Bio
Brendan P. Busse, S.J., 42, was born and raised in southern California. He graduated from Damien High School in La Verne and went on to study English Literature at LMU. An active volunteer during college he visited Central Juvenile Hall (where he first met the Jesuits), tutored at the SAGE after-school center in Watts, and worked with De Colores, a monthly service program in Tijuana, Mexico, all of which were defining experiences that would ultimately shape his vocation.
After his graduation in 1999, Brendan began a master’s degree in theological studies at LMU and taught religion at St. Bernard High School in Playa Del Rey, California. In 2002, he became a Jesuit Volunteer in Central America where he worked as the assistant to the Local Manager for Catholic Schools and was responsible for the religious education program in 29 village schools in the Maya Mountains of southern Belize.
He returned to LMU in 2004 to finish his master’s thesis and served as LMU’s director of community service and social justice ministries until 2008 when he entered the Jesuit novitiate. As a Jesuit novice, he worked for five months at Sacred Heart Nativity School in San Jose, California, as an assistant teacher. After professing first vows, he was sent to Loyola University Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in social philosophy and completed his master’s degree in theology from LMU. He was missioned next to Seattle University’s Matteo Ricci College, where he taught courses on Ignatian spirituality, theology, and social analysis.
After ordination in 2017, he was sent to serve on the pastoral team at Dolores Mission Parish in Boyle Heights. At Dolores Mission Brendan coordinates the Social Justice Committee and supervises the youth ministry and outreach programming.