Fr. John M. Braverman, a Jesuit of the Maryland Province, was ordained to the priesthood Saturday, June 13, 2009, at the Alumni Memorial Chapel of Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, by his Excellency Carlos Sevilla, SJ, bishop of Yakima, WA.
John Braverman grew up in Independence, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. His parents, Jack and Carol Braverman, still reside in Independence. His only sibling, his sister, lives in Chicago with her family. John attended St. Ignatius High School. He then majored in biology at Princeton University. After he volunteered for one year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Fresno, CA, he earned his doctorate in population biology at the University of California in Davis. John did his research in evolutionary biology, which he then pursued, supported by two consecutive postdoctoral fellowships.
John entered the Society of Jesus in 1998, in Syracuse, NY, and pronounced first vows in August 2000. He studied philosophy and theology for three years at Loyola University Chicago, earning a graduate degree in health care ethics. While in Chicago, John worked in the Department of Biology at Loyola, teaching and continuing his research. He moved to Georgetown University for his regency, where he also worked in biology, teaching, doing research, and advising students.
John resumed his theology studies in 2006 and completed a Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA. He was ordained a deacon in October 2008 and served as a deacon at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley.
As a priest, John will be assigned to complete another degree, the Licentiate in Sacred Theology at Santa Clara University. He will write on science and theology and assist in pastoral ministry at Santa Clara.
John's first Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated on Sunday, June 14, 2009, at Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Georgetown University. He will return to his high school, St. Ignatius in Cleveland, for another Mass of Thanksgiving on June 21.