Deacon Christian J. Santiago, Sch.P., became Father Santiago this past weekend when he was ordained at the Church of St. Helena’s in the Bronx, as members of the Piarists of the Province of the United States and Puerto Rico gathered there to witness the joyful occasion. 

Father Santiago, 28, was ordained Saturday, March 25 by Bishop Emeritus Felix Lazaro, Sch.P., of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Among the concelebrants was Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of the Diocese of Brooklyn, who is also rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie where Father Santiago will complete his studies in May.    

Father Santiago, born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, celebrated his first Mass the day after his ordination, Sunday, March 26 at St. Helena’s. In May, he will graduate with a Master’s in Divinity (M.Div.) and a Master’s in Theology. His proud parents, Victor Santiago and Juana Torres, traveled from Puerto Rico to attend their only child’s ordination and first Mass celebration.  

“It was when I received my First Holy Communion when I was nine years old,” Father Santiago told The Good Newsroom via telephone on March 28, recalling the time he began thinking he might pursue the priesthood. It was years later at age 17 when he decided he would do so and entered the Seminario Escolapios in Ponce the following year. He was sent by the seminary to study at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, where in 2018 he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and education.               

“I felt very content; it was like a confirmation of the vocation that God was asking of me. God was confirming it at that moment,” Father Santiago said of his ordination, noting that “from a young age I felt I wanted to be close to the Lord, and later I felt drawn to the Piarists (Escolapios) and their mission.”      

“He was assigned here at St. Helena’s in 2019 and he was ordained a deacon here last year,”  said Father David Powers, Sch.P., pastor of St. Helena’s. “When Father Christian graduates, then the new provincial will give him his first assignment; he could go anywhere in the world.”   

“We have an English-speaking community, we have a large Spanish-speaking community, and we have a small French-speaking community, from West Africa. Father Christian brought all three communities together…He is a kind, gentle person; he is a good listener; extremely helpful in reconciling difficulties. He’s involved not only in the parish, but he’s involved in other ministries throughout the archdiocese (including liturgical gatherings of Catholic Underground NYC),” Father Powers noted, saying Father Santiago speaks English, Spanish, and French fluently.

Piarist Fathers is a religious order founded in the 17th century by St. Joseph Calasanz (Spanish priest; 1557-1648) and dedicated to evangelizing children through education, especially children from poor families. Therefore, they “profess a special fourth vow.”   

St. Joseph Calasanz, declared in 1948 by Pope Pius XII “Universal patron of all Christian popular schools in the world,” opened “the first public popular free school in Europe” in 1597. 

The mission of Piarists of the Province of the United States and Puerto Rico is “to follow Christ and to serve the Church by administering effectively to the educational needs of children and youth, especially the poor in the Province of the United States and Puerto Rico.