News Archive - Jesuits.org https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/ Welcome to the Society of Jesus in Canada and the United States Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:19:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://www.jesuits.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/cropped-Jesuits_fav_light-32x32.png News Archive - Jesuits.org https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/ 32 32 Jesuit Organizations Denounce Continuing Attacks on Asylum in the United States https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/jesuit-organizations-denounce-continuing-attacks-on-asylum-in-the-united-states/ Tue, 21 Mar 2023 13:00:53 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/?post_type=press-release&p=80048 A Statement from the Leaders of the Ignatian Solidarity Network, the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and the Kino Border Initiative:   We are deeply concerned by the Biden Administration’s persistent attempts to restrict the right to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. Working on the ground with migrants and […]

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A Statement from the Leaders of the Ignatian Solidarity Network, the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and the Kino Border Initiative:

 

We are deeply concerned by the Biden Administration’s persistent attempts to restrict the right to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. Working on the ground with migrants and asylum seekers, we see firsthand how these punitive policies expose already vulnerable people to further danger. Informed by this witness and our Catholic faith, which affirms the inherent dignity of all people, we urge the Administration to end these barriers to asylum.

Three years ago, the Trump Administration used the COVID-19 pandemic as a spurious rationale to begin expelling migrants from the U.S. without any opportunity to claim asylum. Although President Biden campaigned on a promise to restore asylum, his Administration instead expanded the application of Title 42, even long after most pandemic-related restrictions in the country had ended.

In preparation for the anticipated ending of Title 42 this coming May, the Biden Administration has now announced new policies that will make it much more difficult for many people who are fleeing persecution to obtain asylum. These proposals move U.S. immigration policy in precisely the wrong direction and would return many people to danger. We regularly hear first-hand stories of extortion, abuse of power, and crimes committed against migrants and asylum seekers returned to Mexico and elsewhere.

Based on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border, the Kino Border Initiative encounters many of these cases, such as that of Jaime*, who fled Venezuela with his wife. They arrived in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, where they were able to schedule an appointment through CBPOne, but the only available appointment was in San Ysidro, Baja California, over 1,200 miles away. While traveling to San Ysidro by bus, the entire family was kidnapped, tortured and extorted by a criminal group for 20 days.

One night at 3 A.M., Jaime and his family were blindfolded, put in a truck and taken to the border wall. Their kidnappers told them to walk across the border into the U.S., threatening to kill the family if they tried to come back to Mexico. After Jaime and his family crossed, they were apprehended by Border Patrol. They explained that they had missed their CBPOne appointment while being held hostage and were forced to cross into the U.S. by their kidnappers. The agent responded that they were criminals because they had crossed illegally. Within a few hours, Border Patrol expelled them to Nogales, Mexico.

The Biden Administration’s exclusionary approach will inevitably lead to more of these tragedies, and it not only raises significant human rights concerns, but also fails to address the root causes of migration. As Bishop Mark J. Seitz recently stated, such policy “perpetuates the misguided notion that heavy-handed enforcement measures are a viable solution to increased migration and forced displacement. Decades of similar approaches have demonstrated otherwise.”

While the U.S. has the right to regulate its borders, this effort cannot come at the expense of people in desperate need of protection. Shrinking asylum access serves only to jeopardize migrants. Rather than designing policy to keep as many people as possible out of the U.S., our faith calls us to design policy to ensure that we as a country can offer protection to those in need.

Jesus himself knew what it meant to be a migrant fleeing persecution. Our faith is clear: It is our responsibility to care for the most vulnerable among us, regardless of social status or nation of origin. As Pope Francis has said, “Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are people in need of humanitarian assistance, legal protection and loving solidarity.”

We cannot allow indifference and fear to divide us based on the conditions of our birth. We call on President Biden to withdraw and dismiss consideration of any policy that creates new barriers for the vulnerable and to implement a fair and humane asylum system, in accordance with the teaching of our faith and the long-established values of our country.

Christopher G. Kerr
Executive Director, Ignatian Solidarity Network

Rev. Ted Penton, SJ
Secretary, Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology

Joan Rosenhauer
Executive Director, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA

Joanna Williams
Executive Director, Kino Border Initiative

PDF Version available here


*Jaime’s name has been changed to protect his identity

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Reflecting on the Past Year: An Ignatian Annual Examen https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/reflecting-on-the-past-year-an-ignatian-annual-examen/ Wed, 28 Dec 2022 13:00:31 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/reflecting-on-the-past-year-an-ignatian-annual-examen/ We invite you to reflect on 2022 as we begin a new year, using this Ignatian Annual Examen.

