Fernando C. Saldivar Jr., SJ, was born in Santa Ana, California, and grew up next door in Tustin. He first met the Jesuits while studying at Georgetown University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in history, with a minor in economics, in 1999. He earned a law degree from Southwestern University School of Law in 2005, and prior to entering the Society of Jesus in 2016, he was in private practice as an attorney and has been a member of the State Bar of California since 2005. As a Jesuit, Fernando earned a master’s degree in social philosophy from Loyola University Chicago in 2020. He completed his theology studies in France in 2025, where he received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Facultés Loyola Paris and a Master in Catholic Theology from the Université de Strasbourg.
During his regency, Fernando was missioned to Nairobi, Kenya, where he spent two years as the global policy and advocacy officer for the Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa (JENA). As such, he supported the work of JENA in the production of analysis for advocacy purposes on global international policy as it affects Africa, focused primarily on issues related to debt and taxation, climate justice, peace, and security. He had the opportunity to make presentations to African Bishops’ Conferences, as well as parliamentarians and policymakers, on matters related to ethics, social justice, sustainable development and poverty eradication in Africa. In the years since, he has remained an active collaborator with JENA, returning to Africa each summer during his theology studies. His work has been published in Commonweal, Ethics in International Affairs and the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. He is a visiting scholar in the philosophy department at Loyola University Chicago. After ordination, Fernando will serve at the International Human Rights Center and as a special advisor to the dean at LMU Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Fernando’s Mass of Thanksgiving will take place on Sunday, June 15 at 11:30 AM at St. Thomas More Catholic Church (51 Marketplace, Irvine, CA 92602)
