Background
John Thomas Folda was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
John Thomas Folda was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
He graduated from Archbishop Ryan High School and attended the University of Nebraska and earned bachelor of arts, master of arts and master of divinity degrees from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary.
Folda was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lincoln on May 27, 1989. He received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome in 1993. After ordination, Folda served as a curate at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ and taught religion at Saint Pius X High School in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1989–1993.
From 1993-1995 he served as the pastor of Saint Paulinus Church in Syracuse, Nebraska and Holy Trinity Church in Avoca, Nebraska.
Beginning in 1995 he served as the pastor of Saint Leo Church in Palmyra, Nebraska and Saint Martin Church in Douglas, Nebraska. 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 Saint Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward, Nebraska, and was named the school"s rector in 1998. Pope Benedict XVI named him a Chaplain of His Holiness, with the title "Monsignor" in 2007.
He was consecrated bishop on June 19, 2013 and installed in the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Fargo.
Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt of Saint Paul and Minneapolis was the principal consecrator.