Five from Wisconsin Province enter Jesuit novitiate

ST PAUL – Five young men accepted as novices by the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) entered the Jesuit St. Paul Novitiate in August for their first of about 10 years of studies and training to become priests. In all, 10 new novices arrived at the novitiate, which is also shared by the Upper Canada and Missouri provinces. They join eight returning second-year novices, bringing the total number of novices in St. Paul to 18 for the 2005-06 year.

John Celentani, 23, is from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin attended Marquette University High School and is a 2005 graduate of Northwestern University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. His other academic interests include history and Italian. For the past year, he taught and coached at Marquette High as a member of the school’s Alumni Service Corps. In college he was a reporter for the business weekly newspaper Crain’s Chicago Business and for the Daily Herald newspaper. John has traveled in Europe five times, most often to Italy where he lived in Milan for four months. He was a golf caddie for 11 years. His personal interests include golf, guitar, all kinds of music, football, soccer, basketball, and running.

Luke Hansen, 23, is a native of Kaukauna, Wisconsin. He graduated summa cum laude from Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana with a bachelor’s in two areas of studies ­ political science and religion/philosophy. His other areas of interest include spirituality and the mental health crisis in correctional facilities. Luke spent the past year as a member of Jesuit Volunteer Corps Southwest working as a legal advocate for mental health clients at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley in San Jose, California. He served a summer internship in the U.S. Congress and has also worked as an assistant golf pro, a summer program assistant at Saint Joseph’s, and a resident assistant at the dorms there. Luke also enjoys deer hunting, the Green Bay Packers, tournament golf, and college basketball.

Christopher Krall, 23, was born at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. He grew up in Marshfield, Wisconsin and graduated from Boston College in May with a dual-major bachelor’s in physics and philosophy with a minor in computational sciences. His other academic interests include astrophysics and biomedical physics. Chris completed a service internship at the Sioux Spiritual Center in Howe, South Dakota, and has walked the 450-mile pilgrimage across northern Spain known as “El Camino de Santiago.” He was an astrophysics intern at the Vatican Observatory near Tucson, Arizona and has also worked, among other things, as a tutor, research assistant, tennis coach, and soccer referee. Chris speaks conversational Italian and German. He enjoys traveling, scuba diving, skiing, and long-distance running.

Brian Rademacher, 29, was born in Park Ridge, Illinois and attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette. He is a 1999 graduate of Marquette University where he received a bachelor’s degree in both Spanish and anthropology and recently earned a master’s in public policy from the John Hopkins University. He is interested in economic development, urban planning, and fiction writing. Brian has served as a multi-cultural minister with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Aberdeen, Washington where he worked with Hispanic youths. Brian also has been a medical case manager at a Milwaukee street clinic and recently interned in the president’s office at East Baltimore Development, Inc. His other interests include running, swimming, and baking bread.

Vincent Strand, 22, a native of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, attended Kettle Moraine High School in Wales and is a 2005 graduate of Marquette University where he received a bachelor’s degree with a double major in biological sciences and theology. He is also interested in systematic theology, particularly Christology and ecclesiology. His work experience includes plant nursery general labor, truck-driving, and supervision. He has been president of the St. Robert Bellarmine Society at Marquette, and participated in retreats and mission trips with high school students. Vince enjoys basketball, baseball, fishing, hunting, camping, and hiking.

First year men from other provinces are:

UPPER CANADA

Brent Pierce, 23, from the Ottawa, ONT area, spent the past year living in the St. John's, Newfoundland community and working at St. Bonaventure's College in that city.

Jason Vaz, 18, Scarborough, ONT, is originally from Mumbai, India. Jason completed his first year of studies at the University of Toronto.

MISSOURI:

Vincent Giacabazi is from Washington, IL and is a 2004 graduate of Saint Louis University. While a student at SLU he worked in Campus Ministry, and was a Student Government Election Commissioner. This past year he was part of the Alum Service Corps at Rockhurst High School where he taught Theology and worked in the Pastoral Office.

Ronny O’Dwyer, of Englewood, CO, a 2001 graduate of Regis Jesuit High School in Denver, graduated this past May from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. While at Regis he was on the swimming team, and involved in student government and pastoral ministries.

Nick Webber, a native of Lakewood, CO, is a 2001 graduate of J.K. Mullen High School in Denver, Colorado and a 2005 graduate of Boston University. Nick worked as a volunteer at the Working Boys Center in Quito, Ecuador this past summer.