“What I love most about the Society of Jesus and what has kept me the most nourished in my Jesuit life since entering is the experience of community and the deep friendships I have with my brother Jesuits. When we talk about being brothers, it is not just a phrase we use — we truly live it out.”
Will serve as parochial vicar at Saint Raphael the Archangel Catholic Parish in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Kieran Halloran, SJ, grew up in North Salem, New York, and first met the Jesuits as a student at Xavier High School in New York City. He attended Georgetown University, where he studied international development, with a focus on post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction. At Georgetown he also was active in the Georgetown Knights of Columbus and campus ministry, and he worked for the Berkley Center and the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.
As a novice, Kieran did apostolic work at a grammar school in Syracuse, New York, and at the Nativity School of Worcester in Massachusetts. While studying philosophy at Saint Louis University, Kieran taught ESL classes, assisted GED classes and ministered at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. After graduating, Kieran worked for two years at Saint Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, New Jersey, teaching freshman religion and working in campus ministry.
After those two years, Kieran spent a year at the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Arizona/Sonora. During that year, Kieran managed clothing distribution, served as volunteer coordinator and taught classes to the children staying in the shelter. Kieran then completed theology studies at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry, earning both a Master of Divinity and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology focusing on the theology of reconciliation. He also helped teach RCIA classes at St. Mary of the Angels, a parish in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he later served as a deacon. His first mass will be at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York. After ordination, he will serve as parochial vicar at Saint Raphael the Archangel Catholic Parish in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Bachelor’s degree, foreign service, Georgetown University; Master’s degree, philosophy, Saint Louis University; Master of Divinity and Licentiate in Sacred Theology, Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
One hobby I've really cultivated during my time as a Jesuit is cooking and baking. While I learned how to bake from my mom before entering the Society, I was really able to develop and expand this skill throughout formation. I find baking to be an extremely relaxing activity which often helps me to simply slow down and be in the present. It is also a very important way for me to express my care and appreciation for my brother Jesuits and other friends that I bake for. Lastly, making baked goods is a communal activity. There are few things I’ve enjoyed more than the opportunity to make desserts with some of my brother Jesuits and to then have the opportunity to share those desserts and bring others together is a real joy.
St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier. There are three moments of their lives that I find particularly inspiring. The first is from the way Ignatius invited Xavier to conversion and service. Ignatius’ persistence helped Xavier to look at his life beyond the way the world measures success. This experience of conversion puts into perspective what is truly important — although our success may be a good thing, what’s more important is our relationship of loving service with God.
The second moment of their life comes from when Ignatius missioned Xavier to India. While this was not Ignatius’ initial plan, and despite the depth of their relationship, both Xavier and Ignatius were free enough to remain available to follow what the Lord was calling them to do — even though it meant that the two would not meet again in their lifetimes.
Lastly, I’m inspired by how they continued to hold one another close in prayer and in their hearts throughout Xavier’s missionary work. Xavier would keep the names of the original companions from the letters he received in a pouch held close to his heart. For Xavier his zeal and love for the mission was matched by the zeal he had to stay in communion with his brothers — even if they were at such a great distance. I find this to be especially inspiring in my own life where I both find joy and enthusiasm in my ministerial work while finding joy and life in community — in the friendships that have formed and deepened during my Jesuit life.
What I love most about the Society of Jesus and what has kept me the most nourished in my Jesuit life since entering is the experience of community and the deep friendships I have with my brother Jesuits. When I entered, while I had a deep desire for ministry, I did not realize just how much of a joy community life would be. Every day there is some joke or conversation that I have in community which makes my life feel so much fuller. I’ve also had this experience when visiting new communities or meeting different Jesuits. When I have moved to new cities and communities for different missions, I often experience a warmth of welcome from the Jesuits in that community that make me feel at home no matter where I am.
When we talk about being brothers, it is not just a phrase we use — we truly live it out. We genuinely celebrate one another’s achievements and rejoice in one another’s goodness and help support one another when things are difficult. The joy of my Jesuit life goes deeper than any particular experience of ministry/mission — it’s the fraternity and family that we get to live out in mission together.
One of the most meaningful experiences I had during my formation was to spend a year volunteering on the U.S.-Mexico border at the Kino Border Initiative. On one level, it was an extremely challenging year as we sought to respond to whatever needs the migrants had — on any given day I would serve food, distribute clothes, do intake interviews, teach classes to the children in our shelter, or simply sit and talk with some of the migrants. More than any particular work, my time there was a time of deep accompaniment — falling in love with people who, like anyone, are striving to seek a better future for themselves and their families.
In the midst of the uncertainty and danger that the migrants faced, Kino was a place of community, of refuge and of joy — and I got to play some small role in helping to build that place up. In doing the intake interviews, I got to be in a privileged position to listen to their stories of the violence many were fleeing, the friends and family they lost, and the wounds and burdens they suffered and bore. But over the course of their time with us, they would be able to find hope and imagine new possibilities for their lives.
I remember a priest once telling me, “The people of God will call forth your ministry.” Above all else, that was my experience at Kino. The people of God — these holy and faith-filled migrants —called me to accompany them, and I got to walk in small way for a time alongside them in their journeys. No two days looked the same, but every day I had no doubt that we were doing the Lord’s work, helping to build up the kingdom in every person we encountered.
