On June 10, 2023, the USA East Province ordained three Jesuits to the priesthood at the Fordham University Church—Justin Grosnick, SJ, from the USA East Province; Josué Salguero, SJ, from the Central America Province; and Alcidio Tembe, SJ, from the Southern Africa Province. These men entered the Society of Jesus (Justin in 2014, Josué 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 now embark on their vocations as Jesuit priests, serving the Catholic Church and the people of God.
Justin Grosnick, SJ, was born in Hershey, PA, 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, NC. For the next four years, he studied theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and worked in a number of apostolates, the most formative of which were St. Rita’s 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 those 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 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 at Arrupe College. For regency, Justin lived in Tomsk, Russia, where he worked in support of the parish, taught high school, and helped with a L’Arche-inspired interreligious group for disabled people. He currently studies comparative religion and theology at the Graduate Theological Union. He will now return to Berkeley to complete his studies towards a PhD. Justin will also continue to work in campus ministry at the University of San Francisco.
Josué 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, NC, 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. Josué 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. Romero and Rutilio Grande’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 Jesuit 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. Josué 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 Ellacuría. Later, he was sent to the Liceo Javier school in Guatemala for regency. There, he worked as a social studies teacher, helping in psycho-historical-spiritual formation of the educational community, and joined the school board team. During regency, Josué completed a master’s degree in Education and Learning with a specialization in psychopedagogy. In 2018, Josué 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 a political crisis. He assisted the Rector, Fr. Alberto Idiaquez, SJ, in accompanying the mothers of murdered youths and peasants. In 2020, Josué returned to complete his theology studies at Saint Peter Faber Theologate in Boston. 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, MA. Josue will now 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 Saint John of Baptist of Matacuane, a Jesuit Parish. He was an altar boy and 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. He entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus on May 24, 2011, before the suppression of the region of Mozambique depending on Portugal in Beira, Mozambique. After two years of novitiate, he was called to confirm his calling to serve the Lord in the Society of Jesus by pronouncing his first vows. He was then 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 regency, he was missioned to Nairobi-Kenya to do his first cycle of theology at Hekima University College. He was ordained a deacon on February 22, 2022 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Nairobi. Currently, he is doing a second cycle of theology (STL) on Moral Theology, focusing on Social Ethics at Boston College School of Theology & Ministry.
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