WALK OF FAITH

Father Justin Thomas incardinated into Diocese, installed as pastor of the Family of the Holy Cross

Father Justin Thomas (c., flanked by Father Terence P. Healy and Deacon Mike Carbone) is all smiles during his installation as pastor of the four parishes that make up the Family of the Holy Cross Network and incardination into the Diocese of Albany on Sept. 5, at St. Francis de Sales Church in Herkimer. (Cindy Schultz photo for The Evangelist) (Courtesy photo of Cindy Schultz)

Looking back on it, Father Justin Thomas now sees it as a major turning point in his life.

Father Thomas was 90 miles into the Camino de Santiago, the 500-mile pilgrimage from northern Spain to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

His walking companion, a fellow priest, got sick and had to return to the United States. Now Father Thomas was alone, not yet a U.S. citizen, but he didn’t want to turn back. So he relied on his faith more than ever.

“When I started the Camino, I found myself more depending on my brother priest since he was the ultimate plan maker for each day, but this journey revealed to me how much more I should be depending on God. He took me places I never imagined going,” said Father Thomas, who completed the remaining 400 miles in 18 days by himself and, since he finished earlier than expected, made a side trip to Fatima (for the 100th anniversary of Mary’s Apparition), and then to Italy where he visited Assisi, Venice, Padua, Florence and Milan. 

Bishop Mark O’Connell (bottom l.) prepares to hug Father Thomas after welcoming him into the Diocese of Albany. (Cindy Schultz photos)

“I was so fortunate to be in a papal audience at St. Peter’s Square on my birthday and receive a special blessing from the late Holy Father Pope Francis. It was just like somebody was making a plan for me. I felt sorry for the priest that had to return, but God was taking me places. I deepened my trust in God, and it showed how much I should be relying on God. That was a big life-changing event for me. Since then, I am not afraid to go any place in the world.”

From Kerala in the southern part of India where he was born and raised, then to the Diocese of Ogdensburg, and now to the Diocese of Albany, it has been quite a journey of faith. That journey continued when Father Thomas was officially installed as the pastor of the Family of the Holy Cross Pastoral Network and incardinated into the Diocese of Albany by Bishop Mark O’Connell on Sept. 5 at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Herkimer. (The network also includes St. Anthony and St. Joseph in Herkimer, Blessed Sacrament in Mohawk and St. John the Baptist in Newport.).

“Now that I am officially a diocesan priest and incardinated, I’m excited,” he said. “It is a great diocesan fraternity but at the same time there is a little bit of nervousness. There is a mixture of both.”

FAR FROM HOME

Father Thomas, who is quick to laugh, probably never heard of Ogdensburg or Herkimer when he was growing up in Kerala, a state on the Malabar Coast of India, which has one of the highest populations of Christians in the country. St. Thomas is credited with bringing Christianity to the country when he landed there in 52 AD, and Father Thomas grew up in the Syro-Malabar Rite, an Eastern Catholic Rite.

“All of my upbringing was in that tradition until I joined the seminary. Right now I am bi-ritual. In fact, when I go back home, I do Mass in that rite. It has been through a lot of changes, originally it was like the Latin Mass,” he said. “After Vatican II, there was a shift.”

Father Thomas speaks to the congregation.

He was an altar boy from his First Communion until the 10th grade, and it was around that time that he started discerning about the priesthood. At first he thought about being a parish priest, but instead he joined a mission society and, after 11 years in formation, was ordained in 2011.

“If you are smart enough and you want to be a doctor or engineer, you become one,” he added. “If you want to become a priest, it is not your choice. You might have the absolute desire, but it is God who makes the decision.”

OGDENSBURG TO ALBANY

Through the mission society, he signed a 10-year contract with the Diocese of Ogdensburg. He began as a parochial vicar at a church in Malone for one year, then spent six years at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg. 

During that time, parishioners asked him what he did for fun. He tried golf — but “that didn’t go so well” — so he went back to hiking which was prevalent in his upbringing and would eventually lead him to the Camino. In Ogdensburg, he hiked with famed priest Father Phillip Allen, and in just four months’ time, Father Thomas had hiked all the Adirondack High peaks, a collection of 46 major climbs, and became part of the Adirondack 46ers. During one week, Father Thomas and Father Allen, who has completed the 46 climbs 25 times, covered 16 peaks alone.

“Hiking made me feel like home,” Father Thomas said.Esteemed parish members (from top) are recognized during the installation of Father Justin Thomas as pastor of the Family of the Holy Cross Network and his incardination into the Diocese of Albany.

After ministering at the Cathedral, he was then named pastor of four churches in four little towns in Essex County. It also was at this time that he got his first exposure to the Diocese of Albany when he was asked if he would be willing to celebrate a Mass for the Syro-Malabar Rite Community in Albany.

“This request came to me one morning if I would be willing to come down and celebrate a Mass for them once a month at St. Pius Church in Loudonville,” he said. “Back then it was a two-hour drive, but that was what I grew up with so that is how I started getting exposure to the Diocese of Albany.”

After ministering to the Syro-Malabar community for four years and with his contract almost up, he started to discern if the move to the Diocese of Albany was right for him. He got to know Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger and took over six months discerning. In July 2025, he was welcomed to the Family of the Holy Cross Pastoral Network, and after a year’s probationary period, now is officially the pastor and a priest of the Diocese.

“It has been great. It was not easy in the beginning but I already had four churches like before, but not as big as Herkimer,” Father Thomas said. “But I had some experience handling four churches and I guess that is the reason that Bishop Scharfenberger gave me four churches here. It has had its challenges but I have good people to help me out.”

Father Justin Thomas greets Hannah Kolancherry, 4, who he baptized

At first Father Thomas was unsure of how to bring up the subject of his probationary period when he first met Bishop Mark.

“I thought Bishop Scharfenberger would be here for a few more years, but his retirement was accepted and our dear Bishop Mark came and he was so good to me and I invited him to my parishes,” he added. “He’s such a people person and so down to earth and very approachable. I thought I needed to bring the subject up to him, but he even started before I did.”

Now that he is officially pastor, Father Thomas has plans to further unite the four churches.

“What I see in Herkimer is different backgrounds, Italian, Irish, Polish; three churches within two miles. Back in the day, they had plenty of priests and the luxury to do what they wanted. We have to be more flexible in these modern times especially with a shortage of priests and less financial resources,” he said. “What I am trying to bring is a unity, that is what we need. People are very sentimental to their church building, which is good, but our faith is just not constrained to a building alone. It goes more than that. We have to respect our backgrounds, but what is more important, is we have to bring that fraternity, that unity back.”Father Thomas takes a photo after the Mass with Bishop Mark O’Connell.