Among the 27 Jesuits ordained this year in the United States is a 2003 graduate of Benilde-St. Margaret’s School.
Jesuit Father Henry Shea, 32, attended the St. Louis Park high school before attending Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he first felt called to the priesthood.
He was ordained for the Society of Jesus June 9 at the Fordham University Church in New York City.
“I hope to be a humble priest, but likewise, I hope to be available, celebrating the Eucharist and celebrating sacraments for people,” he said in a video talking about his vocation. “Just the thought of it gives me such joy, and I’m really, really excited and thrilled to be a priest.”
Father Shea was a member of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata and Most Holy Trinity in St. Louis Park, the latter of which merged with Our Lady of Grace in Edina in 2012. He is ministering this summer at a parish in Richmond, Virginia, before beginning doctoral studies in theology and religion at the University of Oxford in England in the fall.
Father Shea is the son of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Shea and Anne Simonett, who died in 1995. Hank Shea belongs to Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis with his wife, Chris, who became Father Shea’s stepmother in 1997.
