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Lawyer prepares to become priest
His new career began with a search for a date
STORY TOOLS 
More from CamarilloChristopher Fagan was a successful lawyer seeking to settle down and raise a family when he was called to the priesthood.
“I had been practicing law for about 13 years, and I was very much enjoying what I was doing,” recalled Fagan, 56, a student living at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo who expects to be ordained in May.
While the Catholic faith was always important to him, his only involvement in the church was to go to Sunday Mass.
“I was also trying to meet someone with whom I could settle down and raise a family,” he said.
So he started going to his parish’s Sunday night meetings of its young adult group. But instead of meeting a potential partner, he got more involved in parish activities, including outreach programs for the homeless and social justice programs.
Fagan, who specialized in estate planning, probate and general corporate law after graduating from the University of San Francisco, worked with the parish’s outreach programs for five years. Then the pastor asked him to assume the chair of the liturgy committee, where he spent the next five years preparing and coordinating various Sunday and seasonal liturgies.
“One day, one of the older priests told me that he noticed I was at the parish a lot and he wondered if I might have a vocation,” Fagan said. “I told him that the thought had crossed my mind.”
Still, there was a part of him that fought the idea. “I really did not want to give up my job, my house, my lifestyle.”
And more people noticed his work at the church. “ People would come up to me and ask, ‘Do you think you might have a vocation?’ In fact, I began to think that the pastor was paying people to come up to me and ask me that question.”
He always answered that he had no intention of becoming a priest.
Age not an issue
At the pastor’s suggestion, he began regular spiritual direction, again, with no intent to change careers.
“But the more I prayed and volunteered at my parish, the more joy I felt in doing parish work, and I felt the need to explore why I experienced this joy, a joy that I did not feel in my regular job as an attorney.”
He entered the seminary in the fall semester of 2003.
Fagan is older than most men pursuing a life in the priesthood. But it is not unusual for a man to enter the seminary in his 30s or 40s after having had other careers, said Monsignor Craig Cox, rector and president of St. John’s, a multicultural community of seminarians pursuing advanced degrees leading to ordination and pastoral ministry.
“We have a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer who entered this year at age 50,” Cox said.
The current student body also includes a physician, a second attorney, a respiratory therapist, and people with careers in education and business.
“Their education and experience brings a richness to their studies and to their eventual ministry as priests,” Cox said.
For these men, it is not primarily a search for personal fulfillment that motivates them but rather a sense of being called, he added.
Path to the priesthood
Born in Whittier, Fagan is the youngest of five children. He attended St. Mary of the Assumption School, Whittier Union High School and Pomona College.
“At Pomona College, my undergraduate alma mater, I was fascinated by history, language and science and the different analytical methods and perspectives each has,” Fagan said. “I was also struggling with how to make a difference for the better in the world.”
In his senior year, he decided to go to law school because he could remain a “generalist” and apply the different analytical methods and perspectives he had learned at Pomona to any legal problem.
“As a generalist, I would never lose sight of the larger picture. I might be able to contribute to making the world a better place and I could actually make a living.”
After passing the bar in 1979, he worked at the Goldman and Kagon law firm in Los Angeles, helping people plan their futures and devise ways to care for their families after death.
“I helped them walk those journeys as a legal adviser and, sometimes, just as someone who would listen to them as they grieved and tried to cope with significant life changes,” he said.
When it comes to his priestly vocation, Fagan believes “we are dealing with the mystery of how the Holy Spirit works in a person’s life. I don’t know anyone who can fully answer the basic questions, ‘Why me, Lord? And why now, Lord?’”
Challenges ahead
After his ordination in May, one of his biggest challenges will be maintaining a balanced lifestyle in the midst of a busy parish setting.
Another challenge is living a celibate life as part of his total gift of self.
“My pastoral internship year provided an opportunity to deepen my understanding of what it means to live a celibate life,” he said.
Fagan emphasized that vocations are part of the mystery of how the Holy Spirit works in people’s lives.
“So do I believe that God chose me to be a priest? Absolutely, just as he chooses others to be married and still others to live in the world as single people,” he said.
