Father L. Adam DeLeon, SJ, 33, was born in Hollywood and raised by his mother, Nancy Loren, in Cleveland, Ohio. He met the Jesuits at Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, before earning a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Father DeLeon felt called to join the Jesuits after the transformative post-college experience of volunteering as a teacher and rugby coach at St. George’s College in Kingston, Jamaica.

His formation involved teaching at Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School in Chicago, and serving as a deacon at St. Patrick Parish in Oakland, Calif. and St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco. Father DeLeon earned a master’s degree in social philosophy at Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, Calif. He spent a semester studying theology at Hekima College in Nairobi, Kenya, while also working at St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a high school for AIDS orphans. In July, Fr. DeLeon earned a Master of Theology degree from the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. He then will work in pastoral ministry at St. Columbanus Catholic Church in Chicago.

To my family, especially my mother: Thank you for sharing with me your faith and love for the Church. I watched closely as we set up and cleaned up at parish functions what true community means. To my friends: Thank you for the many times you have been there for me. You have shown me what it means to be a true friend. To the many benefactors of the Society of Jesus: I am eternally grateful for your generosity and commitment to the Church and the formation of Jesuits. I have been stretched and formed; challenged by different perspectives; seen the face of Jesus in so many diverse communities and people; had my heart touched by sorrow and joy; and have been able to deepen my love for God and God’s people. I am excited about being ordained a priest. I am most excited about sharing with others all that you, my family and friends and benefactors of the Society of Jesus, have given me.