September 2, 2025 // Diocese

Four Make Lifetime Commitment to Holy Cross

Jill Boughton

Freelance Writer

The Congregation of Holy Cross knows how to celebrate! From the bells that pealed loudly over the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to signal the beginning of the liturgy at which four young men professed perpetual vows, to the brunch following their ordination to the diaconate in the chapel at Moreau Seminary, the weekend of August 30-31 was one long, joyful occasion.

This year’s celebration was special in that two of the order’s new deacons, Soikat Kulentuno and Promod Rozario, came from Bangladesh and will be ordained priests there this December. Their assistant provincial, Holy Cross Father Anthony Sushanto Gomes, was on hand to accept their vows. One of the readings proclaimed at that liturgy and a moving Communion song during the ordination were proclaimed in Bengali, with many of the singers in traditional garb. After being ordained, all four men wore fresh flower leis.

The Americans ordained were T.J. (Thomas James) Groden and Christopher Nicholas Mulholland.

Photo by Deacon Tom Labuzienski
Bishop William Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, extends a blessing over deacon candidates during a Mass of Ordination at the University of Notre Dame on Sunday, August 31.

“It is good for us to be here,” declared Bishop William Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, who is a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, at the beginning of his homily for the ordination Mass. The readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time strike a strong theme of humility perfectly suited to the role of the deacon in the Church – and a call to all who wish to follow Jesus Christ, who not only taught humility but manifested it in His life of self-giving love.

Elements of the ordination liturgy, along with the laying on of hands, include their election announced by the provincial, Holy Cross Father William Lies, the reaffirmation of their vows, invoking the saints as the candidates lie prostrate before the altar, investiture with the stole and the dalmatic proper to their order, handing on the Book of the Gospels, and the fraternal kiss.

“This is a moment of profound grace not only for them but for all of us and for the whole Church,” said Father Lies, the principal celebrant for the ritual Mass for perpetual profession of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. His concelebrants included three bishops and a host of Holy Cross priests, with many seminarians assisting.

Father Lies connected each reading to one of the vows and talked about freedom as a result of fidelity to these commitments. As he learns to listen to the voice of the Lord, Samuel grows in obedience – a heartfelt rather than servile obedience.

“Together we listen to the Lord, the Church, and the needs of the world. We don’t undertake this mission on our own but as part of a religious family,” Father Lies said.

As Peter hears the single word, “Come!,” his is the poverty of radical trust. Far from a destitution, Gospel poverty enables the freedom of going wherever we are sent. As expressed in the epistle reading, chastity is seeing and being seen with “unveiled faces,” being anchored in the undivided love of Christ and so becoming a window through which others can glimpse the glory of God, the love of Christ.

Far from having mastered these vows, we who profess them long to be mastered by Christ, Father Lies said. Each young man in turn declared, “I believe I have been called by the Father and led by the Holy Spirit to offer my life and my life’s work.” After professing their perpetual vows, they received a solemn blessing and were presented a crucifix to symbolize their commitment. Applause greeted the acceptance of their admission to the Congregation of Holy Cross for life.

Another solemn blessing concluded the Mass: “God inspires all holy desires and brings them to fulfillment. May God’s grace always keep you, our brothers, faithful to the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the evangelical life of Holy Cross. May God keep you single-hearted in your consecrated celibacy, generous in your poverty, and whole-hearted in your obedience. May God keep you always steadfast in faith, joyful in hope, and enduring in love.”

Each of the four new deacons has ministered in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. 

Chris Mulholland, who comes from Atchison, Kansas, graduated from Notre Dame in electrical engineering but felt an increasing tug to the priesthood during college. Ministry assignments during his formation have included campus ministry and being assistant director at Old College at Notre Dame, which is home to men pursuing their undergraduate degrees while discerning a call to religious life. For two years, Mulholland helped with youth ministry and with Spanish-language OCIA at St. Adalbert Parish in South Bend. His most memorable liturgy was serving at the wedding of two candidates from that OCIA class. As a deacon, Mulholland is assigned to St. Ignatius Martyr Parish in Austin, Texas.

T.J. Groden was vested by Holy Cross Father Drew Cleary, who served with him in the A.C.E. program at Notre Dame. He has already begun his assignment as rector at Notre Dame’s Baumer Hall. A contingent of young men from that residence hall dressed up to come to the perpetual vows Mass. Besides campus ministry at Notre Dame and the University of Portland, he’s served at Our Lady of the Road, a Catholic Worker ministry in South Bend, as a chaplain intern at Elkhart General Hospital, and with the youth group at St. Joseph Parish in South Bend. He also spent the summer of 2023 helping at Corpus Christi Parish in Jalchatra, Bangladesh.

Soikat Kulentuno and Promod Rozario come from two different dioceses in Bangladesh, which has eight Roman Catholic dioceses, largely due to the fact that, in 1853, Bengal was the second foreign mission undertaken by the Congregation of Holy Cross (the United States was the first). Even though Christians are a tiny minority in the country, their work in education has earned them a great deal of respect. The Congregation of Holy Cross currently has 71 priests and 81 brothers who minister in 16 parishes and 28 schools, including Notre Dame University Bangladesh. Nor has their work been confined to educating the upper classes. Servant of God Brother Flavian Laplante (1907-81) organized fishermen into cooperatives and founded orphanages in Bangladesh.

Rozario has spent the past two years working with refugees in South Bend through the United Religious Community. Previously, he and Kulentuno both helped with Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at St. Pius X Parish in Granger and as assistant chaplains at Holy Cross Rehab and Wellness in South Bend. Rozario has been in the United States as a student for four years but is headed to St. George’s Church in Mariamnagar, Bangladesh, a large parish serving the Garo tribe. He said, “I am excited and eager to serve this parish and share the Good News so that the community may grow closer in their love for God and one another.”

In 2023-24, Kulentuno was team leader in Notre Dame’s OCIA program. Following that, he spent his pastoral year at St. Joseph Parish in South Bend, which sent a large contingent to the weekend celebrations. Besides his many liturgical duties such as sacristan, Kulentuno joined the parish priests in making home visits for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. As a deacon, he is returning to Bangladesh to serve at Shanti Raj Church, Thanchi. 

A contingent from Moreau Seminary and the diocese, along with classmates from Notre Dame’s M.Div. program, is already making plans to travel to the Diocese of Rajshahi for Kulentuno’s December 30, 2025, ordination to the priesthood.