Father Siby John Padinjaredath, C.P.
I was born on October 3, 1969 in a small village, east of Kerala, in South India. I am the youngest in the family of eight children. I have five brothers and two sisters. I began my journey toward the Passionists and the priesthood when I attended a vocation camp while I was in high school. After four years of training in the minor seminary, I went to Tanzania, East Africa, for my Philosophy program. Two years later, I came back to Bangalore for my Novitiate which was followed by 4 years of training in Theology. I was ordained on February 14, 1998.
After ordination, I was assigned to a parish in India and I stayed there for two years. I was then asked to enter into the formation ministry to guide other young Indian candidates who were interested in joining the Passionists. I spent a year studying to prepare for this ministry and served as a Formation Director for 13 years. I was then invited to consider coming to the United States. I accepted this invitation and arrived in the United States in June, 2015. I had served in both St. Ann's Basilica Parish in Pennsylvania and in other assignments given to me by the Passionist Community. Bishop Spalding had an appointment as the new Associate Pastor at St Thomas Aquinas Cookeville.