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We invite you to reflect on 2024 as we begin a new year, using this Ignatian Annual Examen courtesy of Xavier University’s Jesuitresource.org website.

The Examen is a prayer of awareness that St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, taught in his Spiritual Exercises. It provides an opportunity for peaceful daily reflection, inviting us to “find God in all things.” By looking back and recognizing the movement of God in all the people and events of our day, we see ourselves, in retrospect, enveloped in the One “in whom we live and move and have our being,” according to Jesuit Father George Traub and Debra Mooney in the article “Ignatian Spirituality Among the Professors.”

The Examen consists of a few introspective prompts for you to follow or adapt to your own spirit. Before you begin, identify some major markers of your year to orient yourself to the time period. Pause and take a slow, deep breath or two; become aware that you are in the presence of the Lord.

As I review the past 12 months, from a year ago through to the present moment:
What am I especially grateful for this year?

Courage that I mustered?
Love and support I received?

I ask for the light to know God and to know myself as God sees me.

Where have I felt true joy this year?
What troubled me this year?
What has challenged me?
Where and when did I find an opportunity for renewal and pause?

Have I noticed God’s presence in any of this?

In light of my review, what is my response to the God of my life?

As I look ahead, to the coming months what comes to mind?
With what spirit do I want to enter the next few months? The next year?

I ask for God’s presence and grace, for this spirit, as I enter the next year.

Amen.

Adapted by Debra Mooney, Ph.D. from the Center for Mission and Identity at Xavier University’s Daily Examen. [Source: Jesuitresource.org]

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U.S. locations of boarding schools for Native students administered by the Jesuits https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/list/ Tue, 08 Mar 2022 16:00:34 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/?post_type=press-release&p=71119 From 1819 until the 1960s, federal policies aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into white American culture. Laws and policies regarding boarding schools were one of the central means toward this goal of assimilation. The federal government compelled attendance, and students were prohibited from speaking their Native languages or practicing their Indigenous cultures. This history fuels ongoing cycles […]

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From 1819 until the 1960s, federal policies aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into white American culture. Laws and policies regarding boarding schools were one of the central means toward this goal of assimilation. The federal government compelled attendance, and students were prohibited from speaking their Native languages or practicing their Indigenous cultures. This history fuels ongoing cycles of trauma in many Tribal communities.

Many of the boarding schools were run by Catholic religious orders, including the Jesuits. The experiences of individual alumni are diverse; some have expressed gratitude for their education, but many have asserted that the schools were a place where they were robbed of their Native identity. In general, prior to the 1960s, it is clear that the boarding schools and their curricula were part of a larger goal to eradicate Indigenous cultures in favor of white American culture.

We have sorrowfully acknowledged the Society’s participation in these assimilation policies which separated families and suppressed Native cultures, contrary to core tenets of our Catholic faith. We are examining this part of our history and making available the records we hold so others may do so as well. Openness, transparency and knowledge of our history are essential elements for reckoning with the sins of our past and moving forward together toward healing.

Today the Jesuits sponsor one school for Native students in the U.S. that historically served as a boarding school: Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. In the 1960s, Red Cloud began shifting away from the assimilationist approach and toward “a lasting bond between groups of two separate cultures who wanted to enhance the best parts of both worlds.” The school has not had boarders since 1980. For many years now the school has strongly promoted the Lakota language and culture. Red Cloud has begun a local Truth & Healing process to address the injustices in its history.

While it is challenging to face dark passages in our own past, we are grateful that this important issue is gaining more attention in the U.S. In Canada, where the Jesuits operated one residential school, we have seen the fruits of a serious engagement with this history. The Jesuits participated fully with Canada’s federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission, have responded to many of the Commission’s Calls to Action, and continue to be in relationship with Indigenous people across the country.

With the Canadian experience in mind, the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology has endorsed a bill to establish a similar commission in the U.S. Such a commission would enable a more thorough examination of this history than the review currently in process by the Department of the Interior. Only by facing this history can we, both as a country and as the Society of Jesus, begin the process that leads toward healing.

