International Jesuits in the Midwest Province
Many of these men are supported in their formation by the generous benefactors of the Midwest Province.
Mr. Mark Abang, SJ
From the Eastern Africa Province, Mr. Abang is a third-year regent who is serving on the campus ministry team at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis. He grew up as a child refugee whose family was displaced from his home country of South Sudan. in Milwaukee.
Fr. Elvin Cardosa, SJ
From the Goa Province in India, Fr. Cardosa is working on an Interdisciplinary Leadership doctorate at Creighton University in Omaha. He also performs sacramental ministries and works with the Creighton Colleagues Program through the university’s Mission and Ministry Office.
Fr. Jude Carrasco, SJ
From the Goa Province in India, Fr. Carrasco is studying for a master’s degree and eventual doctorate in counseling psychology at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He also works as a supervised intern in the athletic department at the Maguire Center.
Fr. Robert Chawngthu, SJ
From the Province of Sri Lanka, Fr. Fernando is chaplain of the School of Dentistry at Creighton University in Omaha. He also helps with Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL), which is based at Creighton, as he completes his Interdisciplinary Leadership doctorate focusing on global citizenship.
Fr. Endashaw Debrework, SJ
From the Eastern Africa Province, Fr. Debrework is the USA advancement leader for the future Hekima Jesuit University in Molo, Kenya. Based at the Midwest Province office in Chicago, he also works as a campus minister at Chicago’s Saint Ignatius College Prep. In prior leadership roles, he has served as regional director for Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Eastern Africa, and country director for JRS in Ethiopia, his home country.
Fr. Rashmi Fernando, SJ
From the Province of Sri Lanka, Fr. Fernando is chaplain of the School of Dentistry at Creighton University in Omaha. He also helps with Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL), which is based at Creighton, as he completes his Interdisciplinary Leadership doctorate focusing on global citizenship.
Fr. Anish Kochanichottil, SJ
From the Pune Province in India, Fr. Kochanichottil is an MBA student at Creighton University in Omaha, where he works in the university’s office of the president. He also serves as the development officer for his home province.
Fr. Nathaniel Lubanga, SJ
From the Central Africa Province, Fr. Mugisho is the assistant director of advancement for the Midwest Province in Chicago, where he raises funds for the formation of Jesuits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (his home country) and Angola, and provides sacramental support at Chicago-area Catholic parishes.
Fr. Patrick Mugisho, SJ
From the Central Africa Province, Fr. Mugisho is the assistant director of advancement for the Midwest Province in Chicago, where he raises funds for the formation of Jesuits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (his home country) and Angola, and provides sacramental support at Chicago-area Catholic parishes.
Mr. Cleophus Odinga, SJ
From the Eastern Africa Province, Mr. Odinga is a Jesuit regent studying for a bachelor’s and eventual master’s degree in architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy. He also sets up online Mass streaming from Gesu Catholic Church in Detroit. Prior to his studies in Detroit, he was a member of the novitiate team for his province.
Fr. Samir Talati, SJ
From the Kohima Region in India, Fr. Talati recently completed a doctoral program in sociology at Loyola University Chicago and will graduate in May of 2025. His research focused on the role of education in regard to preservation of culture and language.
Fr. Gabriel Tolande, SJ
From the Central Africa Province, Fr. Tolande is on full scholarship at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., working toward a doctorate in systemic theology. He is developing an eschatology of hope for an African context drawing from the work of Fr. Karl Rahner, SJ, and Fr. Johann Baptist Metz. Prior to Notre Dame, Fr. Tolande studied theology in Rome.
Fr. George Vilezo, SJ
From the Kohima Region in India, Fr. Vilezo is studying for an Interdisciplinary Leadership doctorate at Creighton University in Omaha. He also provides pastoral/sacramental ministry at Creighton’s St. Peter Faber Chapel.
Fr. Edmund Yainao, SJ
From the Kohima Region in India, Fr. Yainao is the pastor of St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In 2024, he acquired USA citizenship and received a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha. For seven years prior to his work at St. Francis Mission, he served Lakota communities in pastoral ministry on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
