A former priest turned Fox News commentator and an ABC News producer were married last month in New York City.
Jonathan Morris, 48, and Kaitlyn Folmer, 37, tied the knot on October 17 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral after meeting in Rome, Italy, in 2013.
‘When I first met Kaitlyn, I found her to be super smart, super happy, very efficient, and very energetic,’ Morris, who was a Roman Catholic priest and media adviser at that time, told The New York Times.
Pictures from the wedding show the happy couple walking down the aisle and smiling at the 200 guests who were sat three pews apart and wearing masks.
The pair faced claims they broke COVID guidelines and were accused of showing a lack of taste by holding the wedding in the middle of the pandemic.
But they adhered to New York state guidelines and limited the guest list to make sure they didn’t exceed capacity in their venues.
Kaitlyn Folmer (left), and ABC producer, and Jonathan Morris (right), a former priest and Fox News contributor, married on October 17 in New York City amid the pandemic and adhered to city and state guidelines
Morris and Folmer (left to right) first met in Rome, Italy, seven years ago while covering the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI
Folmer, an investigative producer for ABC News, shared the sentiment about her husband.
‘He was very kind and very pleasant, and I liked the fact that he also spoke Italian,’ she told The Times.
Seven years later, the couple invited 200 of their closest family and friends to the ceremony inside the Manhattan cathedral before holding a meet-and-greet at Hudson Yards.
From there, a dinner was hosted for 50 guests at Winged Foot Golf Club’s outdoor terrace in the quaint town of Mamaroneck, New York.
At the time, 50-person gatherings were allowed and churches were limited to 25 percent capacity.
St Patrick’s has a capacity of 3,000 – so the 200 people in attendance fell below the threshold.
Since then, tighter restrictions have been put in place by Governor Cuomo because a rise in the infection rate.
Pictured (left to right): Kaitlyn Folmer, Jonathan Morris, Megyn Kelly and Janice Dean of Fox News
Kaitlyn (center): Morris ‘was very kind and very pleasant, and I liked the fact that he also spoke Italian’
Kell (right) her husband Douglas Brunt (second right), Janice Dean (left) and her spouse Sean Newman (second left) are seen at the meet-and-greet in Hudson Yards
When the couple first crossed paths in Rome, they were both reporting on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and installation of Pope Francis.
The Times reports that Folmer was booking guests for ‘Good Morning America,’ and that included Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, who was close with Morris.
Folmer recalled being ‘incredibly impressed’ by Morris during the booking process, and would sporadically see him on TV after the trip.
One of those instances happened again in June 2019, when Morris appeared on TV and revealed his decision to leave the priesthood.
The Times reports that Morris was given a sabbatical by Cardinal Dolan to consider the next steps in his life.
‘I was seeking a special dispensation to leave the priesthood,’ he told the publication. ‘I received about 25,000 emails in the two days that followed my announcement during that.’
Unbeknownst to him at the time, one of those many email was from Folmer.
A week passed with no correspondence until Morris happened across a social media post from Folmer and decided to reach out through Twitter.
‘Kaitlyn, I don’t know if you remember me, but we met in Rome when I was a Catholic priest,’ the message read, per The Times.
Folmer confessed that she was instantly intrigued.
‘I knew what he had said in his statement, but I wanted a deeper understanding of why he left the priesthood,’ she told The Times.
‘I’m an investigative producer, so being curious is a huge part of my nature.’
The two met for lunch in Manhattan on June 13, 2019, but Folmer said she didn’t hear from Morris for the next three weeks.
‘Can you believe that,’ Folmer told The Times. ‘I was a bit concerned, but my girlfriends said do not call him, which I didn’t. And they told me that if he really wants to see you again, he will make it happen.’
Morris, in his defense, said he ‘wasn’t really looking to jump into a relationship at that exact time.’
But Morris admitted that Folmer remained a constant in his mind.
The couple reconnected over Fourth of July weekend last year, when Folmer was wrapped up in the explosive Jeffrey Epstein story after his bombshell arrest.
Morris and Folmer met when they were both reporting on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and installation of Pope Francis
‘In the middle of all the craziness, I get this text, and it’s from Jonathan. I said, “Hey, what’s up, I haven’t heard from you in a while,”‘ she told The Times.
‘He explained that he had been busy with the new job and several other things, and asked if I’d like to go out to dinner with him.’
Although the couple met for dinner two more times, they hesitated to make the relationship official.
But the relationship bloomed in October when Morris suggested they do just that.
Morris and Folmer became engaged in June 2020 at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar resort in San Diego, California.
‘He’s the most thoughtful human being I’ve ever met,’ Folmer told The Times.
‘He’s calming and kind, and he brings out the best in me. I’ve never met anyone like him before in my life.