Peter Le Jacq

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Peter Le Jacq, MM., MD. (b. December 24, 1954) is a Maryknoll priest that was the Special Consultant to Pope John Paul II on AIDS in East Africa.

He grew up in Manhasset, New York. There, he attended Saint Mary's Elementary School and Saint Mary's High School. He attended St. John's University in Queens and graduated from Cornell Medical School in 1980. He did his residency at Saint Vincent's Medical Center in New York City.

In 1980, Le Jacq became a Maryknoll and in 1987, he was ordained a priest. He has diplomas in Tropical Medicine and International Health from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in England. In 1987, he received his Masters in Divinity from the Maryknoll Seminary.

Since 1984, Le Jacq has worked in Tanzania. He worked in the Serengeti from 1984 to 1986 and then Bugando Medical Center in Mwanza, Tanzania from 1987–1996.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II made Father Le Jacq his Special Consultant on AIDS in East Africa.

In 2000, he received an alumni award from his old elementary school. Just prior to receiving the award, he was giving his homily to the school on First Friday Mass. His homily told the story of how he was able to help a young orphan -whose father was dead and mother was in jail for trying to steal food- and his sister to not be separated and was able to have them go to live with their twenty-year-old sister in Nairobi, Kenya that was not known existed. During his homily, he also showed off his fluency in Swahili.

Every year, Father Le Jacq returns to the United States to receive donations for the Maryknolls. He has also helped organize the Bugando Medical School in Tanzania. It is a school for Africans who are interested in becoming doctors and serving their community.