O n November 12, 2022, at 9:00 am EST, the members of the Public Relations Department were afforded the privilege to spend time talking to Sovereign Grand Inspector General Nicholas Padilla, Jr, who currently serves as the Illustrious Deputy Secretary General of the Holy Empire, United Supreme Council Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Thirty - Third and Last Degree of Freemasonry for the United States of America and Its Jurisdictions, Inc. Prince Hall Affiliated. SGIG Padilla blessed the Order by discussing his story—his background, career, critical aspects of his personal and professional life, and his masonic journey. This opportunity was especially significant and predicated upon his retirement from federal service a second time on 30 November 2022. SGIG Padilla ’ s 42 years of service to our nation in uniform and now as a civil servant has culminated at the highest level. The discussion below is an abbreviated version of the interview of SGIG Padilla.
GIG Howard T. Matthews, Jr.: All right, sir. Thank you, and good morning to you all.
SGIG Nicholas Padilla, Jr.: Morning.
GIG Howard T. Matthews, Jr.: SGIG Padilla, thank you for joining us this morning. We are delight- ed to have you. As we do with all events as brothers, we will begin with a prayer. If you all will join me: Lord, we thank You for blessing us with yet another day and an opportunity to come together and share in life, the legacy, the experiences, and many lessons, Lord, for the future. We thank You for our Illustrious Deputy Grand Secretary General, Nicholas Padilla. We pray that You will enlighten us and help us to do your will. We ask You to bless our families, friends, and brothers, Lord, and be with us so that we may do our best and continue to do Your will. For these things, we pray. Amen.
ALL: Amen
GIG Howard T. Matthews, Jr.: So, SGIG Padilla, if you would go ahead and tell us who you are. Start by giving us your full name, age, and where you're from. SGIG Nicholas Padilla, Jr.: My name is Nicholas Padilla Jr., and I am 60 years old. I was born and raised in Harlem, New York City; those are my identifiers. I lived in Harlem until I graduated from high school. Of course, growing up in Harlem, I lived in the Polo Grounds public housing, which was built in the early 60s. It was dedicated to Willie Mays, and a [baseball] field was named after him within the projects. My parents were married, and both worked blue - collar jobs. My mother worked during the evening, and my dad worked during the day. I have an older brother; well, I had an older brother who passed away in 2012, who was an NYPD detective, who pretty much kept me on, or at least tried to keep me on the straight and narrow. Although my parents worked constantly, they believed in the Lord, and I was raised an altar boy because back then, I was a Catholic [same as my parents]. I was raised in one of the first Catholic churches that had African American altar boys under the leadership of Father Lucas. He was also the first pastor to bring dashikis into the Catholic Church I attended as a young man in Harlem.
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