I am a priest in the Diocese of the Pacific of the Old Catholic Union of the West.
It seems I am a creature of valleys. A native of Pasadena, I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. I lived for many years in the Antelope Valley. And I now (with my husband) reside in Bakersfield, within the San Joaquin Valley.
I was a Philosophy major at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, then read Theology at Oxford, of which University I am a Master of Arts. I hold the degree of Juris Doctor from Northwestern California University School of Law.
For some years I was a Benedictine monk, and, although I left the monastery in 2013 and was subsequently dispensed of my vows by the Holy See, the monastic approach to faith and life was to a profound extent formative of my own.
In order to avoid confusion, I should emphasize here that I am not a Roman Catholic priest. The Church to which I belong is Catholic, but not Roman, allowing us to include fully in the Church’s sacramental life many who are excluded from it by Roman norms.
My apostolate is in the French tradition of the Prêtre ouvrier: I undertake my ministry as a priest while earning my living as an attorney (serving as a Deputy Public Defender in the County of Kern). What I post here is, thus, sporadic, and I ask your patience if it takes me a while to reply, should you choose to contact me.
In the mean time, I wish you
Peace
Father John Hazlet