MacWade, Joseph A.

Jesuit Father Joseph A. MacWade died on August 26, 2012, at Caicos and Turk Islands. Born Dec. 17, 1928, he entered the Society on Aug. 14, 1950.

After completing a BA in English at the College of the Holy Cross, Fr. MacWade entered the Society as a novice in 1950 at Shadowbrook. He completed his Philosophy and Theology studies at Weston College and spent three years of regency in Baghdad, both as a student of Arabic and a teacher of English. He was ordained at Weston in 1961. After tertianship at Pomfret, Connecticut, he studied canon law at the Oriental Institute in Rome from 1963 until 1966, when he returned to Baghdad to each ethics and theology at Al Hikma University.

When the Jesuits were forced to leave Baghdad in 1968, Fr. MacWade returned to Rome to finish his doctoral work; he received his degree in 1972. In that year, Fr. MacWade was missioned to Jamaica, where he first taught Theology at St. Michael’s Seminary and the University of the West Indies. Then he happily accepted a new role as high school teacher and, for the remainder of his career, became extremely involved at Campion College, heading up the religion department, serving as a religion teacher, running retreats, and animating the spiritual life of the students, while continuing to serve as a canon lawyer for the Archdiocese of Kingston.