Justin Farr, one of the nation’s African-American Catholic seminarians, will be ordained to the priesthood this weekend in Nashville, the culmination of a seven-year journey that began after his conversion in 2013.
The 30-year-old Tennessee native will be raised to Holy Orders on Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation by Bishop J. Mark Spalding, who ordained him to the transitional diaconate last December in the presence of friends and family.
“It's just home. It's always been home,” Farr said in an interview released this week by the Diocese of Nashville, the area where he was born and raised in a Baptist family.
“It's about being a priest for the place called home.”
Almost A Priest: Countdown till Ordination [T-Minus 3 days] - Handwritten Petition for Priestly Order and Official Call to Orders From the Bishop
— BLACKCATHOLIC (@_BLACKCATHOLIC) August 7, 2025
Only a few days away and I wanted to share a part of the journey that most people don't see and are probably not aware of. pic.twitter.com/sdfVi3APGc
Farr graduated in December from Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana with a Master of Divinity, following six years of study. He has served his diaconate year at St. Edward Church in Nashville, preaching homilies as well as performing baptisms and weddings.
Throughout his time in seminary, Farr has maintained a large online following as “The Black Catholic,” sharing his journey as a seminarian and as a convert who embraces Catholicism as well as Black history and culture. On social media, he has amassed upwards of 12,500 followers on Twitter and Facebook, and also maintains a regular blog.
Farr first began attending Mass in 2011 and was received into the Catholic Church two years later while attending Middle Tennessee State University, where he graduated in 2016 with a degree in history. He then served as a volunteer catechist at the cathedral for two years, while working part-time for his home parish, St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Catholic Church.
After discerning a call to the priesthood, Farr entered seminary for the Diocese of Nashville in 2018 and received the ministry of lector in 2021 and that of acolyte in 2022. He is one of roughly 27 U.S.-born Black Catholic seminarians and is a member of the National Association of Black Catholic Seminarians.
Saturday’s Mass will mark the sixth ordination of a Black American Catholic this year, following Dcn Duwan Booker of the Diocese of Little Rock, Dcns Chukwuma Odigwe and Jessiah Rojas of Washington, Fr Ricky Malebranche of Arlington, and the Conventual Franciscan priest Franck Lino-Sokpolie.
Saturday’s ordination Mass in Nashville will begin at 10am CT and is open to the public. It will also be livestreamed on the Cathedral of the Incarnation’s Facebook page and a reception will follow the in-person event.
Farr will celebrate his first Mass at St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Church on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 9am. His first priestly assignment will be as associate pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Hendersonville.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
