Regnum Christi NY is a mission team of Legionary of Christ priests and Regnum Christi consecrated & lay members providing retreats, formation and spiritual guidance for Catholic youth and adults in the NY tristate area.


Fr Shawn Aaron, LC
Father Shawn grew up in Modesto, CA, and is the oldest of four children. He spent one year as a team leader for the National Evangelization Teams (NET) traveling the USA giving retreats to students. In 1991, he joined the Legion of Christ and was ordained to the priesthood in Rome, Italy, in 2002. He has degrees in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, Rome. He spent one year as the president of Southern Catholic College, in Dawsonville, GA. Fr. Shawn is presently living in Thornwood, NY and serving as Chaplain of Lumen Institute.


Fr Michael Brisson, LC
Fr Michael Brisson was born in South Windsor, Connecticut on February 22, 1977. He studied at South Windsor High School. On June 25, 1995, after graduating high school, he entered the novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in Cheshire, Connecticut. During his 14 years of formation he studied in Monterrey, Mexico, obtained his licentiate in philosophy and his bachelor’s in theology at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum College in Rome, and participated in a 4-year internship promoting Regnum Christi and working with the Legion’s benefactors in the eastern United States. He currently serves as the local superior of a Legionary community in Westchester County, New York, and works in the spiritual formation of adults in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut tri-state area.


Glory Darbellay, consecrated member in Regnum Christi
Glory is originally from Saskatchewan, in Western Canada, and comes from a family of ten.  She completed two years of University studies before entering consecrated life in 1994, and then went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Studies from the University of Anahuac in Mexico, and a bachelor’s degree in Religious Sciences from the Pontifical University, Regina Apostolorum.   She had a three year internship in Immaculate Conception Academy in RI, helping with the academic and spiritual formation of the students.  For the past nine years, Glory has directed the youth mission network programs in the tri state area. She has experience directing retreats, camps and missions.

 
Br Ryan Harkins, LC
Br Ryan is from Madison, MS and has one older sister.  Meeting the Legion at age 9 he joined ECYD and then later on Regnum Christi.  He took a year off after high school to be a RC Missionary and then afterwards joined the Legion in 2007.  Since then he’s spent a year in Cheshire, CT and Dublin, IR doing his novitiate.  Afterwards he returned back to Cheshire for his studies in humanities and then to Thornwood, NY where he spent two years completing his bachelor’s in Philosophy.  He is currently in his first year of internship where he works in the youth section with the RC missionary team here in New York.


Fr Edward Hopkins, LC
Fr Edward was born and raised in Cazenovia, NY. He entered the Legion of Christ in 1980 after graduating from Thomas Aquinas College in California with a degree in Liberal arts. Fr Edward studied Humanities in Salamanca, Spain, Philosophy at the Gregorian University in Rome and Theology at the Angelicum, University of St. Thomas in Rome. He was ordained with a group of 60 Legionaries of Christ, (including 2 of his brothers: Peter and John), by John Paul II on January 3rd 1991. Before coming to NY Fr Edward worked in St Louis and the surrounding region with the formation of lay apostles, in youth and family life apostolates. Fr Edward is presently the Section Director for the men and women Sections in the New York and Bridgeport dioceses.


Anthony Macdonnell, consecrated member in Regnum Christi
Tony was born in Nova Scotia, Canada and is the fourth of eight children. He graduated from Dalhousie University. In 1995 Tony was invited by the Legionaries of Christ to found a missionary organization in Bethesda, MD called Mission Youth. He spent 10 years organizing, training and forming high school and college students in the art of humanitarian and evangelization outreach missions. In 1997 Tony became a Consecrated layman in the Regnum Christi Movement. He recently finished his Masters in Theology through Holy Apostles seminary. His thesis focused on the integral formation of Catholic youth in light of the New Evangelization called for by John Paul II. Tony was recently named the Director of Religious Education for St. Peter and Paul parish in Mount Vernon, NY.


Fr Jason Smith, LC
Fr Jason was ordained in Rome on December 23, 2006 by Cardinal Franc Rode, after receiving a degree in the humanities from the Center of Humanities and Sciences in Cheshire, CT and degrees in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome. Fr Jason is originally from Forest Lake, Minnesota and has a younger brother who was ordained to the priesthood with the Legionaries of Christ last December. Since ordination Fr Jason has dedicated his priesthood to the Catholic formation of youth in the New York and Bridgeport dioceses and is currently also assisting with the adult formation in the tristate area.


Fr Thomas Vendetti, LC
Fr Thomas was born in Rockville, MD. After finishing high school he joined the Legion of Christ and began his novitiate on September 15, 1995 in Cheshire, CT. He also did a year of humanities studies in Cheshire, followed by two years of philosophy in Thornwood, NY. After that he did four years of internship as an assistant to the rector of the minor seminary in Center Harbor, NH. Then he went to Rome, Italy for five years where he got his licentiate in philosophy and bachelors in theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. After his ordination in 2009 he served as vice rector for the center for philosophy in Thornwood, NY. Currently he is the director of development for the same center, and spiritual director for the Regnum Christi section in Manhattan.

To contact mission team members
email info@loveyourmission.org or call 914 244 3685

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