Ordained to the Priesthood: May 18, 2007

Appointed Cathedral Rector: August 1, 2017

 

Father Rectorino Mendoza Tolentino, Jr. is the current Cathedral Rector.  He is originally from the Philippines.  He came to the Diocese of Prince George on August 9, 2005 as a seminarian.  He was initially formed in the religious life by the Order of Friars Minor at Our Lady of the Angels Franciscan Seminary in Quezon City, Philippines and has obtained a degree in Bachelor of Arts Major in Philosophy.  After obtaining his degree in Philosopy he continued with his Franciscan formation at San Pedro Bautista Postulancy House and has journeyed with them as a Postulant in 1999.  It was in the Jubillee Year of 2000 that he has entered the Juan Plasencia Francisan Novitiate House.  After a year of discernment, he had decided to leave the formal structure of Franciscan formation.  Having earned units in Education while in College, he taught and worked as a School Principal for two years at Lourdes College of Bulacan while pursuing Masters in Theology at Maryhill School of Theology.

 

Certain that he was being called to be a diocesan priest, he entered The Good Shepherd House of Formation in 2003 at the Diocese of Novaliches, Fairview, Quezon City, Philippines while studying Bachelor in Sacred Theology and Masters of Arts in Pastoral Ministry at Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo De Manila University.  He obtained the degree in Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 2006 and a year later, his Masters of Arts in Pastoral Ministry.

 

Towards the end of his Theological studies he was invited to come to the Diocese of Prince George through a priest serving in the Diocese at that time, Fr. Rudy Manoloto, OSA.  It did not take long for him to process his immigration documents through the assistance of Fr. Richard Beaudette, OMI, Vicar General of the Diocese at that time.  It was on August 9, 2005 that he and Fr. Venerando Sabacan arrived in Prince George and were welcome by Bishop Gerald Wiesner, OMI.

 

After months of enculturation program and a semester of immersion in the 'Canadian Church' at St. Joseph Seminary and Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta, he was asked to complete a Pastoral Year at Christ the King Parish in Kitimat.  Eventually, he was ordained Deacon on May 15, 2006 at Christ the King Parish.  Then, with the permission of Bishop Wiesner, OMI he returned to the Philippines and finished his Theology.

 

On May 18, 2007, Fr. Rectorino M. Tolentino, Jr. was ordained at Sacred Heart Cathedral by Bishop Gerald Wiesner, OMI.  His first assignment was to be an assistant priest at the Cathedral.  It was on April 2, 2008 that he moved to St. Joseph's Parish and Mission in Smithers and has ministered there as a pastor until July 2014.  Summer of 2012, he took up courses in spirituality at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.  From August 2014 to July 2015, he took a year of sabbatical and had spent his time studying Liturgy at The Liturgical Institute, University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois.  He also attended priest renewal program and pilgrimage in the Holy Land.  Part of his sabbatical was spent in the context of the 'Philippine Church' where he grew up.  He had spent the liturgical season of Advent, Christmas, and Lent in some parishes in the Diocese of Novaliches. 

 

Upon his return to the Diocese on August 2015, he was appointed Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia by Bishop Stephen Jensen.  He served as the Vicar General of the Diocese until January 2020.

 

On October 5, 2019, Fr. Rectorino made a temporary profession as a member of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS).  

 

On May 7, 2022, Fr. Rectorino graduated at University of St. Mary of the Lake, The Liturgical Institute, Mundelein, Illinois with the degree of Master of Arts in Liturgy.

 

 

Member, Planned Giving Committee

 

Diocesan Representative, Canadian Federation of Presbyteral Council

2011 - 2017