Four Jesuits from the Philippine Province were ordained on June 3 at the Oratory of St Ignatius of Loyola, Loyola House of Studies. Fr Roseller L Atilano SJ, Fr Martin A Licup SJ, Fr Harvey C Mateo SJ and Fr Felipe B Yohan Jr SJ were ordained by His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila.
The Vietnam Jesuit Province recently celebrated the profession of final vows of Br Vincent Phạm Đức Tuấn SJ and the ordination to the diaconate of four Jesuits.
Br Vincent pronounced his final vows on January 18 in the chapel of Saint Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate in Saigon, Vietnam. He entered the Society of Jesus on September 9, 1997 and will be celebrating his 20th year as a Jesuit this year. At the end of the ceremony, Br Vincent asked those present to pray for him. “Pray that God grant me a lot of love and grace to live my vocation as a Jesuit filled with happiness.”
Eleven Jesuits were ordained to the Order of Deacons on October 29 in the Church of the Gesu, Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. The new deacons are Soo Young Park, Changmo Cho, Chang-hyon Lee, Kyoung-Woong Peter Park, Anthony Ochen, Leslie Joseph Bingkasan, Stephanus Advent Novianto, Harvey Mateo, Martin Licup, Felipe Yohan Jr and Roseller Atilano Jr.
The Vietnam Jesuit Province has eight new Vietnamese priests. The new Jesuit priests, who were ordained on August 25 at the Saint Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate in Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City, are Fr Anthony Pham Ba Hoc, Fr Dominic Nguyen Quoc Kinh, Fr Joseph Nguyen Tuan Phuc, Fr Thaddeus Nguyen Van Yen, Fr Francis Xavier Nguyen Thanh Vu, Fr Anthony Tran Thanh Tan, Fr Vincent Nguyen Minh Phuc and Fr Peter Nguyen Van Tang.
Ladislas Nsengiyumva SJ was ordained to the priesthood in Holy Family Catholic Church in Taipei, Taiwan. The ordination on July 30 was presided by Most Rev John B Hung Shan-Chuan, Archbishop of Taipei, with Fr John Lee Hua SJ, Provincial of the Jesuit Chinese Province concelebrating the Mass.
July 30 was a day for rejoicing for the Jesuits of the Jesuit Independent Region of Timor-Leste, and not just because of the Feast of St Ignatius the next day. That Sunday was the ordination to the priesthood of Sidelizio (Side) Ornai Pereira SJ, and every Jesuit in the country travelled to his hometown of Baucau to celebrate the first Timorese Jesuit ordination to the priesthood since 2010. Jesuits from other parts of Asia Pacific also travelled to Timor-Leste for the ordination.
The Australian Jesuit Province recently welcomed a new priest into its ranks. Justin Glyn SJ was ordained priest in the Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph in Auckland, New Zealand on August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration. He was joined by his family, and by many other Jesuits who travelled there for the occasion.
The Society of Jesus in Korea celebrates three new Jesuit priests: Fr Kim Min-cheol John, Fr Yeo Myoung-mo Paul Ha Sang, and Fr Kim Kun-dong Benedict. They were ordained to the priesthood on June 29 at Myung-dong Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea. More than 1,100 people participated in the ordination mass concelebrated by His Eminence Andrew Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung DD, Archbishop of Seoul, and 100 priests. During his homily, Cardinal Yeom called for the newly ordained Jesuits to be good shepherds who serve Christ, read the Scripture, believe the Word and do what they will teach.
From May to August, the Chinese Jesuit Province saw four Jesuits from three countries ordained to the priesthood in ceremonies held in its four territories. A Jesuit from Burundi was also ordained to the diaconate during this period.
John Joseph Zhang SJ was ordained priest in northern China during the Easter Season. He has been assigned to Casa Ricci Social Services in Macau.
In the front row pews during evening mass at the Church of St Ignatius in Singapore on July 26, family members gathered to celebrate the ordination to the priesthood of two not-so-young Jesuits. It would be typical to see both men seated amidst their respective families ready in turn to offer them up to the rest of the Church. What was not so typical was that it was just one family – with both Jesuits seated on either side of the same mother, and among the same siblings and relatives – supporting them into the service of ordained ministry.