By Jay Sorgi • Posted May 14, 2026

This profile is part of a series highlighting each of the eight men to be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on May 16.

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Deacon Thomas Cipolla has stitched his own priestly vestments, taking the skills his great-grandfather used as a tailor.

Cipolla’s life since childhood appears to have been tailored for life as a priest, one which begins on Saturday, May 16 at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia when Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez will ordain him and seven other men to the priesthood.

The youngest of five children, Cipolla grew up in Jenkintown and attended Immaculate Conception Parish. The Eucharist became a strong thread in his life beginning with a most unusual circumstance when he was in second grade.

His parents Daniel and Elena Cipolla took him to the Vatican during Christmastime, which is when he accidentally received his First Communion at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome on Christmas Eve.

“My mother and father didn’t want to leave me behind (in the pew) like you usually do for somebody who has not yet received their first Holy Communion, because we’re in a foreign country. So (my dad) asked my brother to push me out of the way when it came time to receive Holy Communion,” Cipolla said, making it clear he had already received his first sacrament of reconciliation and catechetical lessons for first Communion.

“I got up there and I was nervous, (thinking) ‘I don’t know what’s happening.’ I had my hands folded and I remember as I watched the priest give me our Lord on my tongue as my mouth was (open) because I was like, ‘What’s going on?’”

The Lord worked through Cipolla’s family to weave a major stitch into his life four years later.

As far back as fourth grade, Cipolla would beg his father to drive past St. Charles Borromeo Seminary at its former location in Wynnewood. He even adopted the seminary’s patron saint as his favorite.

Although his parents didn’t want to push him too hard, they clearly were supporting his early vocation. Finally, in sixth grade, his dad took him to the seminary for a visit, and as soon as the boy stepped on campus, it felt like home for him.

He felt the attraction to the priesthood deeply in that visit at 12 years old. His father posed a question that he thought was a joke, but which turned into a driving force in Cipolla’s life.

“He said to me, ‘Tom, if I left you here, would you be happy?’ And I said, ’Yes.’”

Cipolla continued to attend seminary visits for young men considering the priesthood, where God continued to weave that “yes” into his life.

His six years between sixth grade and graduation from La Salle College High School led to understandable questions. He continually battled doubts, wondering if he was supposed to live other aspects of his life before entering the priesthood, and whether doing so would make him a better priest in the future.

Eventually Cipolla settled upon a simple realization: “This is who I am. There was no running away from it,” he said.

“As your faith matures, especially in high school, you realize, ‘This is Him.’”

Nine years of seminary formation have educated Cipolla so well that he feels ready for any opportunity to evangelize in everyday moments.

That readiness reflects St. Charles Borromeo himself, and Cipolla points out that the saint always saw each person he met on his travels as important, not as an inconvenience.

“If he saw somebody who needed help, he would stop and give his full attention to them,” Cipolla said. “I really hope I display that great love of Christ to everyone I encounter.”

The thought of the joy of giving his life to God in priestly ministry helps Cipolla overcome the “extra stuff” of all the details involved in bringing his family and friends to celebrate his ordination, the post-sacramental parties and his first Mass, to be celebrated at his home parish.

“The peace that our Lord has given me these days has really made it all worth it. He’s preparing me for this day,” Cipolla said, reflecting on how God has prepared his priestly ministry that he aims to live for the rest of his life.

“Just by the way I treat people and by the way I love them. I just want them to know that they’re loved by God, and we all have an inherent dignity because first and foremost, we were created to be with God forever