Fr. Shawn Aaron was born in Ridgecrest, CA, on January 25, 1968. He is the oldest of four children, with three younger sisters. On April 29, 1978, his family entered the Catholic Church. They later relocated to Modesto, CA, where he attended Central Catholic High School, lettering in several sports: football, basketball, baseball, and track.

After graduating from high school, Fr. Shawn attended Modesto Junior College, where he studied liberal arts and ran track. In 1989-90, he served as a team leader for the National Evangelization Teams (NET) and traveled throughout the United States providing retreats for students. After NET, he began working with St. Paul’s Outreach (SPO) in St. Paul, Minnesota; their mission is to build transformational communities that form missionary disciples for life.

In 1991, he joined the Legionaries of Christ in Cheshire, Connecticut. He studied at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy receiving degrees in philosophy (1996) and theology (2002). On Christmas Eve, 2002, Father Shawn was ordained to the priesthood at Colegio Internacional Legionarios de Cristo in Rome, Italy.

After ordination, he served as development director for the Legionaries of Christ for several years and, from 2007 to 2009, also served as retreat director for Our Lady of Santa Clara retreat center in Cupertino, CA.

From 2009 through 2010, he was appointed President of Southern Catholic College in Dawsonville, GA. From 2010 – 2017, he was the National Chaplain of The Lumen Institute, based in Manhattan. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors for Divine Mercy University and the Lumen Institute.

On September 15, 2019, the Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation, the General Regulations, and the Rule of Life for lay members came into effect after being approved by the Holy See. They established a collegial government for Regnum Christi through a Directive College made up of the directors of the Legionaries of Christ, the Consecrated Women, and the Lay Consecrated of Regnum Christi, as well as a number of lay members. More info

Fr. Shawn Aaron was appointed as the North American Territorial Vicar General for the Legionaries of Christ in 2017, a role he held until being named as the North American Territorial Director on March 30, 2020 (effective April 1, 2020). He was appointed to a second three-year term on March 21, 2023. His second term began on July 1, 2023. 

We look forward to having Fr. Shawn join us at the RC Friends & Family Gathering on September 1, 2024. He will concelebrate Mass at 10:30 and be a guest speaker in the afternoon. All are welcome to attend. Event info