‘What a gift Crosier life is,’ says religious order’s newly elected national superior

ONAMIA, Minn. (OSV News) — When Father Alex Juguilon joined the Crosiers back in 2011, he just wanted to be a Crosier. He didn’t think he would eventually be leading the order. But on Aug. 7 he was elected to do just that.

During the weeklong 2024 Conventual Priory Chapter meeting in Onamia, the U.S. Crosier Fathers and Brothers elected Father Juguilon as their new conventual prior for a four-year term. He succeeds Father Tom Enneking, who has served as the major superior for the past 13 years.

Also elected were Father Hubert Kavusa as subprior and Father Stephan Bauer and Father Dave Donnay as councilors.

“You don’t enter religious life thinking you’re going to be the major superior,” Father Juguilon said. “You enter religious life wanting to be the best Crosier you can be. And as my confrére, Father Zawadi, often says, it’s good enough to be a Crosier. And it is true. What a gift Crosier life is.”

The community started the discernment process to choose a new conventual prior in October, 2023, discussing it at chapter meetings. In January, they named the qualities they were looking for in the leadership roles of conventual prior and counselor. As the months went on, they identified the needs and the vision for the community’s future.

“It’s really been a long process, and I’m thankful for it,” Father Juguilon told The Central Minnesota Catholic, magazine of the St. Cloud Diocese, where Onamia is located. “It was very intentional. I think it was very good in clarifying what it is we’re looking for and what the gifts are, what the limitations are on each person.”

Three names eventually emerged and a vote was held. The process started with prayer and a procession into the church. The Crosiers’ master general, Father Laurentius Tarpin, presided and called each person by name to come up and put their ballot in.

“It’s a joy, it’s overwhelming and above all, it’s humbling, to be elected prior,” Father Juguilon said. “I am so touched that my confréres have entrusted me, that they’ve put trust in me and I am really grateful to them.”

Father Juguilon and his new leadership team were installed during a ceremony Aug. 9 at Holy Cross Church in Onamia. Father Tarpin presided.

“The role of leadership in the church and religious communities is a calling, not a career,” Father Tarpin said during the installation ceremony. “It is about nurturing and guiding the community in their faith and vocational journey.”

“As the prior, confrére Alex, you are the first in serving your confréres, living by your example,” he said.

Father Juguilon joined the Crosiers as a novice in 2011 and made his first profession of vows on Dec. 7, 2012, at the Crosier Priory in Onamia. He was ordained a deacon there in 2017 and was ordained a priest in 2018 in the Diocese of Phoenix, where the Crosiers’ Conventual Priory of the Holy Cross is located. The Crosiers’ U.S. headquarters are located at the priory.

It was through the Crosiers’ mission preaching efforts across the country that Father Juguilon was introduced to them. He met Crosier Father Ernie Martello, a native of Cleveland, where Father Juguilon grew up, during a home visit. He was ultimately inspired by the Crosier charism and fraternity.

“I love being a Crosier. I love building community,” Father Juguilon said. “I love being a member of a community. It’s not always easy, though, it’s about managing relationships.”

Since his ordination, Father Juguilon has served in many different ministries. He was appointed director of vocations and postulants for the Conventual Priory of the Holy Cross and also is a member of the conventual priory’s global development office and a supervisor for members in the program of accountability and care. He serves as chaplain for the Young Catholic Professionals organization, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students and Benedictine University in Mesa, Ariz., where he also teaches as an adjunct professor in theology and bioethics.

Father Juguilon currently assists at St. Gregory Parish in Phoenix celebrating Mass, administering the sacraments, assisting the pastor, and teaching middle school religion and classes in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. He also works closely as a spiritual adviser for men in discernment at the Nazareth House in Phoenix and the men at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale, Ariz., during their propaedeutic year.

Father Juguilon was born in Manila, Philippines, and immigrated with his parents when he was a year and a half old to a suburb of Cleveland. He attended St. Ignatius Preparatory High School in Cleveland and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Boston University. He has a doctorate in medicine and surgery from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in Manila.

Prior to joining the Crosiers, Father Juguilon worked as a doctor of sleep medicine in the Cleveland area. His training occurred in Circadian and sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

Although he says that being a priest was never on his radar growing up, he credits his parents for providing a good example of solid faith.

“Faith was very important in our house. Filipino by culture, faith is very, very important,” he said. “We did go to church together, and I think that grounded me in my faith. And so, I’m thankful to my parents for that.”

Father Juguilon says he met his first love when he was 11 — tennis.

“We were a tennis-playing family, loved to compete,” he said. “I played in tournaments all over in the different states, I played for my high school and went on to play in college. I thought at one time, it would be great to be the next John McEnroe, but God had other plans.”

Father Juguilon met a religious sister while he was discerning, who taught him about the vocation of religious life. She told him she thought he was called to be a priest.

“She taught me about religious life, and it opened up a whole new world, a whole new way of serving God and priesthood for me,” Father Juguilon said. “I started researching and there are so many orders out there, so many just wonderful ways to live religious life.”

It was then that he got to know Father Martello, who invited him to Minnesota. He spent a week in Onamia and felt the joy of the men there.

“These men are joyful,” he said. “So, I said, ‘God, if you’re calling me to this life, I think I could be joyful with them.’ And here I am, 14 years later.”

“The joy is the one thing I always go back to, it’s the feeling of joy and fraternity that I have with the Crosiers,” he continued. “It doesn’t mean it’s always easy. It doesn’t mean we haven’t had conflict, but it’s that fraternity, that joy, that fraternal love. I think that’s what first drew me to the Crosiers, and it does help me and sustain me in my life now.”

As national superior, Father Juguilon will oversee the conventual priory in the United States and represent the priory during international Crosier meetings.

He will also be responsible for exercising creative leadership in the priory community and helping his fellow Crosiers live and work together in an atmosphere of love, friendship and unity, said Lisa Cassidy, director of communications for the Crosier Fathers and Brothers. He is called to give them support through his leadership and advice. His responsibility extends to both the spiritual and temporal welfare of all members of the Crosier priory in Phoenix and Onamia.

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