Father Ryan Agbim SVD, one of seven priests ordained on Saturday, followed a path with spiritual hints along the way.

For Father Ryan Agbim, the path to the priesthood was not a straight line. It unfolded gradually through family influence, unexpected encounters, cultural experiences across continents and moments of profound loss.

Behind that humility is a story of spiritual growth rooted in compassion and a deepening awareness of God’s presence in people from every walk of life.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Father Agbim grew up in a richly multicultural family. His father was Nigerian and his maternal grandmother was Brazilian. His parents met through a friend while attending college.

His mother worked as a probation officer in the court system, particularly in the domestic violence unit, while his father was an accountant.

Reflecting on his mother’s work, Father Agbim said her compassion shaped him.

“She was passionate about helping people,” he recalled. “She said that God would bring people to her. It’s a job that can be cold, but she had a warm heart.”

Watching his mother serve vulnerable people inspired in him a desire to help others as well. After earning a bachelor’s degree in public health from Rutgers University, he pursued a career in the field. Yet something felt incomplete.

“I wasn’t fully satisfied with my public health career,” he said. “It didn’t feel like my true calling.”

Although he had been baptized Catholic as an infant and remained active in the Church, the idea of priesthood initially seemed distant. Yet people continually asked him whether he had considered becoming a priest.

“Random people would ask if I wanted to be a priest,” he said. “A bishop once asked as I was walking out the door.”

The repeated invitations lingered in his mind. Still, he resisted the possibility at first.

“At first I rejected the idea,” he admitted.

His mother and sister helped him research religious congregations, while his longtime parish priest, Father Fred from Ireland, guided him spiritually.

“He helped me get used to the idea of being a spiritual father,” Father Agbim said. “It was a way for me to conceptualize and get over the idea of not being a biological father.”

That understanding of spiritual fatherhood has only deepened through years of ministry and formation.

A turning point came after he applied for entry to the Society of the Divine Word. His mother then revealed that his maternal grandmother had once predicted that he would become a priest.

“When I heard about my grandmother’s prophecy, something opened up in me,” he said. “I thought, maybe I could try.”

One of the most transformative chapters of his journey came during cross-cultural training in Italy, where he spent two years immersed in ministry, language study and intercultural dialogue. During his first six months there, he studied both Italian, learned some Arabic from Palestinian friends at the Italian School and learned what it meant to live as a foreigner.

“My own personal spiritual life has been increasing, first by being a foreigner,” he said. “It gives me a lot of empathy.”

Standing six feet tall and visibly different in many Italian communities, he often found himself navigating questions of identity, race and culture. Yet those experiences expanded his compassion and understanding of others living on society’s margins.

He lived in Padua, Italy, and then was assigned to ministry in the Diocese of Trent, where he lived with two diocesan priests at Santi Marti parish. There, he worked closely with young people. He became known for his creativity and emotional honesty with youth ministry.

“With kids you have to get to the emotions,” he said with a laugh. “They’d say, ‘Please don’t make us cry again.’”

He also participated in large-scale charitable outreach efforts, including food pantries and clothing drives that served immigrants and struggling families. Working alongside fellow parishioners, he helped distribute food and government assistance resources to people from many nations, including Palestinian immigrants and Muslims.

Italy also became the setting for personal loss. In 2023, while attending World Youth Day in Portugal, Father Agbim received word that his mother was dying. She passed away as he was traveling back to New Jersey, and he had thoughts of remaining in New Jersey. However, he decided to return to Italy.

“I think my mom would have wanted me to finish what I started,” he said.

His father, who separated from Father Agbim’s mother when the priest was a child, also died within the past few years. His father had two other children of whom Father Agbim was aware. At his father’s funeral, Father Agbim met the two teenage siblings for the first time. Since then, he has embraced a new role in their lives.

“I’ve become a big brother,” he said.

As a transitional deacon assigned to the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood, Father Agbim gained pastoral experience through baptisms, funerals, weddings and preaching.

He also became deeply involved with Kolbe House Ministry, serving incarcerated individuals in Cook County Jail. His ministry included prayer services, Bible studies, art programs and practical outreach for recently released inmates, including bus passes, shoes and toiletry bags.

The ministry changed him as much as it helped others.

“I’m learning to be more myself and who God wants me to be,” he said. “It can always be stronger.”

Now assigned to the Chicago Province, he will serve at Cristo Rei Parish in Mississauga, Canada, beginning the next chapter of his priesthood.