Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans will ordain four Jesuit deacons to the priesthood at the sacred liturgy of ordination at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, New Orleans, La., on June 10, 2023.

Jose R. Dueno Gorbea, SJ, was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He met the Jesuits while a student at Colegio San Ignacio, the Jesuit secondary school in San Juan. After college, he entered the Society of Jesus at the novitiate at Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic. Highlights of his formation include two years working as a videographer at America Media in New York City and teaching Puerto Rican history and French at Colegio San Ignacio for a year. His novitiate pilgrimage was in the northwestern part of the Dominican Republic, near the Haitian border. He stayed and worked with a different family, in a different village, each of the five weeks of his novitiate pilgrimage. This experience, he says, was valuable in learning to trust God's actions in the people he met along the way.

Following his ordination to the diaconate in 2021, he served as a deacon at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Mission Hill neighborhood in Boston, working primarily with the Hispanic community.

Jose has a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and film and television production from New York University; a licentiate in philosophy from Centre Sevres in Paris; a Master of Divinity from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry; and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

Following ordination to the priesthood, Dueno will teach at Colegio San Ignacio and assist at Parroquia San Ignacio, both in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

W. Tucker Redding, SJ, was born and raised in Boerne, Texas. During college, he began to grow in his faith through his involvement at St. Mary Catholic Center on the campus of Texas A and M University, where he was a member of several student groups, including a retreat team that planned and staffed retreats for parishes. It was on a student trip sponsored by St. Mary Catholic Center that Redding first met a group of Jesuits. He was intrigued by the variety of ministries they engaged in and their community life. What seemed like a random encounter served as a spark to his ultimate discernment to become a Jesuit.

After graduating from Texas A and M, Redding served as the coordinator of youth ministry at St. Justin Martyr Parish in Houston for four years before entering the Jesuit novitiate in Grand Coteau, La. As a novice, he did apostolic work in Kansas City, and St. Louis, Mo.; and Baton Rouge, La.; Nicaragua and Jamaica. His ministerial assignments began with teaching theology and producing videos for the advancement department at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. He then moved to New York to work as an assistant producer in the audio/video department at America Media, where he helped with the production of various videos and podcasts. He even created his own podcast on Ignatian contemplation called "Imagine: A Guide to Jesuit Prayer." Redding wrote for and produced videos for the Jesuit Post throughout much of his formation, including as editor-in-chief for two years.

After his diaconal ordination in September 2022, Redding served as a deacon at Gate of Heaven and St. Brigid of Kildare Parishes in Boston.

Redding has a bachelor's degree in political science from Texas A and M University; a master's degree in communication from Saint Louis University; and a Master of Divinity from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

After ordination, he will serve as an associate pastor of St. Francis Xavier College Church in St. Louis and work part time in the U.S. Central and Southern Province's Communications Department.

William McCormick, SJ, was born in south Texas, where his faith was nourished by the unique Catholicism of the border region. While he heard the call to the priesthood from a young age, it was only after meeting Jesuits that he recognized in them the form of priesthood to which he felt called. In college, he was introduced to a heady, cerebral faith that nourished his intellect, and in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, he recognized the joys of service.

His novitiate experiences took him to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Denver, Kansas City, Mo., Michigan, and Mobile, Ala., among other places. Living at L'Arche Mobile, he learned profound lessons about community and discipleship. During theology studies, he led a program to form laypeople in his parish to lead 19th Annotation retreats. He says his regency experience, teaching political science and philosophy at Saint Louis University, and becoming a contributing editor for America Magazine, was one of the greatest gifts of his Jesuit formation.

McCormick earned a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Chicago; a master's degree and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Texas-Austin; a master's degree in philosophy at Fordham University; and a Master of Divinity at Regis College in Toronto.

Following ordination, McCormick will serve in mission and ministry at St. John's College in Belize City, Belize.

Aric M. Serrano, SJ, was born in Mankato, Minnesota. One of 13 children, he moved with his family several times before they settled in Pecos, Texas. He learned about the Jesuits from reading about the lives of St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. His connection to the Jesuits came through his aunt, Sister Teresa of the Eternal Father, OCD, in Lake Elmo, Minn.

A talented musician, he played guitar in both jazz and ska bands. While he was an undergraduate at Eastern New Mexico University, he attended Jesuit discernment retreats and loved sitting in silence and praying with Scripture. After graduation in 2012, he entered the novitiate at Grand Coteau, La. As a novice, he did apostolic work in Kansas City, Mo.; New Orleans; Tampa, Fla.; and Guyana. He also had the opportunity to study conducting as part of the European American Musical Alliance summer session in Paris.

His apostolic work included teaching elementary music to the students of St. John Chrysostom School in the Bronx and teaching both boys and girls theology, guitar and band, and directing the freshman girls retreat at Regis Jesuit High School in Denver.

Serrano currently serves as a deacon at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in downtown Oakland, Calif. After ordination, he will serve at St. Peter Claver Parish in Punta Gorda, Belize, where he will join two other Jesuits to help provide sacraments to more than 30 Mayan villages.

Serrano has a bachelor's degree in music education from Eastern New Mexico University; a master's degree in philosophy from Fordham University; and a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University.

On June 10, 2023, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport will ordain three Jesuits to the priesthood at the Fordham University Church -- Justin Grosnick, SJ, of the USA East Province; Josue Salguero, SJ, of the Central America Province; and Alcidio Tembe, SJ, of the Southern Africa Province. These men entered the Society of Jesus (Justin in 2014, Josue in 2010, and Alcidio in 2011) and have completed a formation process that began as a discernment and a call of the Holy Spirit. They will soon embark on their vocations as Jesuit priests, serving the Roman Catholic Church.

