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Loyola University Maryland Students Reflect on Advocating for Immigration Reform

The Jesuit Conference, U.S. Provinces, and Jesuit institutions have been centrally involved in shaping comprehensive, humane legislation to reform our nation’s immigration system.  In February 2013, more than 50 students from seven Jesuit universities gathered in D.C. to be a part of a research release on undocumented students in Jesuit higher education led by Fairfield University’s Center for Faith and Public Life.  Following the release, students advocated with their elected officials.  Reflecting on their experience, two Loyola University Maryland students shared: “Advocating for comprehensive immigration reform made us look at being “women for others” in a new way—this public expression of solidarity, in partnership with students from all over the country, reenergized our dedication to work for equality.” 

Stephen Fields, SJ, Receives Highest Teaching Award

Fr. Stephen Fields, SJ, associate professor of theology, Georgetown University, received the Dorothy Brown Award for Outstanding Teaching Achievement Friday, April 26. It is the University’s highest teaching award, presented by the Georgetown University Students Association and nominated by the undergraduate student body. Fr. Fields has been teaching at Georgetown for 20 years and is the first member of the Theology Department to receive this award. "Most of what I've learned about teaching has come over the years from my own Jesuit mentors. I'm deeply grateful to them, to the Society of Jesus that has trained me, and to Him Whose way we follow, Who is the greatest and best of Teachers."  

Maryland Jesuit is Pope Francis’ Astronomer

Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ (MAR), is the lead astronomer for Pope Francis. In an interview, he gives Premier's Justin Brierley an insight to life in the Vatican, what his work entails, faith and science, along with his own personal story. He even has an asteroid named after him. Click here to listen to the interview. http://www.premier.org.uk/hearttoheart

Jesuit Awarded Doctor of Ministry

Fr. Philip Florio, SJ (MAR), Assistant Vice President for Campus Ministry at Fordham University, was awarded the Doctor of Ministry degree after successfully defending his dissertation on April 25, 2013 at the Catholic University of America. He presented and defended the project in ministry titled "The Ignis Training Program: An Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality and Mission in the Jesuit Tradition for Educators and Staff in Jesuit Institutions of Higher Education”. Fr. Florio's work, Ignis, seeks to address how to successfully preserve and impart the Society of Jesus' charism, vision for mission, and brand of spirituality at its twenty-eight sponsored institutions of higher education.

Cristo Rey President Honored

Fr. John W. Swope, SJ, president of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore, received the Ignatian Volunteer Corps Baltimore Region’s 2013 Della Strada Award, in recognition of his commitment to the Ignatian values of service to the poor, and of working and educating for a just society. Father Swope received the award, which is named after the first church where St. Ignatius and his early Jesuit companions served the urban poor in the center of Rome, at Loyola Blakefield on
April 21.

Principal Selected for New Cristo Rey School in Atlanta

Jesuit Father James R. Van Dyke has been named founding principal of the new Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School, opening in fall 2014. Fr. Van Dyke, who currently teaches English and religion at Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, N.Y., has worked in Jesuit secondary education for 24 years.

Cristo Rey Atlanta is a newly sponsored ministry of the Maryland, New England and New York Provinces of the Society of Jesus. The 500-student school will be part of the Cristo Rey network, which provides low-income students with a rigorous college prep curriculum. Students also participate in a corporate work-study program, which defers tuition costs.

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