Jesuit Conference Names New Secretary

10 Jun 2009

by: Jesuit Conference

On June 1 the Jesuit Conference of the United States appointed Fr. Thomas Greene, S.J. to the position of Secretary for Social and International Ministries for the Society of Jesus. Fr. Greene, a member of the New Orleans Province, will join the Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2010. Greene will replace Fr. James Stormes, S.J. of the Maryland Province, who leaves the Jesuit Conference this month to hold both the Lo Schiavo and the Zabala chair at the University of San Francisco. John Kleiderer, policy director for the Jesuit Conference, will be the acting secretary until Greene joins the Conference next year.

“Tom’s background in social research and his work on behalf of detained migrants and other displaced peoples makes him uniquely qualified to lead the Society’s social and international ministries and to help guide our future endeavors,” said Fr. Thomas Smolich, S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference. “As we continue our service of a faith that promotes justice for the world’s marginalized, Tom’s experience will bring a compelling and vital dimension to our advocacy efforts.”

Currently a Research Fellow at the Jesuit Social Research Institute of Loyola University in New Orleans, Greene’s new responsibilities at the Jesuit Conference will include coordinating and supporting the many social ministry works in the U.S. and networking with many of the international justice ministries of the Society. In addition, Greene and the staff participate in advocacy in both legislative and corporate arenas voicing the concerns of Jesuits and those they serve in Washington and other centers of public policy. They facilitate meetings with federal officials and Congress for Jesuit apostolates so that they can effectively convey their concerns when they come to the nation’s capital. Greene joins a staff that represents a Jesuit perspective on wide-ranging issues around key focus areas of immigration, domestic poverty, war and violence and Africa.

“I am honored to be considered for this assignment and to bring my background and experience to the Conference to help further the Society’s advocacy work and mission of faith and justice,” said Greene.

Greene entered the Society of Jesus in 1997 and was ordained in 2007. His assignments have included serving as the Supervising Attorney for detained, unaccompanied minors at Catholic Charities of Galveston-Houston, as a volunteer attorney for asylum seekers from Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guatemala at the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center in Chicago and working with Jesuit Refugee Services and Jesuit Migration Service on immigration issues.

A native of New Orleans, Greene completed his Juris Doctorate in Civil Law at Loyola University in New Orleans and a Masters in Philosophy at Loyola University in Chicago. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

|