Brother James Joseph Christiana (Courtesy photo)
Special to the Herald
Marianist Brother James Joseph Christiana, who professed his perpetual vows in Hawaii 32 years ago and then taught at Chaminade University of Honolulu, died April 5 in St. Louis, Missouri, at age 72.
He was 34 years professed, taking his first vows in August 1990 at the Marianist Provincial Residence in Cupertino, California.
At Chaminade, Brother Christiana taught philosophy and religion — on several occasions he was voted teacher of the year.
Mark Fagiano, a former student and current assistant professor of philosophy at Washington State University, dedicated his book “Practicing Empathy” to Brother Christiana, calling him the “perfect form of a friend … the most profound and wondrous being in the cosmos.”
Brother Bernie Ploeger, who was president of Chaminade while Brother Christiana taught there, called Brother Christiana “one of the most beloved teachers at Chaminade University. He always received the very best ranking in student assessments.”
“Brother Jim had an infectious personality, a hearty laugh and a brilliant mind. He was a voracious reader and was excellent at being present with people,” Brother Ploeger said.
Brother Christiana was forced by health issues to take leave of his teaching responsibilities in 2009. A year later he retired to the Marianist community in Cupertino, and in 2017 he moved to a special facility in St. Louis that better met his medical needs.
Brother Christiana was born on July 11, 1952, in New York City. An only child, he was baptized at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the Bronx, New York, where he also attended school.
He studied sociology after high school, earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in the field. He earned his doctorate in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked with sociology professor Robert Bellah and met his assistant, Marianist Sister Laola Haunani Hironaka; they both “became profound sources of Christian inspiration to me,” Brother Christiana wrote in a letter seeking permission to enter the Marianist aspirancy program in 1988.
Brother Christiana was accepted into the aspirancy program in the Marianist Pacific Province. He entered novitiate at Mount Saint John in Dayton, Ohio, in 1989.
Before the aspirancy program, Brother Christiana was a consultant for several agencies within the U.S. intelligence community. The work allowed him to travel extensively throughout the world before entering religious life.
