Brother Jacques ordained to the priesthood

VAN BUREN — Brother Joseph Jacques Fernand LaPointe, Order of Friars Minor, The Franciscans, was ordained to the priesthood at the hands of Auxiliary Bishop Peter Rosazza on Saturday in St. Patrick/St. Anthony Church, Hartford, Conn.

Brother Jacques, born Aug. 6, 1952, in Van Buren to Fernand and Therese LaPointe (originally from New Brunswick), attended Ecole Fernande-Bedard Grammar School and Ecole Grande-Riviere High School, both in Saint Leonard, New Brunswick.

He then studied at Universite de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunwick, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in history.

The New Brunswick Award of Excellence was presented to Jacques for his book “Grand River: A Page in the Annals of Acadia,” a recommended text in many colleges and universities.

Answering a call to Franciscan life, Jacques entered the Holy Name Province affiliate program in Bronx, N.Y., in 1989 and then the Novitiate in Brookline, Mass., in 1990. He professed first vows on June 6, 1992.

Jacques then went to Holy Name College in Silver Spring, Md., and graduated from the Washington Theological Union with a master’s degree in divinity. He also is pursuing a master’s degree in Franciscan studies from the Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure, N.Y.

Jacques served his ministerial internship year at the Franciscan Chapel Center in Tokyo, Japan. He then professed solemn vows on Sept. 7, 1996, in Hartford, Conn., at the hand of his provincial minister, Father John Felice, O.F.M.