Father Ala was born in Amman, Jordan on January 15, 1978, to Nadim Al-Alamat and Riham Haddad, raised in Madaba, Jordan. Entered the Seminary in Beit Jala, Palestine in 1989. Ordained priest on May 1st, 2003 by His Beatitude Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah at Jabal Al Hussein Church – Amman, Jordan. Father Ala, has been a strong educator with over 17 years of serving communities in four regions (Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and the USA).
He is a resourceful, resilient, and pragmatic leader, mentor, and motivator who illustrates multilingual fluencies, solid communication skills, and excellent organizational and cooperating attributes. Father Ala's education has been in the field of Philosophy and Theology and his theological education journey started in 1998 and has taken him along several universities from Beit Jala (2 Bachelor Degrees) to Rome (Master Degree), to the USA.
In August 2018 he achieved a major milestone by obtaining his Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) from The Jesuit School of theology, Berkeley-Santa Clara University, USA.
Just like his educational journey his Pastoral mission has taken him through many towns and countries. He started his pastoral services in 2003 at the Holy Family Church in Ramallah, Christ the King Church in Amman, Holy Spirit Church in Madaba, The Apostles Church in Northern Zarka, Saint Pius X Church in Southern Zarka, The Sacred Heart Church, Santuario di Montevergine, and Fondi-Spelonga Parish in Italy, The mother-house of the Congregation of the Holy Rosary in Beit Hanina/Jerusalem, Bethlehem university in Bethlehem, the Latin Patriarchate Seminary in Beit Jala, the Good Shepherd Church in Yonkers/New York, the American University of Madaba, Our lady of Peace Center in Jordan, Star of the Sea Church + St. Thomas More in San Francisco, and St. Joseph AACC-California since October 7th, 2018. On top of Arabic as his native language, Father Ala speaks English, French, Italian with the capacity to celebrate the Mass in both Latin and Spanish.
Father Ala wishes to build an all-embracing and inclusive parish full of joy and spiritual life. He always stresses that the Arabs American Catholics in Southern California are called to have a "sense of belonging" to their home-church at St. Joseph's Pomona.
His Priestly motto is: "and for their sake, I consecrate myself" (Jn. 17:19).