U.S. locations of boarding schools for Native students administered by the Jesuits

The history of each of the missions listed below is unique and complex. Many of these missions included both boys’ and girls’ schools. Many of the schools were administered in partnership with, or entirely by, women’s religious congregations. In many cases the schools ran intermittently, depending on such factors as government funding, level of support from local Indigenous peoples and direction from the Jesuit leadership. The dates below represent the time during which the Jesuits were present and there was at least one school in operation at the mission in question.

  • St. Regis Indian Seminary
    • Location: Florissant, Missouri
    • School dates: 1824 – 1831
    • Tribes: Iowa, Sac & Fox, Osage
  • Catholic Osage Mission
    • Location: Osage Agency, Neosho County, Kansas
    • School dates: 1847 – 1870
    • Tribes: Osage primarily, but also a substantial number of Quapaw students. In lower numbers, Miami, Wea, Piankasha, Peoria
  • St. Mary’s Mission
    • Location: St Mary’s, Kansas
    • School dates: 1848 – 1869
    • Tribes: Potawatomi, Miami, some Osage and Peoria
  • St. Ignatius Mission
    • Location: Flathead Reservation, St. Ignatius, Montana
    • School dates: 1864 – 1972, transitioned to day school in 1963
    • Tribes: Flathead, Salish, Upper Pend d’Oreilles, Kootenai, Cree, Snake, Piegan, Blackfoot, Coeur d’Alene, Colville, Gros Ventre, Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Kalispel, Spokane, Umatilla, Iroquois, Ojibwe
  • St. Francis Regis Mission
    • Location: Colville Reservation, Ward, Washington
    • School dates: 1873 – 1921
    • Tribes: Colville, Lakes, Chehalis, Okanogan, Kalispel, Upper and Lower Spokane, Sanpoil
  • Sacred Heart Mission
    • Location: Coeur d’Alene Reservation, De Smet, Idaho
    • School dates: 1878 – 1974
    • Tribes: Coeur d’Alene, Nez Perce, Kalispel, Umatilla, Spokane, Yakama, Cree, Colville, Blackfoot, Flathead, Chewelah, Okanagan, Ojibwe, Kamloop
  • St. Joseph’s Mission, Yakima
    • Location: North Yakama Agency, Washington
    • School dates: 1883-1896
    • Tribes: Yakama
  • St. Peter’s Mission
    • Location: Blackfeet Reservation, Fort Shaw, Montana
    • School dates: 1884 – 1918
    • Tribes: Blackfeet, Piegan, Gros Ventres, Assiniboine, Cree, Choteaux, Ojibwe, Iroquois, Flathead, Snake, Cheyenne
  • St. Joseph Labre Mission
    • Location: Ashland, Montana
    • School Dates: 1884-1898.
    • Tribes: Cheyenne, Crow
    • Religious Associates: Ursuline Sisters, Diocese of Helena, Capuchins, Franciscan Sisters
  • St. Francis Mission
    • Location: Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota
    • School dates: 1886 – 1975
    • Tribes: Sicangu Lakota
  • St. Francis Xavier Mission
    • Location: Crow Reservation, St. Xavier, Montana
    • School dates: 1887 – 1921; 1935 – 1965
    • Tribes: Crow, Cree
  • St. Paul’s Mission
    • Location: Hays, Montana
    • School dates: 1887 – 2015; transitioned to day school in 1935
    • Tribes: Assiniboine and Gros Ventres for the most part, but some Cree, Sioux (undesignated), Fort Peck, Rocky Boy, Crow, Ojibwe
  • Holy Cross Mission
    • Location: Holy Cross, Alaska
    • School dates: 1888 – 1956
  • Red Cloud Indian School [Formerly Holy Rosary Mission]
    • Location: Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
    • School dates: 1888 – present; transitioned to day school by 1980
    • Tribes: Oglala Lakota
  • St. Stephen’s Mission
    • Location: Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
    • School dates: 1888 – 1975; transitioned to day school in 1959
    • Tribes: Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho
  • Holy Family Mission
    • Location: Blackfeet Reservation, Browning/Two Medicine Creek, Montana
    • School dates: 1890 – 1940
    • Tribes: Blackfeet, Cree, Piegan, some Ojibwe
  • St. Andrew’s Mission
    • Location: Umatilla Reservation, Oregon
    • School dates: 1890 – 1961; transitioned to day school in 1937
    • Tribes: Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla
  • St. Charles Borromeo Mission
    • Location: Crow Reservation, Pryor, Montana
    • School dates: 1892 – 1898; day school from 1925 to 1965
    • Tribes: Crow
  • St. Mary’s Mission
    • Location: Colville Reservation, Omak, Washington
    • School dates: 1892 – 1973
    • Tribes:  Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation: Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi, Flathead, Noakask, some Yakima, Lakota and Ojibwe students as well. Some students are only listed as coming from Alaska and Oklahoma without any further specification.
  • St. Joseph’s Mission
    • Location: Slickpoo, Idaho
    • School dates: 1903 – 1958
    • Tribes: Nez Perce, Lapwai
  • St. Mary’s Mission
    • Location: Akulurak and St. Mary’s, Alaska
    • School dates: 1905 – 1987; in 1951 the school moved from Akulurak to St. Mary’s
  • Our Lady of Lourdes Mission
    • Location: Pilgrim Hot Springs, near Nome, Alaska
    • School Dates: 1923-1941
  • Dillingham Mission
    • Location: Dillingham, Alaska
    • School dates: 1952 – 1966
  • Copper Valley School
    • Location: Glenallen, Alaska
    • School dates: 1956 – 1971

