Fr. Ignatius Harrington celebrated his 20th year Anniversary of Ordination at Holy Resurrection Melkite Catholic Church in Columbus on August 18, 2002 .   Joining him in his celebration were many family members, friends and parishioners.  Fr. Harrington is pastor of both Holy Resurrection Melkite Catholic Church in Columbus and Holy Trinity Melkite Catholic Church in Zanesville , Ohio .  Following the Divine Liturgy, a celebration feast took place in the Church Hall.

          Fr. Ignatius started his vocational walk in his early teens.  He "took delight in explaining Catholic doctrines to his Protestant friends", and in doing so, it prepared him for his vocation in the priesthood and apologetics.

          In 1968, he entered St. Joseph Preparatory Seminar near Parkersburg , West Virginia .  Upon graduation from St. Joseph 's, he entered St. John Vianney Seminary in Bloomingdale , Ohio (Diocese of Steubenville). During that time at St. John's , he experienced his first Liturgy in the Eastern Rite at the nearby Melkite Monastery. This proved to be one of crucial experiences that led Fr. Ignatius to become a Melkite priest. He continued his study and comptemplation on whether to become a priest or a Religious until he received a call from Bishop Speltz in St. Cloud Minnesota to come to his Diocese. There he studied at St. Paul 's Seminary in the Twin Cities.  It was in August 7, 1982 that Fr. Harrington was ordained a priest in the Latin Church at St. Ann 's Church in Wadena , Minnesota .

          His first assignment was at St. Mary's Church in Alexandria , Minnesota for three years.  He was then promoted to pastor of two small parishes - Sacred Heart Church in Dent and St. Lawrence Church in Rush Lake, Minnesota.

          Fr. Harrington asked the Holy Spirit for enlightenment at a Trappist Monastery retreat in Iowa in the spring of 1986. The Holy Spirit was faithful in revealing to Fr. Harrington that he could become a Byzantine priest.

          After much time and deliberation, Fr. Ignatius was finally granted permission to become a priest in the Ruthenian Church .  It was then that he attended Sts. Cyril & Methodius in Pittsburg , PA for further training.  Feeling led to become a Melkite priest, he approached Archbistop-elect Ignatius Ghatas with his desire to become Melkite.  Fr. Ignatius was later to be accepted to the Melkite Eparchy of Newton. In October of 1991, Fr. Ignatius became pastor of St. Elias Church in Cleveland , Ohio and attended St. Gregory Seminary in Boston for further training, since most of his training at that time was in the Latin and Ruthenian traditions.

     Fr. Phillip Raczka asked Fr. Ignatius to serve with him at St. Ann 's Church in West Patterson, New Jersey for one year, and was then given his own church to pastor by permission of Archbishop Ignatius.  Fr. Ignatius was given both Holy Resurrection Church in Columbus and Holy Trinity Church in Zanesville , where he presently pastors, and has for the last ten years. His presence and wisdom is very much loved and appreciated by both parishes.

     Fr. Ignatius wishes to thank God for blessing him with the opportunity to be come a priest, and wishes to thank the following people who have had a profound impact on his life:   his family, Fr. Phillip Raczka, Bishops Speltz, Fr. "Gus" Diasio, Fr. Robert Ruglovsky, Archbishop Kochisko, Monsignor Hart, and Fr. Thomas Petronek.