Fr. Mark Lewis, S.J.

The Jesuits of the New Orleans Province announce the selection of a new provincial to lead more than 230 men serving a 10-state region ranging from South Carolina to New Mexico. Fr. Mark Lewis, S.J., professor of history at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, was chosen from a list of three men who were recommended to Fr. General Adolfo Nicolás, the newly-elected superior general of the worldwide Society of Jesus. Fr. Lewis, 48, will begin serving his six-year term as provincial on July 31, 2008. He will succeed Fr. Provincial Alfred C. Kammer, S.J.

A native of Lake Placid, Florida, Fr. Lewis entered the New Orleans Province on August 14, 1980, at St. Charles College in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in history and philosophy at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He went on to receive a Master’s Degree in philosophy at Saint Louis University in 1984, an MDiv at Regis College, Toronto, in 1990, and a PhD in history at the University of Toronto in 1995. Fr. Lewis was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on June 8, 1991, at Spring Hill College.

During his regency period as a young Jesuit, Fr. Lewis taught at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida, from 1984-87. In 1996, after completion of his academic studies, Fr. Lewis was assigned to the Jesuit Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he served from 1996-98 as a writer and professor of church history. In 1998, he took on the additional responsibility of Director of the Jesuit Historical Institute, a post he held until 2004. From 2004-05, while on sabbatical, Fr. Lewis acted as interim director of the Institute of Catholic Studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2005, he moved to Spring Hill College to teach and serve as province archivist, taking on the additional responsibility of Assistant to the President in 2005. In the latter role Fr. Lewis had duties of special concern for Mission and Identity. Fr. Lewis currently serves as Chair of the Department of Social Sciences.

Fr. Lewis is presently in Rome, serving as an elector to the General Congregation, only the 35th in the Society of Jesus’ more than 450-year history. The Congregation will continue through March, with Jesuits from around the world discussing questions of Jesuit identity and governance, vocations, mission, and collaborations with the laity.