W E C E L E B R A T E
TWO ALUMS ARE ORDAINED AS PRIESTS FOR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES worked in homeless ministry at Saint André Bessette Catholic Church in Portland, OR. During his first year of temporary vows, Dan served in homeless ministry at HOPE Ministries in South Bend, IN. During his second year in temporary vows, Daniel worked in marriage preparation ministry at Christ the King Parish and later that summer in homeless ministry at André House in Phoenix, AZ. In his final year as a seminarian, Dan coordinated preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation at Notre Dame and served as a deacon at Saint Ignatius Martyr Parish in Austin, TX. He was ordained a priest in the United States Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross on April 11, 2015 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN by The Most Reverend
DANIEL M. PONISCIAK, CSC ’98
Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, Bishop of Peoria, IL.
SEAN P. TOOLE, SJ ’02
He celebrated Mass at his home parish of After his graduation from La Salle College
Saint Hilary of Poitiers Church on Sunday,
High School in 1998, Dan attended
May 10, 2015.
University of Richmond in Virginia and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology
DAN IS THE SON OF LONG-TIME FACULTY
in 2002. In 2005, he earned a master’s of
MEMBERS, MIKE (MATHEMATICS
education degree in counseling from
DEPARTMENT) AND DOROTHY (SCIENCE
the College of William and Mary in
DEPARTMENT) PONISCIAK, WHO RETIRED
Williamsburg, VA and his M.Div. from
IN MAY OF 2015 AFTER SIXTY YEARS OF
the University of Notre Dame in 2014.
COMBINED SERVICE TO LA SALLE
Dan entered Holy Cross as a postulant in
COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL.
2009 after working as a professional school counselor in Williamsburg. He served in the adult Bible study program at Christ the King Parish as a postulant. He made his first vows on July 30, 2011. While at the Novitiate in 2010-2011, Dan was a chaplain at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, CO, and
After his graduation from La Salle College High School in 2002, Sean Toole attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ and received a bachelor’s degree in urban studies and geography, with certificates in urban planning and international geographic perspectives. While studying city planning, Toole realized he wanted to help people more directly than policy work allowed. He sought guidance at the Rutgers Catholic Center and a nun there (lamenting, “the Dominicans will kill me for telling you this”) suggested he check out the Jesuits. Toole spent two summer breaks living with Jesuits and teaching middle school students in New York City
and Chicago. These experiences helped him get to know the Society, and Toole joined the Jesuits after graduating from Rutgers in 2004. As a novice, he worked with Catholic Charities’ refugee resettlement program in Syracuse, NY, and spent a semester working in campus ministry at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC. He was then missioned to Saint Louis University, where he received a master’s degree in urban affairs in 2009. He spent the next three years at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore teaching U.S. government and working in campus ministry. There he had the chance to design classes and retreats for the new school and teach their first graduating class. Next, he was missioned to the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, CA, where Toole earned a Master of Divinity degree and a master’s degree in theology, as well as a Black Church/Africana Religious Studies certificate. Toole also served as a deacon at Saint Augustine Church in Oakland, CA and was a volunteer for the chapel and baseball programs at San Quentin State Prison. He was ordained a priest in the United States Province of the Society of Jesus on June 13, 2015 at the Fordham University Church in New York. He celebrated his first Mass as a Jesuit priest at Saint Matthew Church in Conshohocken on Sunday, June 14, 2015. He has joined the staff at Saint Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan.
EXPLORER SUMMER 2015 31