John Thomas Folda (born August 8, 1961) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Fargo in North Dakota since 2013.
Biography
Early life
John Thomas Folda was born on August 8, 1961, in Omaha, Nebraska to James and Mabel Folda.[1] He attended St. Thomas More Elementary School and then went to Archbishop Ryan High School in Omaha.[1] Following his high school graduation in 1979, Folda entered the University of Nebraska (UNL) in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he studied architecture and electrical engineering. He graduated from UNL in 1983.[2]
Beginning in 1995, Folda served as pastor of St. Leo Parish in Palmyra 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 named Folda a chaplain of his holiness, with the title "monsignor" in 2007.[2]
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, when he was a priest. The diocese then renamed Sullivan Middle School as Sacred Heart Middle School.[4]
