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(Left to right): Dave Smith, president of Loyola High School Detroit; Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit; Fr. Tom McClain, SJ; Nora Dabrowski and Jen LaMaster of the Jesuits Midwest province; Loyola High School Detroit Board Chair Mike Bernard.
Loyola High School Detroit Raises Funds For Major Campus Improvements
On Sept. 13, Loyola High School Detroit kicked off its 30th anniversary year by announcing a $9 million fundraising initiative called Empower Loyola: A Campaign for Exceptional Sons.
Over the past two years, $6.5 million has been raised—all of it from private donors—and the September event marked the public launch of the Empower Loyola campaign.
In that campaign the school hopes to raise an additional $2.5 million to fund the entire project.
Improvement projects will include a new Welcome Center, a Student Courtyard, a 200-seat Chapel (the first all-new Catholic place of worship to be built in the City of Detroit since the mid-1960s), a Scholarship Fund and a Faculty Retention Fund to recruit and retain dedicated teachers.
“I’d like to thank the Archdiocese of Detroit, as well as our co-sponsor, the Midwest Jesuits, for their ongoing and unwavering support, along with that of our community and civic leaders,” says Loyola President Dave Smith.
Loyola High School Detroit was founded in 1993 and has an enrollment of 145 students.
James Erler
A Homecoming for the New Provincial Assistant for Justice, Ecology and Reconciliation
James Erler recently returned to the Midwest Province as provincial assistant for justice, ecology and reconciliation.
“Whereas other provincial assistants may be concerned with the health, well-being,
or progress of individual Jesuits or Jesuit institutions, I must concern myself with the Jesuit mission and how it becomes incarnate in this province,” he says.
A Jesuit scholastic from 2011 to 2016, Erler worked for the Archdiocese of Chicago from 2016 to 2023. “Whenever Jesuits or anything Ignatian came up at the diocese, people would look directly at me,” he says.
He is clear on what needs to be done in his current role. “With our experiences of the Spiritual Exercises, I think we are uniquely called to rebuild the American Catholic Church in hope and justice,” he says. “I have no agenda other than that, and I hope to be a companion in discernment as our people and institutions seek to respond to the many crises of our time.”
WITH OUR EXPERIENCES OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, I THINK WE ARE UNIQUELY CALLED TO REBUILD THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN HOPE AND JUSTICE.
Erler will work closely with Midwest Provincial Assistant for International Ministries John Sealey, who calls him a steady hand who knows Jesuit apostolic mission and spirituality. “He has a passion for Catholic social teaching and action,” Sealy says. “And he’s a great listener.”
Frank McGann Loved Jesuits Magazine
From left, Mike and Frank McGann on Christmas 2021.
Francis T. “Frank” McGann Jr. was triple Jesuit-educated in Detroit—Gesu Catholic School, University of Detroit Jesuit High School and the University of Detroit (now University of Detroit Mercy)—and with his wife Margaret Mary, known as “Dolly,” he raised five kids in the area. One of them was his son Mike, who with his wife Jan and his brother Frank III coordinated his father’s health care toward the end of his life.
“We had been taking care of him for three years, and he was in an independent living place, a retirement home,” Mike says. “His eyesight was getting worse, so I quickly took over his bill paying, reading through all his mail and sifting through the junk mail.”Frank had earned an engineering degree in college and worked a long and fruitful career in the automotive industry. He was also an avid race fan. At age 93, he still wanted to know what was arriving in the mail over the course of a few days, or a week—from his personal investing letters to the regular mail that just about everyone gets. Although he couldn’t read on his own, even with the help of a magnifying glass, he still looked forward to receiving and enjoying his beloved Jesuits magazine.
Mike served as his eyes. “I’d scan through the headlines, and then I’d read the stories to him,” he says. “He was still very aware of things. There wasn’t a lot of discussion. I was just reading the magazine to him. My dad really loved Jesuits magazine.” to cancel his father’s subscription, and we were touched by their story. Sometimes the simplest things near the end of a life stand out.
“As difficult as it was watching my hero grow very old, I really enjoyed our special time together,” Mike says. “Whether recapping the news, watching a NASCAR race, reading him his Jesuits magazine or listening to him recall stories from his, and my, childhood, it was all magic moments for me as we grew closer. He was a great dad, role model, advisor and cheerleader, and he helped make me into the person I am today. I sure miss him.”
IN THIS ISSUE
Photo: Courtesy of Xavier University