The Holy Father Francis has appointed Rev. Fr. Mark Andrew Lewis S.J. as Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, effective September 1, 2022.
"During the years since his formation, Fr. Lewis has received various missions, in the fields of research, teaching and governance. In these important assignments, Fr. Mark A. Lewis has acquired a wealth of academic and governance experience, which he has generously placed at the service of the Pontifical Gregorian University in recent years," writes the current Rector, Fr. Nuno da Silva Gonçalves, S.J., in his letter to the University Community.
"In a special way, as Academic Vice Rector, he has committed himself to the pedagogical formation of the teaching staff and the promotion of quality, which has now become a permanent dimension of university life. On my own behalf and on behalf of the entire University Community, I would like to express our gratitude to Fr. Mark A. Lewis for his availability, wish him a happy and fruitful mission, and assure him of our full and confident support. I take this opportunity to thank you for the dedication and spirit of mission that I have witnessed at close quarters over the past six years and which make the Pontifical Gregorian University such a special institution at the service of the whole Church.
Biographical note
Fr Mark Andrew Lewis S.J. was born in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., in 1959. In 1980 he entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest on 8 June 1991. In 1984 he obtained a Licentiate in Philosophy from St. Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri), and in 1991 a Licentiate in Theology from Regis College, Toronto, Canada. In 1995 he obtained a Doctorate in History at the University of Toronto (Canada) with a dissertation entitled 'The Social Impact of the Jesuit College of Naples, 1552-1600'.
From 1996 to 2004, he worked at the Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus, in Rome, where he was Director from 1998. During these years, he began teaching at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in the Faculty of Ecclesiastical History. In 2005, he returned to the United States and taught at Spring Hill College. From 2008 to 2014 he was Provincial Superior of the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus.
Returning to the Gregorian University in January 2017 as a member of the faculty of Church History and Cultural Heritage, Fr. Mark A. Lewis was appointed Academic Vice Rector in 2019.
He has published several studies on the history of education in the Society of Jesus.
© Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN Vatican