Seminarians
A native of Songea, Tanzania, 32-year-old John Bosco Nyirenda grew up as one of eight children in a devoted Catholic family with some members choosing life as a religious. He started thinking about the priesthood around the age of 10, and this young vocation flourished within John Bosco through the remainder of his years following his 2004 graduation from St. Augustine College along the shores of Lake Victoria with a diploma in Journalism and Public Relations.
John Bosco used his education to serve St. Teresa’s Orphanage in his home town, where he quickly became a valuable member of their ministry team. “The priesthood was never far from my mind,” comments John Bosco. “I knew that I wanted to serve God in a mission area of the world.” That vocation finally came to fruition when John Bosco developed a relationship with our diocese through his sister – Sister Atukuzwe – who belonged to a religious community working in Florida. After many months of communication, he traveled to our diocese in 2007 to begin acclimating himself to American culture.
John Bosco began his pre-theology studies at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans in 2008. He continues to discern his vocation with the assistance of the school formation staff.
Our most recent entrant to the seminary, Jerry is a 40-year-old cradle Catholic who was born and baptized in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. His background is in business administration and personnel management, having worked as a manager of a technology store in Monroe. He has been a member of St. Matthew Church, serving in liturgical ministries and on the parish pastoral council. He is also a Knight of Columbus.
Jerry has worked with troubled youth for a number of years, serving on boards of both national and local organizations. He considers the events that led him to such outreach work as providential: “There was the hand of God.”
Jerry begins Notre Dame Seminary in the fall of 2009 in the first of two years of pre-theology studies.
2008 Diocese of Shreveport