Justin Grosnick, SJ, was born in Hershey, Penn., and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied physics/astronomy, as well as international relations and history. After reading the Gospels during his senior year of college, he spent the subsequent year considering the priesthood while teaching at a Catholic middle school in Charlotte, N. Car. For the next four years, he studied theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia, Penn., and worked in a number of apostolates, the most formative of which were St. Rita Senior Center and the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

He left the seminary before ordination and went on to pursue his earlier love of international relations, first studying at Johns Hopkins SAIS and then embarking on a short career at the State Department. He feels most blessed to have spent some time serving in both Russia and Ukraine, and he continues to be interested in the culture and history of both places. At some point during that time, Justin returned to the spirituality he was first introduced while in seminary, and embarked upon a version of the Spiritual Exercises in daily life. This ultimately led to his decision to enter the Society of Jesus.

As a novice, Justin worked at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx and the L'Arche community in Syracuse, both of which informed his understanding of mission and ultimately consoled him in taking vows. He spent six months at Georgetown University, helping out in the classroom and campus ministry. At Georgetown, Justin also discovered his love for interreligious dialogue and Hinduism in particular. Subsequently, he studied theology at Loyola Chicago, while also supporting the Hindu students there and helping out at Arrupe College. For regency, Justin lived in Tomsk, Russia, where he worked in support of the parish, taught high school, and helped out with a L'Arche-inspired interreligious group for disabled people. He currently studies comparative religion and theology at the Graduate Theological Union, Chicago. After ordination, he will return to Berkeley to complete his studies towards a Ph.D. Justin will also continue to work in campus ministry at the University of San Francisco.

Josue Salguero, SJ, (Central America Province), was born in Santa Barbara, Honduras. He is the oldest of five. His closest family has been living in Goldsboro, N. Car., for many years. He grew up in a Catholic family in Honduras. His grandfather Vivian Cortez and many uncles and aunts belonged to the Minister of the World's Movement and to the Ecclesial Base Communities, both a concrete realization of Vatican II in Honduras from the 60s. The pastoral ministry in parishes was the origin of his vocation to the priesthood. Josue met the Jesuits through the Sisters' Oblates of Heart of Jesus; they invited him to a Jesuit mission in Guatemala followed by the Spiritual Exercises for youth in Honduras. He was particularly inspired by St. Oscar Romero and Blessed Rutilio Grande, SJ's life. The diversity of the Jesuit mission and the way of being with the poor people of God was a great motivation in his discernment to enter the Society. He began the process while working at Loyola's School and living in La Merced Jesuits' residence in Guatemala.

He was admitted to the novitiate in Panama in 2010. His formation as a Jesuit has been marked by the context of a diverse, challenging, and intercultural Jesuit mission. Josue completed his studies in philosophy and humanities at the Central American University UCA in Nicaragua. During this time, he organized migrants and their families and wrote his dissertation by analyzing the migration philosophically through the ethical and political thinking of Ignacio Ellacuria. Later, he was sent to the Liceo Javier School in Guatemala for regency. There, he worked as a social studies teacher, psycho-historical-spiritual formation of the educational community, and joined the school board team. During regency, Josue completed a master's degree in education and learning and a specialization in psychopedagogy. In 2018, Josue was sent to Chile for theological studies. In 2019, he had to pause his studies, so he returned to Nicaragua and joined the Mission of the University in the midst of the political crisis. He assisted the rector, Father Alberto Idiaquez, SJ, in accompanying the mothers of murdered youths and peasants. In 2020, Josue returned to complete his theology studies at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Over the years, he has collaborated on different programs at Sacred Heart Parish in Richmond, Va.; and at St. Mary of the Angels Parish in Jamaica Plain. After ordination, Josue will return to Boston College to pursue an STL in systematic theology.

Alcidio Vitorino Tembe, SJ, (Southern Africa Province), was born and raised in Beira-Mozambique. He is the firstborn in a family of six: one girl and five boys. His parents used to attend Mass at the Parish of St. John of Baptist of Matacuane, a Jesuit Parish. He was an altar boy in this parish and was involved in various youth activities. His vocation journey to the Society of Jesus began at this parish.

After a retreat of eight days to pray and discern his vocation, he was accepted as a candidate for the Society of Jesus from 10 Jan. to 20 May 2011. He entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus on 24 May 2011, before the suppression of the region of Mozambique depending on Portugal in Beira, Mozambique. After two years of novitiate, on 24 May 2013, he was called to confirm his calling to serve the Lord in the Society of Jesus by pronouncing his first vows. After, he was missioned to the Republic Democratic of Congo for Philosophy studies at the Loyola University of Congo, where he lived for three years. After philosophy, he went back to Mozambique to do his regency at Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School, where he served as a French teacher, assistant boarding master, and minister of the community.

After a good experience in the regency, he was missioned to Nairobi-Kenya, to do his first cycle of theology at Hekima University College. He was ordained a deacon on 22 Feb. 2022 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Nairobi. Currently, he is doing a second cycle of theology in Moral Theology, focusing on Social Ethics at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

The Jesuits featured in this article, combined from information from two Jesuit provinces, USA East and USA Central and Southern, have completed some of their formation at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, or will be students there in the next academic year; or served in archdiocesan parishes during their formation. Congratulations to all.