Loyola University Chicago Elects Dr. Mark Reed as 25th President

Loyola University Chicago’s board of trustees has unanimously elected Mark Reed, Ed.D., MBA, as the university’s 25th president after an extensive search process. Dr. Reed will assume the role on October 1, 2022.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Reed and his family to Loyola and our great city of Chicago,” said Susan S. Sher, JD ’74, chair of the board of trustees and presidential search committee. “After a global search and community-led process, Dr. Reed, with his deep roots in Jesuit, Catholic education, mission-driven leadership experience, and belief in our student-centered ethos, was the clear choice to serve as Loyola’s 25th president.”

Reed is currently president of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, a position he has held since July 2015 when he was named as the school’s first lay president. Under his leadership, Saint Joseph’s has strengthened academic programs, strategic partnerships, university finances and endowment, student formation, and advancement of the Jesuit, Catholic mission.

Reed has a long history and foundation in Jesuit, Catholic education beginning with his time at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. He then earned his BS in mathematics and MBA from Fairfield University, as well as an MEd in secondary educational administration from Boston College—both Jesuit universities. He earned his Ed.D in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Father General to Renew the Consecration to the Sacred Heart

On July 31—the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola—Father General Arturo Sosa will conclude the Ignatian Year in Loyola, Spain. On that occasion he will renew the consecration of the Society of Jesus to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It has been 150 years since Father General Peter Jan Beckx formally consecrated the Society to the Sacred Heart and 50 years since Father General Pedro Arrupe renewed that consecration.

In 1883, the members of the 23rd General Congregation (the legislative body of the Society) approved Decree 46: “We declare that the Society of Jesus accepts and receives with a spirit overflowing with joy and gratitude, the gentle burden (according to the Latin expression munus suavissimum) that our Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted to it, to practice, promote and propagate devotion to His most divine Heart.”

When Fr. Arrupe renewed the consecration in 1972, he aligned the devotion to the Sacred Heart to the spiritual grace Ignatius received at La Storta in 1537, saying, “Our Consecration to the Heart of Christ, in its turn, helps us to penetrate more deeply into the message of La Storta; it makes us know more intimately the person of Christ, makes us steep ourselves into the import of our mission, and finally it makes us more Ignatian and better and more authentic ‘socii Jesu.’”

The Welsh Academy Celebrates First Graduating Class

On May 25, The Welsh Academy at Saint Ignatius High School graduated its inaugural class of 22 students. The Welsh Academy, which is named for Saint Ignatius’s former president Fr. Robert Welsh, SJ, serves male students from families of modest economic means in grades six through eight. The Welsh Academy began in the 1990s as a dream of Fr. Welsh’s, but it was revived in the high school’s second strategic plan, and the board of regents approved the decision in 2018.

The Welsh Academy is an entity within Saint Ignatius High School, and academy students have access to the campus and facilities. The Welsh Academy’s students have opportunities to participate in all-campus events and work with Saint Ignatius faculty, as well as to partner with current high school students and the local community.

These students were the first middle schoolers to attend school on the campus of Cleveland’s Saint Ignatius High School—a 136-year-old institution—since the early 1900s. Regarding the first graduating class, founding principal Dr. Mary Ann Vogel, says, “I am unbelievably proud of them because they were entrepreneurial, their parents were, on taking a chance on something that didn’t exist, even though we’re connected to Saint Ignatius and everything that comes with Saint Ignatius. This didn’t exist before.”

Nearly all of the students in the graduating class will attend private, Catholic high schools this fall, with many going on to Saint Ignatius.

Midwest Jesuits Raise Funds to Support Ukrainian Refugees

Together with generous donors and Jesuit works, the Midwest Jesuits have responded to the critical needs of Ukrainian refugees by raising nearly $1.1 million to support the ongoing relief efforts being led by Polish Jesuits, including former Creighton Prep teacher Fr. Damian Czerniak, SJ. Father Czerniak was assigned by his provincial to work with the refugees who began pouring into the country earlier this year. To date, Poland has taken in over 3 million refugees.

The donations leave the Midwest Province almost immediately and incur no fees, and thus 100% of these funds are being received directly by the Polish Jesuits. Working with his Polish Jesuit brothers, including Frs. Zadworny, Osmolovskyy, and Lewicki, Fr. Czerniak has also coordinated with other agencies on the ground.

The transport vehicles that have brought refugees to the border are being used to transport lifesaving medicines and medical equipment. Jesuits have hosted dozens in their residences and arranged for parishioners of the country’s Jesuit parishes to provide housing. They’ve opened a Ukrainian social center and kindergartens for refugee children while acting as a hub for translation, information, triage of services, and transportation.

This generosity has helped bring people to safe housing, provide for mothers and children who’ve depleted their supplies, and facilitate other much-needed services for those left with nothing. The Polish Jesuits wish to express their immense gratitude for the support during the crisis in Ukraine.