Father Brian Paulson, SJ (left), poses with Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ (right), at Fr. Kiser’s installation Mass on June 14, 2021.
Fr. Karl Kiser’s Mission as Provincial
By Quentin Maguire
On June 14, 2021, at the end of an otherwise routine midday Mass at the Midwest Jesuits’ province office, Fr. Glen Chun, SJ, socius of the Midwest Province, rose to read a short letter from Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus. The letter read:
“Confident in the Lord with regard to your integrity and prudence, I choose and name you Provincial of the United States Midwest Province. In doing so, I confer on you all the authority, rights, and privileges which belong to this office according to our Institute, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Eternal Lord in His Wisdom will guide and assist you in all things to His greater honour and glory. Amen.”
With that, the leadership of the 400-plus Jesuits and 80-plus works of the province changed hands from Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ, to Fr. Karl Kiser, SJ.
Father Paulson, appointed in 2014, heads to Washington, D.C., to assume the presidency of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States this fall. Father Kiser is now the second provincial of the Midwest Province, which formed in 2017 after the former Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin Provinces were joined.
Father Kiser describes his childhood in the small town of Menominee, Michigan, as idyllic. Raised in a pious, Catholic family, he admired the faith-filled, service-and-justice-oriented priests and nuns he encountered in his formative years at Catholic schools on both sides of the Menominee River. The third of four children, he was born to a truck driver father and a mother who worked in health care. “I was the slacker,” Fr. Kiser jokes, noting that his brother and two sisters followed their mother into careers in health care. It wasn’t until later—after earning a bachelor’s in political science from Michigan State University—that he discerned his vocation to the Society of Jesus. He entered the former Detroit Province on August 30, 1986.
“Father Kiser inspires others by living our companionship with Jesus in an open and authentic way”
During his formation, Fr. Kiser taught at Colegio Cristo Rey in Tacna, Peru, and with Fe y Alegria (Faith and Joy) schools in Lima, where he learned to speak Spanish. He studied at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, Spain; and the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 1997.
Father Kiser served as superior of the Jesuit novitiate in Berkley, Michigan, and then at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy for one year, before becoming the president of the school from 2002 through 2016. Prior to his appointment as provincial, Fr. Kiser was pastor at Church of the Gesu in University Heights, Ohio.
Quentin Maguire is director of communications for the Midwest Jesuits. He has worked with the Jesuits for over 12 years.
“Father Kiser inspires others by living our companionship with Jesus in an open and authentic way,” said Father General Sosa. “He collaborates well with others and left many friends behind when he moved from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy to the pastor’s office at Gesu Parish in Cleveland. He is a discerning leader. I am confident that, with the help of a good team, he will provide excellent spiritual, personal, and apostolic governance.”
Of his mission as provincial, Fr. Kiser said, “I’ve found that in journeying with people, you help them, but also there’s a deep personal joy that comes from it. One of the things I have found rewarding in my life is in finding ways to explain the faith in easy, simple ways. I’ve found that people are very, very receptive.”
As Fr. Kiser looks forward to this accompaniment with lay people, he also looks forward to his work with fellow Jesuits. “I think I will find the most life in the company of my brother Jesuits on this journey over the next six years,” he said.
Midwest Jesuits Who Lead Universities
By Grace Rice
For all the work the Jesuits do in Ignatian spirituality, social justice, and on the frontiers, the Society of Jesus is perhaps most well-known for education. What began with St. Ignatius of Loyola establishing the Roman College (now known as the Pontifical Gregorian University) in 1551 endures today, as the United States is home to 27 Jesuit colleges and universities, which compete on a national level in academics, research, and athletics. While some of these institutions are now led by laypeople, they all share a strong foundation that was put in place by Jesuit leadership, and they continue to be guided by Jesuit values.
Midwest Jesuit Fr. Michael Graham, who arrived at Xavier University in 1984 and assumed the presidency in 2001, retired this year, and he is succeeded by Dr. Colleen Hanycz, who he notes is a “Xavier person already.”
Fr. John Fitzgibbons, SJ, president of Regis University
Father Michael Graham, SJ, served as Xavier’s president for 21 years.
Notably, the process of missioning a Jesuit to serve as a university president has changed significantly over the years. Any Jesuit who serves as university president is held to the same standards in terms of background and experience as a lay candidate would be. Father Graham’s Jesuit vocation was always tied to his desire to work in higher education, as he entered the Society midstream through his doctoral work. Entering a religious order while pursuing a doctorate might seem like an unconventional choice, but his formation as a Jesuit only served to strengthen his abilities as a leader.
“Discernment skills have been indispensable—both individually and collectively,” Fr. Graham says. “At my best, I’ve brought a decidedly pastoral dimension to my work here always, whether as a faculty member or in this office.”
Father John Fitzgibbons, SJ, had also hoped to be an educator, but he had not initially considered serving in administration. After serving as director of the Jesuit humanities program at Creighton University and then director of novices in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fr. Fitzgibbons headed to the University of San Francisco in 2006, where he planned to transition back to college teaching. Subsequently, the university’s president at the time, Fr. Stephen Privett, SJ, invited Fr. Fitzgibbons to undertake an “administrative internship,” which led to Fr. Fitzgibbons serving as an academic dean and vice president for administration. Father Fitzgibbons then became assistant provost for faculty development at Marquette University, and in 2012, he took office as the 24th president of Regis University in Denver. He notes that while he is not actively engaged in pastoral ministry, the role of president is “a very priestly and Jesuit ministry.” Father Fitzgibbons says, “At the heart of this service is the requirement that one helps the faculty and staff teach students of all ages and backgrounds to be critical thinkers, faithful persons, and lifelong learners.”
With nearly 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S., only a small fraction of students each year decide to pursue a degree from a Jesuit institution, and the Jesuit universities don’t take the responsibility of educating those students lightly. With all the challenges facing higher education, Fr. Fitzgibbons says, “The challenge is the hope. We form critical thinkers and communicators who become good and faithful citizens. There is no more noble vocation.”
Grace Rice is a journalist based in Chicago and a graduate of Boston College, where she was editor-in-chief of The Rock. Currently, she works as assistant director of communications for the Midwest Jesuits.
IN THIS ISSUE
Photo: Steve Donisch