The ordination Mass will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 10 a.m. at Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Please pray for the Jesuits who will be ordained.
Ryan Birjoo, SJ
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Ryan Birjoo, SJ, grew up with his parents, two brothers and a close extended family. After graduating from Dartmouth College, Ryan moved to Chicago to work for an energy start-up and became involved in young adult Catholic ministries. During this period, he attended a Hearts on Fire retreat, which led him to reflect more seriously on a possible vocation to the Society of Jesus.
Ryan entered the Jesuits 11 years ago and has since experienced a rich and formative journey. His novitiate in Minnesota taught him the value of shared life in community. First studies at Fordham University introduced him to inspiring mentors and gave him the opportunity to teach science at a school in the Bronx, New York. His regency took him to Lebanon, where he served with the Jesuit Refugee Service. There, he found joy in encountering diverse forms of Christian witness — especially within the Eastern churches — and in working alongside Druze, Sunni and Shia colleagues in a shared mission.
During theology studies in Paris, Ryan studied with students from around the world, deepening his sense of the universal mission of the Society of Jesus. He also ministered at a palliative care home, rediscovering the power of teamwork and attentive listening, and occasionally served as a deacon at Saint Joseph, the anglophone mission in Paris.
Ryan’s call to the priesthood flows from the central place of the sacraments in his own life and from witnessing the intimate, transformative presence of Christ, offered to all. After ordination, he will join the campus ministry team at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.
Andrew Cera, SJ
Andrew Cera, SJ, was born and raised in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He has two brothers and two sisters (and 13 nieces and nephews at the time of this writing!). He first encountered the Jesuits at Gesu Parish in Milwaukee growing up. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a law degree from Louisiana State University. After finishing law school, Andrew worked for a few years as a judicial law clerk before entering the Midwest Province.
As a novice, he made the Spiritual Exercises in Guelph, Ontario, and returned to Canada a few months later for his 30-day Jesuit pilgrimage, stopping at the Jesuit’s Martyrs’ Shrine, Madonna House and St. Joseph’s Oratory. Following the novitiate, Andrew studied philosophy and Christian spirituality at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. He then began regency at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, where he taught in the theology and religious studies department and served in campus ministry as the director of retreats. After three years in University Heights, Andrew began theology studies at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry (BC-CSTM), where he is currently pursuing a Licentiate in Sacred Theology with a focus on Ignatian spirituality and prayer. He was ordained a deacon at St. Ignatius Church on Boston College’s campus and baptized his newborn niece a month later (his first baptism!). Along with his studies, he serves at the BC-CSTM House of Formation, an intentional community of theology and ministry graduate students preparing for lay ministry.
After ordination, Andrew will return to Boston College to complete his licentiate degree.
Erin Kast, SJ
Erin Kast, SJ, was born and raised in Wausau, Wisconsin. He was raised by his parents, Audrey and David, alongside his older brother, Galen, and sister, Nicole. Erin went to local Catholic schools before getting his bachelor’s degree in biology and religious studies at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. While in college, Erin recognized his love of science was being eclipsed by a greater desire to discover whether the experience of saints and holy men and women in his life was something real and possible for him too. If it was, he would have to change his plans. A desire for an answer to this question led him to enter the novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado in St. Paul, Minnesota, after graduation.
As a Jesuit, Erin has been blessed with an abundance of formative experiences. From life in a L’Arche community (2016) to time spent in Peru (2017, 2024), Guatemala (2019) and India (2018); from philosophy studies in Chicago (2017-2020) to theology studies in Berkeley, California (2023-2026); from a pilgrimage from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, with a stay in the Buddhist Peace Pagoda in Tennessee (2016) to camping trips across the country, from the Smoky Mountains (2017) to Joshua Tree National Park (2025); from teaching biology and chemistry to high schoolers (2020-2023) to exploring the Bible with incarcerated boys and men (2017-2025); from spending 30 days in silent prayer in Guelph, Canada (2016), to guiding others through the same experience in Loyola, Spain (2025).
Nathan Krawetzke, SJ
Nathan Krawetzke, SJ, is from Erie Township in Monroe County, Michigan. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton, he served as a Jesuit volunteer, a high school teacher and a youth minister at a Catholic parish. He joined the Midwest Jesuit Province in 2015, took vows in 2017, worked at Mahpiya Luta/Red Cloud Schools in South Dakota as a Jesuit regent, and will be ordained a priest in June 2026 after finishing up his theological studies at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in California.
After ordination, Nathan is excited to serve at St. Mary Student Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Nathan enjoys running, hiking, visiting with friends and family, and a nice cup of tea.
Thomas O’Donnell IV, SJ
Tommy O’Donnell, SJ, grew up in Stoughton, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing. After graduating, he worked as an analyst for Lincoln Financial in Chicago. During his first few years in Chicago, he began exploring deeper questions of faith. As part of this process, he moved to Milwaukee to teach special education in the city’s northwest neighborhoods. Eventually, he began considering a vocation to the priesthood. During this period of discernment, he befriended Jesuits in Milwaukee and Chicago and discerned the call to religious life as a Jesuit priest.
