Fr. Brian P. Dunkle, a Jesuit of the New York Province, was ordained to the priesthood Saturday, June 13, 2009, at the Alumni Chapel of Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, by his Excellency Carlos Sevilla, SJ, bishop of Yakima, WA.
Brian Dunkle was born in Oceanside, NY, and raised nearby in Freeport, the youngest of five children of John and Margaret Dunkle. After graduating from Freeport High School, he attended Harvard University, earning a bachelor’s degree in classics (Latin) in 1997. He taught high school and middle school at Marymount International School in Rome, Italy, and then completed a Master of Studies degree in Greek and Latin at Oxford University in England.
Brian entered the Society of Jesus in 1999, in Syracuse, NY, and pronounced first vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in August 2001. He studied philosophy and theology for three years at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, earning a Master’s degree in philosophical resources. While in the Bronx, Brian taught catechism at a local parish and assisted on Fordham University service trips to Belize and South Africa. He spent his regency at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, where he taught as a member of the classics department.
Brian resumed his theology studies in 2006 at the Gregorian University in Rome, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology in 2008. He is currently completing a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Ordained to the diaconate in March 2008, Brian serves as a deacon at St. Catherine of Genoa Church in Somerville, MA.
As a priest, Brian will serve at St. Anthony's Parish in Oceanside, NY, while preparing for graduate studies in theology.
Brian's first Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated on Sunday, June 14, 2009, at Sacred Heart Church in West Reading, PA.