Principal print sources:

    • William N. Bischoff, The Jesuits in Old Oregon, 1840-1940 (Caldwell, Id: The Caxton Printers, 1945).
    • Gilbert J. Garraghan, The Jesuits of the Middle United States (New York: America Press, 1938).
    • Francis Paul Prucha, The Churches and the Indian Schools, 1888-1912 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979).
    • Louis L. Renner, Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska: A Reference Work in the Format of an Encyclopedia (Portland, Or.: Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, 2005).
    • Wilfred P. Schoenberg, Paths to the Northwest: A Jesuit History of the Oregon Province, Campion Book (Chicago, Ill: Loyola University Press, 1982).

     

    Principal online sources:

     

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Jesuits in Haiti Sound Alarm Cry https://mcusercontent.com/d0d84250fca44ea9324199f66/files/1fb26ad1-fec0-e2f2-d4b1-b33b7c0b1ac0/Cri_d_alarme_des_je_suites_d_Hai_ti.pdf Sun, 07 Nov 2021 15:03:04 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/?post_type=press-release&p=66935 The post Jesuits in Haiti Sound Alarm Cry appeared first on Jesuits.org.

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Religious Groups Who Operated Indian Boarding Schools Endorse Bill to Establish a Truth and Healing Commission https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/religious-groups-who-operated-indian-boarding-schools-endorse-bill-establishing-a-truth-and-healing-commission/ Fri, 01 Oct 2021 07:00:40 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/?post_type=press-release&p=65603 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mike Jordan Laskey Director for Communications, Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States jccucommunications@jesuits.org RELIGIOUS GROUPS WHO OPERATED INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS ENDORSE BILL TO ESTABLISH A TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION Seven religious congregations and denominations that operated boarding schools for Native students have endorsed the newly announced Truth and Healing Commission […]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Mike Jordan Laskey
Director for Communications, Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States
jccucommunications@jesuits.org

RELIGIOUS GROUPS WHO OPERATED INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS ENDORSE BILL TO ESTABLISH A TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION

Seven religious congregations and denominations that operated boarding schools for Native students have endorsed the newly announced Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. Introduced to Congress on September 30 by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Tom Cole and Rep. Sharice Davids, the bill, if passed, would establish the first formal Commission in the U.S. to investigate the history of Indigenous boarding schools.

In a joint statement, the co-signers—the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Franciscan Action Network, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Office of Race Relations of the Christian Reformed Church of North America, and the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church—urged all members of Congress to support the bill.

“Having run several boarding schools for American Indian and Alaska Native students, the Jesuits would welcome the opportunity to work with a federal Commission to shine the light of truth on this part of our history,” said Fr. Ted Penton, SJ, secretary of the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology. “We are greatly encouraged by the introduction of this bill and ask all members of Congress to support it.”

Starting in the 1860s, the federal Indian Boarding School Policy aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into white American culture. Some alumni of these schools are grateful for the education they received, but many see the schools as a place where they were robbed of their Native identity. The federal government compelled attendance at boarding schools where students were prohibited from speaking their language or practicing their culture. An estimated 100,000 children attended these schools — many of which were run by Catholic religious orders, including the Jesuits, and by other Christian denominations.

