March 27, 2025 — Here’s the latest news from the Jesuits in Canada and the United States.
Canadian Relic Tour
Fr. John O’Brien, SJ, director of the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ontario, and Fr. Edmund Lo, SJ, have been traveling with the major relics of the Canadian Martyrs and the relic of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first indigenous North American saint, across Canada for the first time. The relic tour includes the skull of St. Jean de Brébeuf and bones of St. Charles Garnier and St. Gabriel Lalemant.
“[The martyrs] represent a dream for Christian community which is in some ways very Canadian — if we consider that Christ draws all peoples to himself,” Fr. O’Brien said. “Their original mission was to have a place where people of different ethnic backgrounds would live together united in their common faith.”
They may “help us recognize that reconciliation can be a process that can be informed by the projects of the past,” he said.
Jesuits of San Diego Attend Installation of Cardinal McElroy
Fr. Scott Santarosa, SJ, Fr. Eddie Samaniego, SJ, and Fr. Boom Martinez, SJ, (pictured above) represented San Diego Jesuits and Jesuit ministries at the installation of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the Archbishop of Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2025. Cardinal McElroy served until recently as Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego.
Celebrating Mass for the Orioles
Fr. Dennis Baker, SJ, president at Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland, celebrates Mass for the Baltimore Orioles before Sunday home games. Fr. Baker grew up a baseball fan, and now through Catholic Athletes for Christ, he prepares some of these Major League players with a Sunday liturgy before taking the field.
Jesuits Celebrate 100th Anniversary of Jesuit Retreat House
On March 15, 2025, the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, California, commemorated its first century with a morning Mass celebrated by Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of San Jose and an afternoon Mass celebrated by Fr. Sean Carroll, SJ, provincial of Jesuits West. Fr. Chi Ngo, SJ, executive director of the retreat center, was among the many Jesuit and diocesan priests who will be concelebrating the liturgies. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who attended retreats in Los Altos as a young man, spoke at a reception following the morning Mass. Read more.
Appointments
Outreach’s New Jesuit Board of Advisors
Outreach, a pastoral ministry for LGBTQ Catholics and their families, friends and allies that is part of America Media, has announced the appointment of their first Jesuit Board of Advisors: Jesuit Fathers James F. Keenan, Timothy Kesicki, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator and Michael Zampelli.
Fr. Sam Sawyer, SJ, editor in chief of America Media, said, “I am grateful for our Jesuit brothers’ availability to help Outreach, Fr. James Martin, SJ, Michael O’Loughlin and myself in ongoing discernment about how to serve LGBTQ Catholics and the church in this ministry and excited to learn from their perspectives and experience in ministry.”
Other Appointments
Fr. Bill O’Neill, SJ, has been appointed the new resident scholar of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Calara University. He will contribute to the Ethics Center as director of Immigration Ethics. A dedicated human rights advocate, Fr. O’Neill has been part of the mission and identity team at the Jesuit Refugee Service since 2019 and has worked in refugee camps and settlements in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan.
Fr. John Guyol, SJ, will serve as the new vocation director for the Jesuits West Province, succeeding Fr. Radmar Jao, SJ on July 31, 2025. In this role, he will lead the province’s vocation team in accompanying, forming, assessing and guiding men discerning a call to Jesuit life. He is currently pursuing an MBA in sustainable solutions at Loyola Marymount University.
Fr. Joe Laramie, SJ, national director of the Pope’s Prayer Network USA the past five years, has been missioned as the new director of Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House in Sedalia, Colorado. He will begin his new role in August.
