St. Peter’s Prep

St. Peter’s Prep Alum Now a Top Jesuit in Rome

February 24th, 2012 |

Jesuit Father Gerald Blaszczak

Father Alexander Santora, the current pastor of The Church of Our Lady of Grace & St. Joseph in Hoboken, recently featured Jesuit Father Gerald Blaszczak in his weekly column for The Jersey Journal. Fr. Santora, an alum of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, didn’t know Fr. Blaszczak while they were high school students at Prep, as they only shared the school’s halls for one year. Following graduation, Blaszcsak entered the Society of Jesus.

As a freshman at St. Peter’s Prep in 1966, I was in awe of the seniors who were outstanding athletes, student leaders and academic stars.

Gerald Blaszczak was among the latter and, unfortunately, I never met him personally. He entered the Society of Jesus after graduation in 1967 and through the years I used to hear about his appointment as vice president of Fordham University or pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, their flagship parish.

Those are just two of the many appointments of a gifted scholar, linguist, missionary, administrator and priest, tapped last year by the relatively new General Superior of the Jesuits, the Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, to become his Secretary for the Promotion of the Faith, a newly created position.

Since last fall, Blaszczak has resided in Rome with some 50 other Jesuits from around the world and answers only to Nicolas, who reshaped his curia, or advisers, and handpicked Blaszczak. “I heard rumblings last April and then received a letter from the General,” said Blaszczak, who was not seeking the position but admitted, “It’s not in our Jesuit DNA to say no.”

Recently appointed Secretary for the Promotion of the Faith, a newly created position, the Rev. Gerald Blaszczak is a former vice president of Fordham University and former pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan.

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