“In recognition that this policy was morally wrong and contrary to the teachings of our own faith, we are now beginning the journey of finding and facing our history with respect to the boarding schools,” the joint statement explains. “Given the scale of the task and the federal government’s own central role, a federal Commission is needed.”

The statement urges Congress to create a Commission that, in partnership and consultation with Tribal communities, will make recommendations for addressing the historic and present-day harms of the Indian Boarding School Policy.

The Office of Justice and Ecology’s endorsement affirms previous commitments to investigate the Jesuits’ involvement in Indigenous boarding schools. Last month, the Jesuit Provincials of Canada and the United States expressed sorrow for their role in assimilation policies in both the U.S. and Canada. In a press release, they affirmed their commitment to examining the history of Jesuit-run boarding schools through archival research and partnership with Indigenous communities.

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Jesuit Conference Issues Statement on Boarding Schools for Indigenous Students https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/statement-on-boarding-schools-for-indigenous-students/ Wed, 11 Aug 2021 13:14:55 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/?post_type=press-release&p=64075 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Eric Clayton Deputy Director for Communications, Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States eclayton@jesuits.org The Jesuit Provincials of Canada and the United States commit to studying the history of Indigenous boarding schools. Washington, DC, August 11, 2021—We write to express our deep sorrow at the recent discoveries of unmarked graves […]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Eric Clayton
Deputy Director for Communications, Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States
eclayton@jesuits.org

The Jesuit Provincials of Canada and the United States commit to studying the history of Indigenous boarding schools.

Washington, DC, August 11, 2021—We write to express our deep sorrow at the recent discoveries of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at the sites of several former boarding schools in Canada. We grieve deeply the loss of human life and culture that took place at such schools, both in Canada and the United States, and we acknowledge that the Society of Jesus participated in that history.

Fundamental to these schools were structures and practices which forced Indigenous children to be separated from their families and prohibited these children from speaking their language and practicing their culture. We regret our participation in the separation of families and the suppression of Native languages, cultures and sacred ways of life. While these practices and our participation in such schools ended decades ago, their traumatic effects have continued to reverberate through the generations and are still very present with many today.

At the core of our Christian faith lies the truth that every human being is equal in dignity, created in God’s image. Yet too often in our own past we, as the Society of Jesus, failed to honor the dignity of our Indigenous brothers and sisters. We did not recognize and respect the spiritual and sacred practices of the Indigenous peoples that we encountered. The Society of Jesus at that time responded to invitations to establish churches and schools among Native communities but did not fully appreciate the beauty of the traditions which were already here.

In 1983, then Superior General Peter Hans Kolvenbach, SJ, told a group of Native American leaders gathered in De Smet, Idaho, that the Society of Jesus was “sorry for the mistakes it has made in the past.” Today, the provincial leadership of the Society of Jesus in Canada and the United States joins our voices with Fr. Kolvenbach’s in expressing our sorrow for the mistakes the Society has made in the past. In addition, we commit to examining our own history and our archival records related to the history of Indigenous boarding schools in the United States and to assisting others who also wish to examine this history.

We welcome the recent establishment of the Indian Boarding School Initiative by the Department of the Interior in the United States, with which we will cooperate. We share in the desire to shine the light of truth on this part of our common history.

Reconciliation is central to the mission of the Society of Jesus, but to prepare for the healing work of reconciliation, knowledge of our history and mutual understanding are needed first. With our Native sisters and brothers, we grieve the losses of the past and the pain that continues to this day. We also look forward to a better future, built on a foundation of truth and mutual respect.

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Fr. Scott Pilarz, SJ, Who Served as President of Jesuit Universities, Passes Away https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/remembering-jesuit-fr-scott-pilarz/ Thu, 11 Mar 2021 16:56:28 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/remembering-jesuit-fr-scott-pilarz/ March 12, 2020 — Fr. Scott R. Pilarz, SJ, president of the University of Scranton, passed away on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, from complications related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 61. Fr. Pilarz was born in Camden, New Jersey, on July 31, 1959. He attended Camden Catholic High School and graduated from Georgetown […]

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March 12, 2020 — Fr. Scott R. Pilarz, SJ, president of the University of Scranton, passed away on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, from complications related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 61.

Fr. Scott Pilarz, SJ
Fr. Pilarz was born in Camden, New Jersey, on July 31, 1959. He attended Camden Catholic High School and graduated from Georgetown University in 1981 before entering the Jesuit Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. He received his master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University and went on to earn both a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology from the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, M
assachusetts. During his formation, Fr. Pilarz taught English and drama at Loyola Blakefield in Baltimore. He was ordained a priest on June 13, 1992, before heading to City University of New York where he earned a doctorate in English.

