call toward priesthood as an altar server in middle school. Following the advice of a local priest and mentor, he attended the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he earned degrees in philosophy and Catholic studies. While at St. Thomas, William was a member of an intentional living community, the Fraternity of St. Michael, which prompted him to consider a vocation to religious life. As a college sophomore, he spent a year living and studying in Rome, where he first encountered the Society of Jesus. Upon returning to Minnesota for his junior year, one of William’s professors encouraged him to consider entering the Jesuits, and he entered the novitiate in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, shortly after graduation in 2014.
After first vows, William earned a master’s degree in English at Loyola University Chicago and was then assigned to teach at De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis. At De Smet, he taught English, worked in campus ministry and served as an assistant coach for the cross-country and track and field teams. Following three years at De Smet, William was missioned to study theology at Boston College’s Clough School of Theology and Ministry, where he earned a Master of Divinity and began a Licentiate in Sacred Theology. While studying, he served as a deacon at St. Columbkille Parish in Brighton, Massachusetts.
“I love that the charism of the Society of Jesus calls us all as a body, and me individually, to serve “the greater glory of God” in those places and missions where we are most needed in service to God and the church,” Manaker said. “I love that our ‘least Society’ is meant to be useful, not necessarily in human terms, but in God’s eyes. It’s a demanding mission, because it requires a radical docility to the Holy Spirit, but it’s also an immense gift.”
After ordination, William will return to Boston to complete the licentiate, writing on the role of the heart in the Pope Francis’ teachings.
Orlando Portalatin, SJ, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was raised by his parents, Joaquin and Lydia, along with his brothers Alberto and Edwin. At 13, he joined his parish youth group, and it was there where he first felt a call to become a priest. After graduating high school, he moved to Florida to pursue a career in business. Prior to joining the Society of Jesus in 2015, he worked for 20 years in the human resources management field and was heavily involved in youth and young adult ministry in the Diocese of Orlando. He learned of the Jesuits through an Ignatian retreat program he attended at his parish, Annunciation Catholic Church in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
As a novice, Orlando did chaplaincy work at a hospital in Kansas, managed a hospitality shelter for migrants in Texas and worked in campus ministry in Colorado. He professed first vows in 2017 and completed his philosophy studies at Loyola University Chicago in 2020. For regency, Orlando taught religion for two years at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in San Juan. He then moved to Spain to study theology at Universidad Pontificia Comillas. As a deacon, he served at San Dámaso and Our Lady of Mercy parishes in Madrid.
“I love the spiritual freedom we get to experience as religious,” Portalatin said of his vocation to as a Jesuit. “Before becoming a Jesuit, I enjoyed the ‘freedom’ of being financially independent. It was not until I entered the Society when I realized how attached to temporal things I was. As a Jesuit, I am reminded every day (through the sacraments, the vows, my community) to let go of my attachments, to surrender all I have for Christ. My life is not about me, but about him. And in this is where I find true freedom. The freedom of realizing that I am not leading the way; God is!”
Following his ordination, Fr. Portalatin will serve as an assistant pastor at the Gesù Church in Miami.
