On August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Monsignor Michael Dooley ordained Brother James Cleary, LC, as a deacon in Dunedin, New Zealand.

The Fr. James Cleary, LC was born in March 1987 in Dunedin, New Zealand, and has been a member of the ECYD since 1998. He studied at the Vocational Center of New Hampshire, United States, in 2001, and entered the Legion of Christ Novitiate Center in Cheshire on September 14, 2004, where he made his first religious profession in 2006. From 2006 to 2008, he studied humanities in Cheshire and then began his bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome. In 2010, he began his apostolic practices as an assistant at the territorial secretary’s office in Atlanta and later in the North American territory. He took his perpetual vows on September 1, 2012, and in 2013, he returned to Rome to study for a licentiate in philosophy and a bachelor’s degree in theology.

“I was ordained where it all began. It was a very beautiful moment with my family. I thank God for the ordination, for the superiors, and for so many brothers and fathers who have accompanied me during these years of formation and who will accompany me in this year of diaconate. This adventure of following God’s plans where He calls me continues,” commented Fr. James Cleary, LC, after his ordination.