After teaching English for a year at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Fr. Pilarz became a professor of English at Georgetown University from 1996 to 2003. He then became president at the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he served for eight years, expanding the university by both bricks and mortar and admissions. He was also pivotal in creating programs that enhanced the school’s Catholic and Jesuit identity.

In 2011, Fr. Pilarz became president of Marquette University in Milwaukee where he served for two years before returning to Washington, D.C., to become president at Georgetown Prep. One of his greatest memories there was leading a group of students to see Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to Washington in 2015. As Pope Francis walked by the huge crowd, Fr. Pilarz shouted, “I’m a Jesuit!” The pope stopped in his tracks and came over to greet Fr. Pilarz and the students.

In 2018, the University of Scranton beckoned once again, and Fr. Pilarz returned as president for a second term, making him the second-longest-serving president in the school’s history. He again leveraged the university’s strengths and responsibilities as a Jesuit institution to be a source for positive change in the community and beyond. He also led programs for students and faculty to address key issues such as racism and the abuse crisis in the church. It was also in 2018 that he announced his diagnosis with ALS, committing to continue on as long as possible while also raising awareness about the disease.

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The Crisis in Haiti: A Statement from the Jesuits in Haiti https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/the-crisis-in-haiti-a-statement-from-the-jesuits-in-haiti/ Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:51:02 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/the-crisis-in-haiti-a-statement-from-the-jesuits-in-haiti/ “The severe crisis that has affected Haitian society for several decades has now reached unimaginable dimensions. It feels as though we are living in total chaos, at the bottom of an abyss with no prospect of escape. Uncertainty and suffering seem to have taken away all hope. Our nation is slowly collapsing, and with it […]

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“The severe crisis that has affected Haitian society for several decades has now reached unimaginable dimensions. It feels as though we are living in total chaos, at the bottom of an abyss with no prospect of escape. Uncertainty and suffering seem to have taken away all hope. Our nation is slowly collapsing, and with it our institutions and the fundamental values on which our common life depends.”

photo: Curia of the Jesuit territory in Haiti

This tragic situation has prompted the Jesuits in Haiti to write a statement that details the various aspects of the crisis (social, political, economic, constitutional) and urges various actors to rally to save the country. The document, signed by a group of Jesuit experts in social affairs, analyzes the main structural causes of the crisis and proposes some solutions.

One crisis, multiple facets

The crisis in Haiti affects all spheres of society and threatens the very existence of the state.

“With great distress, we are witnessing the collapse of public institutions, especially representative institutions, the trivialization of the core values that make it possible to live together, and the loss of ethical guidelines, which translates into outright disrespect for others.”

Acts of violence are on the increase, as is poverty, whereas basic social services are often inaccessible. The crisis can also be seen in the total loss of credibility of politics and politicians, the threat of a return to dictatorship, widespread public deficits, and noncompliance with state budgets.

photo: Curia of the Jesuit territory in Haiti

The Jesuits note that the reasons for this crisis are numerous and include the glaring social inequalities and injustices, a lack of empathy and civic awareness that is becoming the dominant culture, and the missed opportunities for a stable transfer of power.

Hope in spite of everything

Given that the crisis is the result of human action, it is possible to find a way out through collective awareness and action.

As stated in the document, Haiti has many riches that can be significant assets in any effort to overcome the crisis and set the country on the path to progress. It also has immense natural and cultural potential. In addition, we see the emergence of a citizen movement in all parts of the country.

The Jesuits recommend a number of measures that would contribute to a solution. Among them are the following:

  • The creation of a true civic movement that aims to promote love of country, civic engagement, selflessness, respect for life, promotion of the common good, and a sense of volunteerism—especially among young people—in support of good causes in the social and political fields
  • The promotion of a genuine return to fundamental spiritual values such as love of others and empathy; in short, a spiritual rebirth that will serve as the basis for action in the socioeconomic, political, cultural, and other fields
  • The provision of quality education for all without exception
photo: Curia of the Jesuit territory in Haiti

In conclusion, the Jesuits of Haiti urge all national and international actors (the people of Haiti, social and political activists, organizations of the Haitian diaspora, etc.) to continue the struggle to restore hope and dignity to the country.

