By Gia Myers • Posted May 12, 2025

This is the first in a series of five profiles of the men to be ordained new priests for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on May 17.

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As a Pennridge High School student who enjoyed playing basketball with friends, Robert Bollinger started thinking about his future, about who he wanted to become, when “God put onto” his heart the idea of becoming a priest.

Now, he is one of five transitional deacons who will be ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Nelson J, Pérez on May 17 at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

Bollinger grew up in Sellersville in Bucks County with father Dave, a concrete safety inspector, mother Karen, a software project manager, plus two sisters and a brother, who is now a seminarian for the Neocatechumenal Way at Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary of Newark in New Jersey.

“I love my family, and they have been supportive of my vocation” said Bollinger. “It’s a gift to have that support at home.”

As a family, they attended Mass together every Sunday at their home parish, St. Agnes in Sellersville, where Bollinger was an altar server and member of the youth group.

He attended St. Agnes-Sacred Heart Catholic School and then Pennridge, where he played football and ran track on the school’s teams.

Bollinger started his discernment for the priesthood by reading the Bible “to learn more about God,” he said.

Seeing how God has worked throughout human history, Bollinger recognized how God had been working in his own life.

“He always provides,” he said of our heavenly Father. “If he had a plan for me to become a priest, I could definitely trust in it.”

Bollinger continued his discernment by talking with his brother Michael, who was already in the New Jersey seminary at the time.

“I could bounce ideas and thoughts off of him,” Bollinger said of the conversations with his brother, who also is now a transitional deacon. “It was definitely helpful in my discernment.”

After high school graduation, Bollinger entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

Looking back on his time in the seminary, Bollinger treasures the fellowship among the seminarians, including playing sports together, making projects in the woodshop, and tapping the maple trees on the former Overbrook campus to make syrup for their pancakes.

As a transitional deacon, Bollinger served at St. Monica Parish in South Philadelphia where he enjoyed conferring the sacrament of baptism, preaching at Mass, and serving the parishioners.

At the parish school, Bollinger enjoyed teaching a sixth-grade religion class once a week and preaching at student retreats.

“It was a taste of the priesthood,” he said.

As he prepares to become a priest, Bollinger looks forward to offering the sacraments to people, leading Bible study groups, “offering words of encouragement,” and witnessing to “the life-changing experience of Jesus” for others.

At the ordination Mass, Bollinger’s priestly vestments will be placed upon him for the first time by his “good friend” from the seminary, Father Greg Miller, parochial vicar at St. Anastasia Parish in Newtown Square.

The names of his favorite saints that will be chanted in the Litany of the Saints during the ordination include St. Teresa of Calcutta, founder of the Missionaries of Charity and known for her ministry to the poor; and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French Visitation nun and mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Bollinger will celebrate his first Mass as an ordained priest at his home parish, St. Agnes, on May 18. The homilist will be Father Chris Walsh, pastor of St Cecilia Parish in Philadelphia.

The week following Bollinger’s ordination in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, his brother will be ordained a  priest for the Neocatechumenal Way in New Jersey.

For any young man considering the priesthood, Bollinger advises to “talk about it out loud” with others to gain a broader perspective.

“It will definitely change your life,” he said.