WASHINGTON/ HONG KONG (SE): The journey from writing headlines to proclaiming the Good News reached a sacred milestone on Saturday, June 21, as Reverend Donald Gerard Gayou was ordained to the priesthood at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, in the United States. The solemn liturgy was presided over by Robert Cardinal McElroy of the Archdiocese of Washington.
Father Gayou, 31, was one of five deacons ordained for the archdiocese. Among those watching with special joy were friends and former parishioners from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, where Father Gayou discerned his priestly vocation during his time in the city from 2017 to 2018.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Father Gayou came to the Washington area in 2012 to study at George Washington University, where he graduated with a degree in International Affairs and Chinese Language and Literature.
His time in university marked a period of spiritual wrestling. “From about age 18 to 23, I alternated between total commitment to the faith and resistance to it,” he recalled. “Finally, God revealed to me definitively my desperate need for a Saviour.”
That inner conviction eventually led him to Hong Kong, where he worked as an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal and also served with Princeton in Asia.
It was during this chapter of his life that Father Gayou “stumbled upon” Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish [OLMC] in Wan Chai during a Sunday stroll—and found something much deeper than a church building. He found a community that helped draw him into God’s call.
In a personal reflection shared through The Homestead, a parish publication, Father Gerard described his first encounter with OLMC: “I stopped in for a Sunday evening Mass and met Father Thomas Law Kwok-fai, Sister Victoria Victorino of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master, and several parishioners who are still friends to this day. They encouraged me to go on a parish retreat. I wanted to make friends, so I went—but priesthood was the last thing on my mind.”
From about age 18 to 23, I alternated between total commitment to the faith and resistance to it
Father Gayou
Father Gayou remembered a turning point in his discernment: “You’re twenty-five years old; what kind of Catholic man do you want to be?” Father Law asked him during a time of uncertainty, and it had a profound impact. Looking back on that encounter, he says: “I decided I couldn’t keep God waiting any longer. If he wanted me to be a priest, it was a call too important to ignore.”
Everything changed during Eucharistic adoration at that retreat. “While looking upon the Eucharist, a question welled up in my heart: ‘What if this were my job?’” he wrote. That moment of grace became the catalyst for a deeper calling.
From writer to witness
Despite a successful career in journalism, Father Gayou chose to follow a different path. “I entered seminary even though I loved my job. ‘Life is good,’ I thought, ‘but I think God is calling me to something even bigger’.”
He entered St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington in 2019 and later studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He describes his formation as “five years of learning that God’s plan is greater than my own.”
I decided I couldn’t keep God waiting any longer. If he wanted me to be a priest, it was a call too important to ignore
Father Gayou
Though raised in Immacolata Parish in Richmond Heights, Missouri, Father Gayou acknowledges that Hong Kong and OLMC played an irreplaceable role in his journey. “God is so good for giving me a home—your home—so far from my own,” he wrote, addressing the Hong Kong faithful. “Please keep me in your prayers as I get closer to giving my life to the Lord.”
He also gives thanks to Sister Victorino and many members of the Liturgical Bible Study for walking with him on the path to discernment.
“Our Lady of Mount Carmel brought me close to her Son in Hong Kong,” he said. “In doing so, she worked through so many of you.”
Father Gayou celebrated his first Mass on Sunday, June 22, at the Immaculate Conception Church in Washington, DC. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Italian, and passionate about evangelisation, writing, and youth ministry, he now begins his priestly service in the Archdiocese of Washington.
As he enters a new chapter of spiritual fatherhood, Father Gayou reflects with gratitude: “I hope one day I can celebrate a Mass with you all at OLMC—the great fosterer of my vocation.”
Sources: Catholic Standard; The Homestead – Summer 2025, OLMC Parish Bulletin