To read the full document, click here.

 

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Fr. Brian G. Paulson, SJ, Named Next President of the Jesuit Conference https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/fr-brian-g-paulson-sj-named-next-president-of-the-jesuit-conference/ Mon, 30 Nov 2020 15:48:38 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/fr-brian-g-paulson-sj-named-next-president-of-the-jesuit-conference/ Fr. Brian G. Paulson, SJ, has been appointed by Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, as the next president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

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Fr. Brian Paulson, SJNovember 30, 2020 — Fr. Brian G. Paulson, SJ, has been appointed by Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, as the next president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

Fr. Paulson currently serves as provincial of the USA Midwest Province and will assume his new position in 2021. An exact date for the transition has not been set. Fr. Paulson will succeed Fr. Timothy Kesicki, SJ, who has served as president of the Jesuit Conference since 2014.

“Fr. Paulson has many gifts,” Fr. Sosa said in making the appointment. “Deeply in love with the Lord and the Church, he is zealous in proclaiming the Gospel. He is intelligent, strategic, energetic and outgoing. His leadership is bold, even audacious. He is confident but also collaborative, decisive but also discerning, eager to speak but also ready to listen.”

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Jesuit Conference promotes common goals and coordinates common projects for the Jesuit provinces of Canada and the United States.  As Conference president, Fr. Paulson will serve as part of the Superior General’s extended council and represent the Society in many church and civic venues. He will also represent the Conference internationally and serve as the religious superior of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California.

Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ, at 2019 Teach-InFr. Paulson celebrating the closing liturgy of the 2019 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in Washington, D.C.

“I am humbled to be entrusted with this responsibility to work with the five provincials in Canada and the USA to advance our shared responsibility for the global Jesuit mission — we are stronger together,” said Fr. Paulson.

Named provincial of the Chicago-Detroit Province in 2013, Fr. Paulson led a unification process with the Wisconsin Province, which joined together to form the USA Midwest Province in 2017. During his tenure in the Midwest, Fr. Paulson has been a leader among the provincials in his work toward racial justice and healing in partnership with the Descendants of those enslaved by the Jesuits. He has also been a key voice on topics related to the promotion of vocations and Jesuit formation — the training of men who enter the Society.

“I am grateful to Fr. General for appointing Fr. Paulson to be the next president of the Jesuit Conference,” said Fr. Kesicki, who will continue to serve as Conference president until Fr. Paulson’s appointment takes effect. “I have known Brian for over 30 years and am excited to see him take on this role on behalf of the Society. Brian has a great care for the worldwide Society of Jesus and I know that he will work well the with the five other Conference presidents in helping Fr. General with his governance of the Society. I am confident that he and the new provincials of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States will continue the noble mission of the Society as we live out the Universal Apostolic Preferences.”

 Fr. Paulsonin the Holy Land in 2019Fr. Paulson (fifth from left) with fellow Jesuit provincials and Fr. Kesicki (far right) in the Holy Land in 2019

Fr. Paulson has served in a variety of leadership positions as a Jesuit. From 1993 to 1998 he was the vocations director for the Chicago Province (now the USA Midwest Province). After 11 years as president of Saint Ignatius College Prep in Chicago (1999 to 2010), he was named rector of the Loyola University Jesuit Community in Chicago before becoming provincial of the Chicago-Detroit Province (now the USA Midwest Province).

Fr. Brian Paulson, SJFr. Paulson entered the Society of Jesus at Loyola House Jesuit Novitiate in Berkley, Michigan, on September 12, 1981. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 1992, and professed final vows on March 25, 2001. A native of Waukegan, Illinois, he attended St. Anastasia Grade School and Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. When the school closed in 1975, he finished his high school education at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

After graduating from Georgetown, he entered the Society. “Anything else I thought about doing in life would have felt like I was playing house or running away,” Fr. Paulson says of his vocation. “I feel like I’ve been blessed from a very young age of a lively sense of who God is. God’s presence has been very real and accessible to me, so if I could help share that gift with other people, I would love to be able to do that.”

Since joining the Jesuits he has earned a master’s degree in political philosophy from Loyola University Chicago, a bachelor of sacred theology degree (STB) from Centre Sèvres in Paris, a master’s degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a licentiate in sacred theology (STL) from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He has served on the board of trustees at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School, the Lumen Christi Institute of Chicago, and was a trustee associate at Boston College after 16 years of service on the board of trustees.

Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ, with familyFr. Paulson with his family

Learn more about Fr. Paulson:

Contact:
Mike Jordan Laskey, Director of Communications, Jesuit Conference
Phone: 202.629.5933 / Email: jcucommunications@jesuits.org

 

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Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ Named Next Provincial of Midwest Province Jesuits https://www.jesuits.org/press-release/46633/ Fri, 27 Nov 2020 19:33:58 +0000 https://www.jesuits.org/?post_type=press-release&p=46633 Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ, has been appointed by Fr. General Arturo Sosa, SJ, as the next provincial of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus. Fr. Kiser will assume his leadership role in 2021.

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Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ
Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ

November 27, 2020 — Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ, has been appointed by Fr. General Arturo Sosa, SJ, as the next provincial of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Fr. Kiser will assume his leadership role in 2021. He succeeds Fr. Brian G. Paulson, SJ, who was named provincial of the Chicago-Detroit Province in 2014 and became provincial of the new USA Midwest Province when the existing Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin Provinces came together in June 2017.

Fr. Kiser has served in a variety of leadership positions as a Jesuit, including extensive board experience. He was superior of the Jesuit novitiate in Berkley, MI, then briefly taught at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy in Detroit, MI, before being named its president in 2002, a position he held for 14 years. Since 2016, Fr. Kiser has been the pastor of Gesu Parish in University Heights, OH.

“As I finish my term as provincial of the Midwest Province, I am pleased that Fr. General has named Fr. Kiser to be the next provincial,” says outgoing provincial Fr. Paulson. “He is a proven leader, with the capacity and the gifts to care for the Jesuits and the ministries of our province.  Like all who know Fr. Kiser, I am deeply appreciative of his considerable pastoral and administrative gifts, along with his international experience, and am equally grateful for his deep and abiding love for the Society and its service to the Church. Our staff looks forward to assisting Fr. Kiser in his new mission, and I look forward to working with him to assure a smooth transition.”

“I am deeply humbled to accept this appointment of Fr. General to lead and serve my brother Jesuits as provincial of the Midwest Province,” says Fr. Kiser. “The spirituality of St. Ignatius has called me to be a companion of Jesus and to help others to do the same; it has been a deep and profound joy for me in my ministry for the last 34 years. I look forward to discovering how to be a companion of Jesus in a new way as I contemplate this ministry with my brother Jesuits and our sponsored works. Over the years, I have been richly blessed with so many friends, Jesuit and lay, and with tremendous opportunities to serve in ministry, all of which I treasure and carry in my heart. I look forward to continuing the good work of Fr. Paulson, and in identifying new frontiers where we can continue to be effective leaders in spreading the Gospel.”

ABOUT FR. KARL KISER, SJ
Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ, was born May 29, 1962, and raised in Menominee, MI. He attended Marinette Catholic Central High School in nearby Marinette, WI. After earning a B.A. in Political Science from Michigan State University (1986), he entered the Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus on August 30, 1986 at Loyola House in Berkley, MI.

During his Regency, Fr. Kiser taught at Colegio Cristo Rey, in Tacna, Peru and worked with Fe y Alegria in Lima (1990-1993) where he learned to speak Spanish. He studied Theology at Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, MA (1993-1997), at Comillas University in Madrid, Spain, and also at University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL.  He was ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 1997, at Gesu Parish in University Heights, OH.

After ordination, Fr. Kiser was superior of Loyola House, the Jesuit novitiate in Berkley, MI (1998-2002), and served at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (UDJHS&A). He worked in Campus Ministry for one year (2001-2002) before becoming the president of the school (2002-2016). Over his 14 years as president, Fr. Kiser was known as an excellent fundraiser, including $16 million for a STEM center addition to the high school (completed after he began his next mission). While at UDJHS&A, he accompanied several groups of students and medical professionals to Sociedad Amigo de los Niños in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He regularly presided and preached at local parishes including Holy Name Catholic Church in Birmingham, MI, and the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, MI.

Since 2016, Fr. Kiser has been the pastor of Gesu Parish in University Heights, OH.

Fr. Kiser has extensive board experience including service at UDJHS, John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH, St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo, OH, and Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois. He has also served on the boards of St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, OH, University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, MI, Marian High School in Bloomfield Hills, MI, Boys Hope Girls Hope in Detroit, MI, and the Honduran Children Rescue Fund in University Heights, OH.

 


Press Release as PDF

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