As a novice, Tommy taught at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Twin Cities in Minneapolis, served as a chaplain at the Ramsey County jail, completed the 30-day Spiritual Exercises, and cared for elderly Jesuits at the Colombiere Center in Clarkston, Michigan. He studied philosophy at Loyola University Chicago and earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Chicago. He then worked as a social worker at Arrupe College in Chicago during his regency. Tommy was then sent to Boston College, where he earned master’s degrees in divinity and in theology at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry. During that time, he served as a deacon at Saint Brigid and Gate of Heaven Churches in South Boston.
After ordination, Tommy will teach theology at University of Detroit Jesuit High School.
Timothy Perron, SJ
Timothy Perron, SJ, was born and raised in Vermont with his three siblings. He studied music education at the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York. Following his graduation, he worked in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in California before entering the diocesan seminary in Boston. He departed the seminary after two years to take additional time for discernment of his vocation. Moving back to Vermont, he worked in special education for three years before attending Loyola University Chicago to study theology, earning a master’s degree. While at Loyola, he started seriously discerning a vocation to the Society of Jesus.
Timothy entered the Midwest Jesuit novitiate in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2015. This rich experience confirmed his vocation, and after taking vows, he moved to New York City to study philosophy at Fordham University while he ministered as a music teacher at St. John Chrysostom School in the Bronx. After completing his philosophy studies, he began a Ph.D. program in theology at Fordham while ministering to undergraduate and graduate students.
After ordination, Timothy will work toward his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at Boston College.
Conan Rainwater, SJ
Conan Rainwater, SJ, grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota, raised by his parents, Les and Linda Rainwater, alongside his brother, Trevor, and sister, Ellecia. While his first real introduction to the Jesuits was his brother — who entered the Midwest Province in 2010 and was ordained a priest in 2021 — it was during his time as an undergraduate at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, that he interacted with them in a variety of capacities, such as in the classroom (the late Dennis Hamm and late Dick Hauser), in campus ministry (Larry Gillick, Greg Carlson, Kyle Shinseki, Patrick Gilger and the late Pat Malone), while studying abroad in Peru (Kevin Flaherty), and through the Creighton University Knights of Columbus Council (Br. Pat Douglas and Ross Romero). He entered the novitiate immediately after graduating from Creighton in 2015.
After finishing his social philosophy studies at Loyola University Chicago in 2020, he taught sophomore and junior religion for one year at St. Xavier’s High School in Cincinnati. While classes were held in-person, he always had a couple of students who attended virtually due to the COVID pandemic. He was then missioned to Peru for two years where he lived an hour away from Cusco. He helped with various pastoral activities at the Jesuit parish in the town of Urcos and also taught classes at a high school of the Fe y Alegría network, an international movement of popular education and social promotion managed by the Jesuits. In 2023, he was missioned to study theology at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry. His ministry, including as a deacon, was at a men’s prison.
After ordination, Conan will live at Creighton University in and serve as a vocation promoters for the Midwest Province.
Josef Raoul Rodriguez, SJ
Josef Raoul Rodriguez, SJ, was born in San Francisco to Raul and Wilhelmina Rodriguez, who immigrated from the Philippines. While growing up in New Jersey, he felt the call to the priesthood at a very young age. He first entered religious life after high school with the Legionaries of Christ, setting aside a promising future as a musician to discern religious life.
After 10 years in active Legionary life, followed by two years as a layman, Josef entered the Society of Jesus in 2016. He earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University, while continuing musical studies in composition at Juilliard’s Evening Division and choral conducting at Westminster Choir College.
Josef’s ministerial experience includes secondary education, campus ministry, youth and adult retreat direction, and hospital chaplaincy. He completed his regency at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where he taught philosophy and assisted with music ministry and the university orchestra. During this time, he also served as assistant conductor of the Kanesville Symphony Orchestra in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
He completed a master of theological studies at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry. Although his academic work has centered on philosophy and theology, he remains actively engaged in music as a composer, singer and instrumentalist, performing on cello, trumpet and piano. He serves as chaplain of the Boston College University Chorale and assists in pastoral ministry at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Brookline, Massachusetts.
After ordination, Josef will complete a licentiate in Sacred Theology in systematic theology at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry and then pursue doctoral studies in theology focusing on sacraments and liturgy.
Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ
Patrick was born in Haiti and moved to France where he began his vocational journey during secondary school at the age of 11 and continued while he attended a Jesuit high school.
Before entering the Jesuits, Patrick studied medical psychology, medical psychoanalysis, clinical psychology, scholastic philosophy, and pastoral studies. During formation, Patrick completed his theological and philosophical studies at Loyola University Chicago while teaching at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake. He taught psychology at Creighton University while doing psychotherapy work at the counseling center. He earned a licentiate in pastoral theology at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University.
After ordination, Patrick will return to Cincinnati to continue working at the Dorothy Day Center for Faith and Justice at Xavier University in OH.
