Recently, Father Allen Terrance, LC, received his diaconal ordination, and Father Christian Leal, LC, received his priestly ordination. Below is a brief description of these events.
The diaconal ordination of Father Allen Terrance, LC, took place on January 26th at the Most Blessed Sacrament, in Detroit. In addition to his family and friends, some members of Regnum Christi, about 20 Legionary priests, some novices, humanists, and students from the Sacred Heart Apostolic School were present at the ceremony.
Monsignor Allen Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, was the one who ordained Father Allen. During the Mass, he invited everyone to actively participate in what was about to happen, that is, the brother Terrance’s configuration with Christ through the laying on of hands. He also encouraged the ordinand to live with an attitude of service for the poor and those most in need.
The Eucharistic celebration can be viewed through this Facebook link and a photo album.
P. Terrance John Allen, LC was born in 1987 in Gaylord, MI. He entered the Vocational Center of Center Harbor in 1999 at the age of twelve. From 2004 to 2008, he completed his novitiate and classical humanities in Cheshire. Later, he moved to Rome, Italy, to pursue a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
He did a year of pastoral work in the northeastern United States and then three years as an assistant in ECYD in Washington D.C. He returned to Rome in 2014 to begin his theology studies. He is currently studying for a license in moral theology.
A few days later, on February 2nd, Father Christian Leal, LC, was ordained a priest by Monsignor Víctor Sánchez, Archbishop of Puebla, at the Cathedral of that city. Several Legionary priests concelebrated, and also present were the apostolics from the Vocational Center of La Joya and some members of Regnum Christi from Puebla.
In his homily, Monsignor Víctor Sánchez used the ordination rite to speak about how the ordinand is configured with Christ the priest to serve the People of God and how he must develop a heart of a shepherd attentive to everyone, especially the poor.
“Reaching ordination means to me the fulfillment of a promise of love made by God. A promise received in moments of prayer and in continuous encounter with Jesus,” commented Father Christian Leal, LC.
P. Christian André Leal Russildi, LC was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. He studied at Lasallian schools and earned a degree in Business Administration from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. He joined the Legion of Christ candidate program in Monterrey in June 2009 and completed his novitiate there from 2009 to 2011.
He completed his bachelor’s in philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome from 2011 to 2013. During his apostolic practices, he was a formation instructor at the Instituto Cumbres Alpes Torreón in Coahuila, Mexico, and an assistant in ECYD.
In 2014, he returned to Rome to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Theology. He is now developing his ministry in the territory of Chile.