Special Studies

Ulises (Uli) Covarrubias, SJ, was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, but has called Inglewood, California, home since the age two. The experience of belonging to two cultures, yet often feeling like he didn’t fully belong in either, marked his worldview, making him a person who is willing to take on an outsider’s perspective and promote dialogue and reconciliation. This is what led Uli to pursue his bachelor’s degree in international development studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and his master’s degree in public diplomacy from the University of Southern California.

While the idea of becoming a priest first floated in his mind as a teenager, Uli didn’t seriously consider it until after attending an ordination Mass. The example of the newly ordained men and the joy of the people of God gave him the motivation to begin discerning a vocation to the priesthood.

Uli reached out to the Jesuits at the suggestion of a friend who said there was “something special” about their spirituality. The more he learned, the more he loved. He was particularly drawn to their work in education, their commitment to those who live on the margins and their promotion of Ignatian spirituality. He felt confirmed in his desire to be a Jesuit after doing an eight-day discernment retreat in silence, which he describes as a very real, very deep and very personal encounter with the risen Christ.

In 2014, he entered the novitiate. Since then, he has lived in St. Louis, where he studied philosophy and received a master’s degree in Spanish at Saint Louis University. For regency, Uli taught religion and Spanish in the midst of the pandemic at Seattle Preparatory School, after which he was missioned to Paris for theology studies at Facultés Loyola Paris. He was ordained in June 2025 and is currently at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry working on a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in spirituality.

Raymond earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City, Philippines, a master’s degree in software engineering from National University in Costa Mesa, California, and an advanced computer security certificate from Stanford University’s Center for Professional Development. Prior to entering the Society, he taught catechism classes to eighth grade students and fed the homeless at Christ Cathedral in Orange, California. Raymond completed his first studies at Loyola University Chicago and was a chaplain at San Quentin Prison in California during regency. He is currently studying MA in International Migration and Refugees, Georgetown School of Foreign Service.

Edward graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory School in San Jose, California. He completed a bachelor’s degree in political economy at the University of California, Berkeley. While in college he studied Mandarin Chinese in Taipei and after graduation facilitated the service, advocacy and justice ministry team for youth ministry with the San Jose Chinese Catholic Community. Prior to entering the Society, he worked as a budget analyst at NASA Ames Research Center. He completed his First Studies at St. Louis University and did his regency at the Newman Center of the University of California, San Diego. He is currently studying Graduate Studies in Education, University of San Francisco (11 January 2024); Teacher of Social Science, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, San Francisco.

Lucas graduated from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington with a BA in sociology and economics and an MA in sociology from Loyola University Chicago. In between his academic studies, Lucas served as a Jesuit Volunteer in Washington, DC. He has also been a volunteer in homeless shelters in the US, as well as in Florence, Italy, while a student at Gonzaga. Lucas completed his First Studies at Fordham University in New York and performed his Regency as a lecturer in sociology at Seattle University in Washington. He completed his theology studies at Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California and was ordained in June 2022. Currently, he is working on a PhD in Sociology  at UC San Diego.

David holds a bachelor’s in theological studies from Loyola Marymount University, where he worked in Campus Ministry and also was a student coordinator for monthly service trips to Mexico. An experience with a widower in El Salvador, who lost all of his family in the Salvadoran civil war, nurtured David’s call to the Society. After professing first vows in 2011, he was sent to Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, where he earned a master’s degree in philosophical resources and helped in the campus ministry office of Cristo Rey New York High School in East Harlem. For his Regency, David was sent to work for one year with the alternative study abroad program, Casa Bayanihan in the Philippines, accompanying students and marginalized communities in Metro Manila. He was then missioned for two years to Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, where he taught religion and helped in campus ministry and with immersions and served as the chaplain for the theatre program. He completed his theology studies at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry before he worked with young adults on the Christus Ministries team in Los Angeles, CA. Currently, he is a graduate student in Ignatian spirituality at Pontifical Comillas University in Madrid, Spain. 

