On Saturday, June 4, 2011, these four Jesuits were ordained to the priesthood by the Most Reverend Roger P. Morin, Bishop of Biloxi. The Mass of Ordination took place in the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in New Orleans.

Johnathan Brown is originally from Eunice, Louisiana. Before entering the Society of Jesus, he worked as a graphics and web design artist. His novitiate experience included service at Hope House in the New Orleans St. Thomas housing project, and service to the people of Tampa and Belize. While in philosophy studies at Saint Louis University, he assisted with campus ministry and participated in service trips with students, which prepared him well for his next assignment at San Jose Parish in Villahermosa, Mexico, where he worked with the youth groups at its 52 satellite chapels. He returned to Tampa to teach at Jesuit High School, where he also coached junior varsity football, served as linebacker trainer for the varsity team and was moderator of the hunting and fishing club. Afterward, he joined the first class of students to complete the full course of studies at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, earning a master's degree of divinity and a master's degree in theology. While in Boston, he also spent time working with St. Columbkille Parish. This summer, John will serve Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in San Antonio and will become parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Church, El Paso, Texas, in the Fall.

Patrick Hough hails from Lancashire, England, where he attended Jesuit school Stonyhurst College. An athlete and musician, he spent a year teaching math and geography, coaching tennis, and working with the music program at St. Ignatius High School in Sydney, Australia. He earned his bachelor's degree in geography from Leeds University and followed it with a second bachelor's degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he also spent an additional year studying theology at Pontifical Angelicum University. Upon entering the Jesuit novitiate, he served both Sacred Heart Church in El Paso and Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston. He then went on to earn a master's degree in medieval history from Fordham University in New York City where he also served as music director for the Sunday evening student Mass at St. Paul's Church on its Lincoln Center campus. He also studied orchestral conducting and singing at the Julliard School there. For his regency, Patrick taught and served as coach of the rowing team at Jesuit College Preparatory in Dallas, after which he earned his licentiate in sacred theology in liturgy from Santa Clara School of Theology at Berkeley. While there, he served as assistant coach of the freshman rowing team at the University of California. This summer, Patrick has been assigned to pastoral work in England and will serve as a chaplain at World Youth Day in Madrid. In the fall, he will begin priestly ministry at Immaculate Conception Parish in Albuquerque.

Jeff Johson served as a naval officer before becoming a Jesuit. Originally from Signal Mountain in Tennessee, he attended Vanderbilt University on scholarship. He earned a bachelor's degree in English before serving five years as a naval officer. He studied theology at St. Mary of the Lake in Chicago as a diocesan seminarian before entering the Jesuit novitiate. After joining the Society of Jesus, he earned a master's degree in English literature from Fordham University. Before beginning his regency, Jeff created the hour long documentary film Xavier which was narrarated by actor Liam Neeson, showed nationally on PBS and distributed to Jesuit schools throughout the United States. He then went on to Jesuit High School in Tampa as a teacher, chaplain of the baseball and soccer teams and moderator of the school newspaper. He also developed the school's first Advanced Placement course in English literature. In the fall, Jeff will complete his licentiate in sacred theology at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, after which we will serve as associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in New Orleans.

Aaron Pidel is a native of Augusta, Georgia. After growing up in the Alleluia Community, a Christian charismatic group, he studied the humanities and Catholic culture at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. His interest in Jesuit missionaries prompted him to attend an eight-day Ignatian retreat, and he entered the Jesuit novitiate the following fall. After working with persons with intellectual disabilities in the L'Arche Community of Mobile, Alabama, and with a youth group at a parish in El Salvador, he studied classical Greek and Latin at Fordham University. During his regency, Aaron taught the classics, coached soccer and led the retreat program at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. He also spent some of his time teaching senior physics at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Aaron will soon complete both his master's degree in divinity and a licentiate in theology, and after his ordination he will teach and offer spiritual direction for diocesan seminarians at the Institute of Priestly Formation at Creighton University in Omaha. In August, he will serve as a chaplain at World Youth Day in Madrid, and this fall he will serve as assistant pastor at Gesu Parish in Miami. During the coming year he plans to apply for doctoral programs in theology.

Ordained this past October to the diaconate, these men served as transient deacons in nearby communities until they completed their final year of theological studies: Patrick Hough in the Berkeley/San Francisco area; Brown, Johnson, and Pidel in the Boston area.

The New Orleans Province is truly blessed to welcome
these gifted and dedicated young men as new Jesuit priests!