Of the 19 Jesuits ordained to the priesthood in the U.S. this summer, an eye-popping 10 are Fordham alumni. And for two grads, their ordination ceremony was also a homecoming.
John J. “Jake” Braithwaite, SJ, ’11, MA ’15, and Bryan P. Galligan, SJ, ’15, were among four Jesuits ordained on June 13 at Fordham University Church.
Unknown to each during their student days at Rose Hill—where Galligan majored in biology and theology, and Braithwaite studied business and earned a master’s in economics after a stint on Wall Street—the two have grown close while navigating the decade-long path of Jesuit formation.
Fathers Braithwaite and Galligan sat down with Fordham Magazine to discuss their spiritual journeys and the surprising places their vocation continues to take them, from prison ministry to coral reefs.
It’s a long journey to become a Jesuit priest. Does it feel like a big accomplishment?
Bryan Galligan, SJ: It’s funny, a lot of people are like, “You worked so hard for this!” and that has never really sat right with me, because I’ve experienced my vocation and my formation as a gift, not as something that I’ve earned or deserve. So I’m sitting in a lot of gratitude. And I will also say that even though we have a very long formation as Jesuits, it has not felt long.
Jake Braithwaite, SJ: There’s this saying that you’re already a priest when you get ordained. The becoming of a priest happens through the process, and the ordination is a public marker of that moment. From learning how to pray with people and the families of people who had gone through traumatic brain injuries all the way up to teaching a multiyear course to prisoners in California about the Old Testament prophets—each of those experiences has shaped who I am as a priest and so I’m in awe of the process.
Bryan, you’re going on to a PhD program at Harvard, where you’ll study coral reef fisheries and public health nutrition?
BG: That’s right.
I didn’t know a priest could even do that. How does that work?
BG: When I was at Fordham, I double majored in biology and theology. It was not initially with an eye to priesthood. The theology was just with an eye toward the big questions of life. It seemed like a good way to take advantage of being here at Fordham, whereas biology was going to be for a career. When I graduated, I got a wonderful marine biology job for the state of Rhode Island. I brought that background with me when I entered the Jesuits. I had an interest in research, and I wanted to do that work in a way that was really kind of deeply aligned with the Jesuit mission of promoting a faith that does justice.
Jake, you originally majored in business—
JB: Because I wanted to make a lot of money. (Laughs) I was in the Global Business Honors Program, and I loved what I learned in it. Even though I realized it was not my actual vocation, we talked so much in those studies about how organizations work and what it means to be an organization that works for the good. My experience at Gabelli was that it was not just about making the most possible money.
You worked on Wall Street and then in development and university relations for Fordham, and now the priesthood. What changed over that time?
JB: While I was working at Fordham, I got really involved in St. Ignatius Parish on the Upper East Side because my friends were going and they said, “Oh, you should come with us. They have wine and cheese after the 7:30 p.m. Mass.” So that’s what convinced me to go. But then I was like, “Oh, the people here are great, the music’s great, the Jesuits are great, the homilies are great.” And within nine months, they needed people to take over the wine and cheese. My parents’ instincts are so deeply rooted in me that I could not help but volunteer. So that started a year-and-a-half process of me getting super involved in the parish, and people started saying, “You should be a Jesuit.” As soon as I started the discernment process, I went, “Oh yeah, this is obviously the thing.” And I never looked back.
What have the last several years of formation been like compared to what you thought it would be?
JB: The biggest stumbling block in my discernment was the thought that I was going to lose all my friends just because I was going to be so far away from them. But I’ve been surprised by the abundance of relationships that are possible. I mean, both of us have spent time in Kenya, and I had relationships there that I kind of never imagined. It becomes this big network. So, the abundance of that has been a big, wonderful surprise for me.
BG: One of the reactions that I’ve gotten over the years is, “You give up so much,” and “There’s so much sacrifice.” It’s kind of like sacrifice, wink wink. Like, you can’t have romantic relationships, you can’t have children. In choosing anything, though, you are giving up other things. It’s an incredibly fulfilling way to live your life.
What are you most looking forward to about the priesthood?
JB: I’m really excited to hear confessions. There’s that idea of “be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a great battle.” I’m excited to help people fight those battles and free them from some of what’s holding them down.
BG: I think being a priest is a way to love people, and I cannot wait to get to do that. I’ve always really looked forward to being a priest for my family and my friends, and that is such a gift. I’ll get to preside at my first wedding for a Fordham friend this summer, and that’s just awesome.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Fordham Alumni Ordained as Jesuit Priests, June 2026
Ten Fordham graduates were ordained to the priesthood on June 13 in ceremonies across the United States—from Fordham University Church in the Bronx to the Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee and St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento, California.
- Ryan C. Birjoo, SJ, ’20 MA, will serve in campus ministry at John Carroll University in Ohio.
- John J. “Jake” Braithwaite, SJ, ’11, MA ’15, will serve as parochial vicar at Saint Ignatius of Loyola Parish in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
- Andrew M. Cera, SJ, ’20 MA, will return to Boston College to complete a licentiate in sacred theology.
- Edward Chow, SJ, ’17 MA, will serve in campus ministry and teach in the social studies department at Mater Dei Catholic High School in Chula Vista, California.
- Shane Liesegang, SJ, ’20 MA, will spend the summer providing pastoral ministry at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon, before moving to Bangkok, Thailand, to become the regional reconciliation officer for Jesuit Refugee Service in the Asia Pacific region.
- Bryan P. Galligan, SJ, ’15, will pursue doctoral studies in coral reef fisheries and public health nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
- Dennis Allan Viva Marzan, SJ, ’20 MA, will serve as an associate pastor at St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento, California.
- Timothy Perron, SJ, ’26 PhD, will pursue a licentiate in sacred theology at the Boston College.
- Josef Raoul P. Rodriguez, SJ, ’20 MA, will complete a licentiate in sacred theology in systematic theology at Boston College and then pursue a doctorate in theology focusing on sacraments and liturgy.
- Victor Pro Yanez, SJ, ’21 MBA, will support the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Arizona, for a few months and then serve at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in San Diego while helping with migrant accompaniment at the parish’s Pope Francis Center.
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