John Folda

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.

Early life
John Thomas Folda was born on August 8, 1961, in Omaha, Nebraska 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 in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he studied architecture and electrical engineering. He graduated in 1983.

Having decided to become a priest, Folda in 1983 went to Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, to attend St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 11985, a Master of Divinity 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 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 Schoo l in Lincoln.

In 1991, Folda traveled to Rome to study at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1993. After returned to Nebraska in 1993, He was named pastor of St. Paulinus Parish in Syracuse, Nebraska and Holy Trinity Parish in Avoca, Nebraska. Folda also served was a teacher and counselor at Lourdes Central Catholic High School in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

Beginning in 1995, Folda served as pastor of St. Leo Parish in Palmyra, Nebraska and St. Martin Parish 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 St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward, Nebraska, and rector in 1998. Pope Benedict XVI named Folda a chaplain of his holiness, with the title "monsignor" in 2007.

Bishop of Fargo
Pope Francis 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 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, when he was a priest. The diocese changed Sullivan Middle School to Sacred Heart Middle School.