John Thomas Folda (born August 8, 1961) is an

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

prelate who has served as Bishop of Fargo since 2013.

Biography

Early life

John Thomas Folda was born on August 8, 1961, in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

to James and Mabel Folda. He attended St. Thomas More Elementary School and then went to Archbishop Ryan High School in Omaha. Following his high school graduation in 1979, Folda entered the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

(UNL) in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he studied architecture and

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He graduated from UNL in 1983. Having decided to become a priest, Folda in 1983 went to

Wynnewood, Pennsylvania Wynnewood is a suburban Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community, located west of Philadelphia, straddling Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and Haverford Township, D ...

, to attend St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1985, a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

degree in 1988 and a Master of Arts degree in theology.

Priesthood

Folda was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln by Bishop Glennon Flavin for the

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leice ...

on May 27, 1989. After his 1989 ordination, the diocese assigned Folda as an assistant pastor at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ Parish and a religion teacher at St. Pius X High School in Lincoln. In 1991, Folda traveled to Rome to study at the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PUST), also known as the ''Angelicum'' or ''Collegio Angelico'' (in honor of its patron, the ''Doctor Angelicus'' Thomas Aquinas), is a pontifical university located in the historic center of R ...

. He received a

Licentiate in Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

in 1993. After returning to Nebraska in 1993, he was named pastor of St. Paulinus Parish in

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

and Holy Trinity Parish in Avoca. Folda also served as a teacher and counselor at Lourdes Central Catholic High School in Nebraska City. Beginning in 1995, Folda served as pastor of St. Leo Parish in

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

and St. Martin Parish in Douglas. Folda was named the diocesan director of religious education and co-vicar for religious in 1997. The following year, he was named the spiritual director at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward and rector in 1998.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

named Folda a

chaplain of his holiness Chaplain of His Holiness is a title of distinction given by the Pope in recognition of a priest's service to the Church. They are addressed with the honorific of "Monsignor" and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and ve ...

, with the title "

monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

" in 2007.

Bishop of Fargo

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

named Folda as bishop of Fargo on April 8, 2013. He was consecrated on June 19, 2013, at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo, North Dakota. Archbishop

John Nienstedt John Clayton Nienstedt (born March 18, 1947) is an American retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2008 until his resignation in 2015 due to his role in the clergy child sex abuse cri ...

was the principal consecrator. Archbishop Samuel Aquila and Bishop James D. Conley acted as the co-consecrators. On July 2, 2021, Folda announced that Bishop James Sullivan, a former bishop of Fargo, had been added to a list of clerics with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors. Sullivan, who died in 2006, had been accused of abusing two boys in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, when he was a priest. The diocese then renamed Sullivan Middle School as Sacred Heart Middle School.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folda, John 1961 births Living people Clergy from Omaha, Nebraska St. Charles Borromeo Seminary alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln Roman Catholic bishops of Fargo 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Religious leaders from Nebraska Bishops appointed by Pope Francis