“Why did it take 30 years and the pursuit of a different career to come to this realization? Because the priest that God wants me to be is the priest that has been formed by that life experience.”
Posted by vtaco93021 on January 10, 2009 at 4:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Fiancial planner and the priest. There gonna have a Dateline special about this one someday
Posted by handyhood on January 10, 2009 at 8:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Talk about one extreme to another. Wow!
Posted by anaX on January 10, 2009 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wonderful story.
Posted by tindad on January 10, 2009 at 8:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
God works in awesome ways when we recognize it!
Posted by mmshot on January 10, 2009 at 9:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As a generalist, I find a "Priestly Lawyer" somewhat of an oxymoron. Well, whatever turns you on, Mr. Fagan. Ooops! I forgot about that celibacy deal.
Posted by sgtbuck187 on January 10, 2009 at 9:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We should all be thankful, and not leave snide remarks, for anybody who is called to serve others in any manner whatsoever. People that can spend their lives making the world a better place for those in need, without asking, "what about me?", have already found the answer.
Posted by rebel123 on January 10, 2009 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sgtbuck187....were it not for the fact that the Catholic church seems to have it's share of pedophile priests, the comments might not lean toward snide. This is not to imply this man is a pedophile. Simply suggesting that the priesthood has lost a good deal of cache and the church has done little to restore it.
Posted by NavalAviator on January 10, 2009 at 12:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What the church needs is more men with a wealth of life's experiences before entering the priesthood.
I recall marriage counselor priest, he had never been married, was raised by a widow and upon questioning, admitted never dated before entering the priesthood. Now what in the heck use is that bird counseling people on marriage issues?
Posted by incgnta on January 10, 2009 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
rebel123- yes, it's been in the news, there have been and probably still are some pedophile priest in the Catholic Church, but to bring this up for this article is petty and immature. Why not mention the pedophiles from other religions, or in other departments of social service while your at it?
The fact that this man was called to be a priest and that he is following his calling is a blessing to be sure and his reward shall be more that you and I will ever be able to measure.
Our parish priest was a police officer in L.A. county, owned his own home, was engaged to be married when he was called. People don't realize that they give up so much of their own life's plan when they heed the call of our Lord. Don't bash the fine men and women who choose to do God's will instead of their own. May the future Fr. Fagan's prayers for the world be useful in saving even your own soul rebel123.
Posted by sparks240 on January 10, 2009 at 1:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Is is a coincidence that a man with a last name like Fagan wants to be a priest?
Posted by rebel123 on January 10, 2009 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
incgnta: my post is in response to sgtbuck187's complaint that posters were being snide about the priesthood. If you read my post again, you will see that I am simply giving a possible reason why so many people do not respect the priesthood anymore and in specific were making snide remarks about this article. It is a simple reflection, not an indictment of this man. I didn't bash anyone and made sure to state that I don't imply this man is a pedophile....read my post again. The church,specifically priests, have lost much credibility and respect over the heinous acts of some of their brethren and the failure of the church to stop them or acknowledge the problem. That's just a fact, like it or not. As to my soul, rest assured that I am not losing sleep over whether or not you think it can be saved. But thanks for thinking of me anyway.
Posted by NothingButTheTruth on January 10, 2009 at 6:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is unfortunate that our Commenters have to dredge up what some bad priests have done, but that is reality. What is also reality is that EVERY church has its share of people who abuse children. And, so does EVERY occupation. It's just that the Catholic religion is the largest single "Christian" religion and is therefore a larger target. Just the other day we read about a fireman accused of a sex crime; but that doesn't mean all firemen are suspect. Nor should we suspect all teachers, police officers, judges, coaches, doctors, actors, plumbers or ANY group. What happened in the large target church does PROVE not all are bad. What was left is the 'cream of the crop' and they have had to suffer because of things they did NOT do. To future priest Rev. Fagan, congratulations for making a hard decision in becoming a target. More so, thanks for using your talents to benefit a broad range of people in a parish setting. The world needs more hero's like you.
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