Fr. James M. McGivney, SJ

Entered Society of Jesus: 2014

As a Jesuit: Father McGivney served as a hospital chaplain at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, and taught at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis.

Assignment Following Ordination: Father McGivney will work and teach at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Call to the Priesthood: I am thankful, first and foremost, to God for continuously calling me to become a priest throughout my formation and always being there during the high points and the low points. I am also thankful to my family, who have always been there to support me, no matter where I was and what I was doing. Furthermore, I give thanks to the many friends and co-workers who have shaped and formed me along the way and helped me discover and use my skills and abilities to the best of my ability. Lastly, I am thankful for our benefactors who support Jesuit formation. It has been a real gift to journey and to be formed as a Jesuit, and their support made it all possible.

My Jesuit vocation was influenced from the beginning by my grandmother’s cousin, Fr. Paul Besanceney, SJ, who, when I knew him, was a missionary in South Sudan. He would visit us every three years and write us Christmas cards about what he was doing there and the civil unrest he found himself in. I grew up knowing the Jesuits as being some really tough priests doing amazing work, serving in some of the most difficult places in the world. My vocation to the Jesuits was also influenced by the positive energy and excitement of the Jesuits who were at Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland when I was a student there. My decision to enter the Society itself was not influenced by one particular person but rather by witnessing the collective joy of the Jesuits I had met throughout my life. They always appeared happy and on fire for Christ, and wanting to share Christ with others.

Large photo by: Steve Donisch