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.

Wheeling Jesuit University Selects Tenth President

Rev. James J. Fleming, SJ, Ph.D., executive vice president of Wheeling Jesuit University, has been appointed the institution's tenth president by the board of trustees, effective July 1, 2013. Fleming joined WJU in 2010 as the institution's first vice president for mission and identity and then chief of staff. He became executive vice president in 2012. He will succeed Mr. Richard Beyer.

Read more.

Fr. Thomas F. Clifford, SJ Installed at St. Ignatius, Chapel Point

Last Saturday, Feb. 16, Fr. Clifford was installed as pastor by Cardinal Donald Wuerl at St. Ignatius, Chapel Point in Maryland during a Mass at the church. The ceremony was attended by parishioners and Clifford's mother, Anne.

"Pastor and parish go together, just like shepherd and flock go together," said the Cardinal.

Fr. Thomas Clifford, SJ and the original lock to St. Ignatius Church, on display in the rectory.

Donors Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day at Colombiere Jesuit Community

Fr. Provincial James Shea, S.J. welcomes donors to St. Claude La Colombiere Jesuit Community.

In celebration of the Feast of Saint Patrick, A group of over 40 donors gathered at Saint Claude La Colombiere Jesuit Community in Baltimore, Md. for a Mass and an afternoon of Christian fellowship.

Read more.

Friday Lenten programming at St. Ignatius Church, Baltimore

Fr. Watters, SJ says Mass at St. Ignatius Church, Baltimore

Each Friday in Lent, St. Ignatius Church will have Mass in the church at 5:30 p.m., followed by Stations of the Cross, a simple supper, a film and a discussion.

On Feb. 15, the congregation viewed "Amazed and Afraid The Revelation of God Become Man" from Father Robert Barrons Catholicism series. This series will continue for the rest of Lent, excluding Holy Friday. If you can help with the meal by making soup or salad, or bringing bread or beverages, please contact Diane White at dwhite@mdsj.org.

People gathered after mass for soup, a film and discussion

Fr. James Martin, SJ cites Importance of Humor at St. Paul's College

On Friday, Jan. 25, Fr. James Martin, SJ gave the annual Hecker Lecture at St. Paul's College in Washington, D.C. Fr. Martin, a Jesuit of the New York Province and the culture editor of America Magazine, spoke about the importance of humor as a Christian value and spiritual tool.

Father Martin called humor “an essential, but neglected, requirement of Christian spirituality” and “an essential element of vocation work.”

Father Martin described 10 reasons for joy, laughter and humor in the Church. Read more about Fr. Martin's lecture here.

Fr. John B. Woodward, SJ Inspired a Generation of Mathematicians

The Jesuits of the Maryland Province remember in their prayers Fr. John B. Woodward, S.J., who died of congestive heart failure on Jan. 23, 2013, at Manresa Hall at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Penn. He was 87 years old.

Fr. Woodward is best known for teaching mathematics at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. for 32 years from 1962 to 1994. He served on Gonzaga’s board of directors from 1968 to 1971 and again from 1976 to 1984. The school’s mathematics department now bears his name. 

Obituary

The Jesuits of the Maryland Province are sponsoring a new Cristo Rey high school in Atlanta, which will be the first Jesuit school in the city. The targeted date for the opening of the 500-student school is fall 2014.

Jesuit Father T.J. Martinez, founding president of Cristo Rey Jesuit College Prep School in Houston, has been appointed to the new school’s board of directors to help duplicate the success of his school.

Cristo Rey Atlanta will follow the Cristo Rey model, which educates low-income students with a rigorous college prep curriculum. Students also participate in a corporate work-study program, providing them with job experiences and helping to pay tuition costs.

Chairman of the Board Bob Fitzgerald, who has previously served as executive director of the Jesuit’s Ignatius Retreat Center in Atlanta, called Cristo Rey a “beautiful model to break the cycle of poverty that so many kids are caught in.

Jesuit prays at Vice President Biden's Swearing In Ceremony

Fr. Kevin O'Brien, SJ made an invocation at the swearing in ceremony of Vice President Joseph Biden this Sunday, Jan. 20. The Vice President was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. Fr. O'Brien prayed that God "give [Joe] a share of [His] wisdom," "the courage to always do what is right," and "to always know of [His] presence." O'Brien is the vice president of mission and ministry at Georgetown University.