Rev. Raphael Arteaga ’19 becomes a Dominican priest
Rev. Raphael Arteaga ’19 becomes a Dominican priest
By Vicki-Ann Downing ’21G
From the time he was a 9-year-old schoolboy at St. Cecilia School in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Daniel Arteaga ’19 knew he had a priestly vocation. At PC, where he studied theology, was president of Campus Ministry, and spent a summer of service in the Solomon Islands with Archbishop Christopher Cardone, O.P. ’80, ’01Hon., he decided that vocation would be fulfilled with the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans.
On May 23, 2026, Rev. Raphael Mary Arteaga, O.P. ’19 was ordained to the priesthood in St. Dominic Church in Washington, D.C., by Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington.
In the weeks following ordination, during his visit home, his biggest surprise was being addressed as “Father” by the friends and community members he had known for so long.
“Being called ‘Father’ is really shocking all the way around,” Father Raphael said. “It reimagines who you are. You are called to be a father with all the privileges and responsibilities that entails. It reminds you of what ordination has done and what you represent. It’s very humbling. It brings me to a place of gratitude for this immense gift that God has shared with me, one who is just as broken as anyone else.”
His name, Raphael, honors both his high school, St. Raphael in Pawtucket, and the archangel.
“Raphael is the archangel of healing,” Father Raphael said. “It’s a cool image for a priest. An angel is a messenger and a priest is, too — a messenger of Christ who brings true medicine for the soul, which is Christ himself.”
Getting to know Dominican friars during his years at PC inspired Father Raphael. Many became his mentors, including Rev. Michael Weibley, O.P., an associate college chaplain who now is pastor of Saints Philip and James Parish in Baltimore. Father Raphael asked Father Weibley to vest him — dress him in his stole and chasuble for the first time — during his ordination.
Thanks to his parents, who are natives of Colombia, Father Raphael speaks fluent Spanish. He instituted bilingual Masses as a PC student and offered his first Mass in Spanish at Misíon San Andrés in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he assisted during his diaconate year.
Following a trip to Rome, where he met Pope Leo XIV, and a summer at St. Gertrude Church in Cincinnati, Father Raphael will return to the Dominican House of Studies in D.C. to complete his licentiate in sacred theology, an ecclesiastical degree between a master’s and a doctorate. After that, he hopes to be assigned to ministry at a campus or in a parish. “I really do love working with people,” he said.
