Jesuit magazine (4-11).indd - The New Orleans Province of the ...

Joe studied theology and Spanish at Loyola University
of Chicago, took improv classes with the Second City theater
program and continued special studies at Saint Louis University
to earn his master’s degree in communications.
He completed his regency at Regis Jesuit High School
in Denver where he taught public speaking, journalism and
sophomore and senior spirituality classes. He was also moderator
of the improv club and the school newspaper.
His interest in pro-life work has often taken him to Washington,
D.C., where he serves as a group leader for the March
for Life every January. He has also served as master of ceremonies
for the Ignatian Spirituality Conference in St. Louis, and he
will do so again this July.
He earned his master’s degree of divinity this spring at the
Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, and he will
return to Boston in the fall to finish course work toward his
licentiate in sacred theology.
Joe will celebrate Masses of Thanksgiving at Sacred Heart
Church in Florissant on Sunday, June 12 at 10:30 a.m. and in
the school chapel of Regis Jesuit High School in Denver on
Sunday, July 31 at 10:30 a.m.
Aaron D. Pidel, S.J., 32, grew up
in the Alleluia Community, a Christian
charismatic group in Augusta, Georgia,
where he and his siblings attended
the community’s schools. After high
school graduation, Aaron attended a
state school his freshman year before
transferring to Franciscan University in
Steubenville, Ohio, to major in humanities
and Catholic culture.
Aaron’s initial curiosity of theology
came from reading the history of the Catholic Reformation.
He was particularly interested in great Jesuit missionaries, and
as he read about these Jesuits his desire to serve and respond
to God grew generously. He completed an eight-day Ignatian
retreat which confirmed his love of Jesuit spirituality, and after
attending a Jesuit ordination the following summer he entered
the Jesuit novitiate in the New Orleans Province in August of
2000.
The most transformative experiences of his formation as
a Jesuit occurred during his novitiate while working with the
L’Arche Community in Mobile, Alabama, and then with a parish
youth group in El Salvador.
During philosophy studies at Fordham University, he
came to more deeply understand and articulate the harmony of
faith and reason. During this time he took an intensive summer
course in classical Greek, having in mind and honoring
the mastery of Latin and Greek in the traditional formation of
Jesuits.
For his regency, Aaron taught the classics, coached soccer
and led the retreat program at Jesuit High School in New Orleans.
When Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August
of 2005, he spent a semester with his New Orleans students at
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston.
His studies at Boston College School of Theology and
Ministry have confirmed his desire to continue theology
studies. He will soon receive his master’s degree of divinity
and a licentiate in theology, and after ordination Aaron will
teach and offer spiritual direction to diocesan seminarians at
the Institute of Priestly Formation at Creighton University
in Omaha, Nebraska. In August, he will serve as a chaplain
at World Youth Day in Madrid, and this fall he will work as
parochial vicar of Gesu Parish in Miami.
Aaron’s Mass of Thanksgiving will be at the Chapel of
the North American Martyrs at Jesuit High School in New Orleans
on Sunday, June 5 at 9:00 a.m. He will celebrate another
Mass at Most Holy Trinity Church in Augusta, Georgia, on
Sunday, June 12 at 12:30 p.m.
Paul H. Vu, S.J., 40, attempted to
flee Vietnam with his family on April
30, 1975, the day Saigon fell. Five
year old Paul, his mother, and a brother
and sister, separated in the melee from
the rest of the family, made it out of
the country. Sadly, five years later, his
father and two sisters were killed at sea
in an attempt to escape. The rest of his
family has made it to the United States
over time, and today this “extremely”
Catholic family is very happy to have, after three generations,
a priest within its fold once again.
The Vus lived in New Orleans for a few years before settling
in Costa Mesa, California, where Paul attended St. John
the Baptist Elementary School. He knew from an early age
he wanted to be a priest, and during recess he would listen to
“confessions” and preside over “weddings” where he would
give the groom permission to kiss the bride.
In 1983, the family moved to Houston to open a restaurant
and seafood market. Paul attended St. Thomas High
School, run by the Basilian Fathers, and was voted “Most
Likely to Become a Priest.” He was awarded a scholarship to
the University of Texas where he earned a bachelor’s degree
in psychology. Coming from a Catholic cocoon, his exposure
to the larger world of university life was challenging, but he
found a spiritual home at the Newman Catholic Center on
campus. After graduation, he received a full scholarship to the
University of Missouri where he earned master and doctoral
degrees in counseling psychology.
In 1997, Paul attended World Youth Day in Paris with
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