Philip earned a degree in religious studies and chemistry from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. While attending college he served as an ongoing intern with the Washington State Division of Developmental Disabilities and served as an assistant to a L’Arche community. He completed his First Studies at Loyola University Chicago and performed his regency at St Andrew Nativity School in Portland, Oregon and Gonzaga University in Spokane. He completed his Theology studies at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He was ordained in 2017 and then returned to student life. Currently, he is a doctoral student in philosophy at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Prior to entering the Society, Rob earned a degree in philosophy from Boston College. He completed his First Studies at St. Louis University in Missouri and performed his Regency at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon. He studied Theology at Regis College in Toronto, ON, Canada. He was ordained in 2019. Currently, he is a doctoral student in philosophy at Boston College.

Prior to entering the Society, Llanera graduated from Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He completed his First Studies at Saint Louis University in Missouri and finished Theology studies at Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, CA. He did his Regency at St Ignatius College Preparatory School in San Francisco as well as at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. He was ordained in 2018. He is currently a graduate student in Ignatian spirituality at Pontifical Comillas University in Madrid, Spain.

Justin graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara, with a bachelor’s degree in the history of art and architecture. It was during college that Justin met the Jesuits, which proved to be a fateful turn. After some time tutoring in Cerritos, California and volunteering with Gawad Kalinga in the Philippines and the Newman Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Justin says that God placed him in the Society of Jesus to heal from his wounds and to witness and help others heal from theirs. After earning a master’s degree in philosophy from Saint Louis University, Justin taught religion and community service at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma, Washington, for three years. Other highlights of his Jesuit formation include working with the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service in Muntinlupa City, Philippines, and working with L’Arche Noah Sealth in Seattle. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. After he was ordained in 2020, he served at Dolores Mission Parish in Los Angeles. Currently, he is a graduate student specializing in iconography and calligraphy with research into public art and muralism at The King’s Foundation, School of Traditional Arts in London, England.

Martin earned a BS in information and computer science and studied performing arts at the University of California, Irvine. Post graduation he worked for a software company in Mission Viejo and became a systems analyst for the City of Los Angeles. All the while, Martin nurtured his love for acting and joined Lifebook Acting Academy in Hollywood. His connection to the Jesuits began at five years old when a Jesuit friend of the family told him endearingly, “You will become a priest.” The prediction would not come true without the struggle of discernment. At 16, he encountered God on a Kairos retreat led by Jesuit regents. As a novice, he did his short experiment in Jamaica at St. Anne’s Primary in Kingston. He worked in production for Christus Ministries during his first year as a regent. The remaining two years of his regency, he taught digital media arts and ran student life activities at Verbum Dei High School in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Obtaining a master’s degree in digital storytelling from Loyola University Chicago enabled him to assist in content creation for many works, including The Jesuit Post, a website offering a Jesuit, Catholic perspective on the contemporary world, and donor videos for prison ministry programs. Martin earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and served as a deacon at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston. Currently, he is a campus minister at Loyola Marymount University while also pursuing an MFA specializing in screenwriting and producing at Emerson College. 

Francis graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in architecture and construction management, while working as an intern at a design-build company in Bellevue, Washington. After graduation, he entered the Society of Jesus in 2006. His desire to join the Jesuits was inspired by the lives of the Vietnamese Martyrs, the love of his grandfather and the joy of the Jesuits at the Seattle University community. After two years at the novitiate in Portland, Oregon, he did studies at Loyola University Chicago. He was then missioned to Seattle Preparatory School, where he taught mathematics and theology and worked in campus ministry. He also collaboratively designed the Chapel of Our Lady of Monserrat at Seattle Prep. Francis then went to China and Taiwan, where he learned Mandarin, as well as the Chinese culture and religions. One of his most memorable experiences was living in simple homes with different ethnic minority groups in southern China. After two years in Asia, he was missioned to Berkeley, California, to study theology at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. During that time, he directed Ignatian youth retreats, offered spiritual direction and guided 19th Annotation retreats. After Francis was ordained a deacon in 2018, he ministered at Most Holy Trinity Church in San Jose, California. Previously, he returned to Vietnam to lead weeklong retreats for youth and made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of La Vang in Hue, Vietnam. Recently, he returned to Jesuit School of Theology to pursue his Licentiate in Sacred Theology.