canisiushigh.org
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Leading to Canisius
High School
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Fr. Joe attended public
high school and was involved in his Catholic parish, playing
guitar at folk masses and engaging in other activities in the
church. He notes he did not knowmuch about the Society of
Jesus until he attended New York University (NYU) to
study philosophy. There he began to read works by Jesuit
philosophers and theologians and found that their
philosophy formed a very sound foundation for his faith. By
the fall of his senior year at NYU, he began to further explore
the Society of Jesus.
“Everyone thought that I would graduate NYU
and become a philosophy professor,”
Fr. Joe
recalls.
“But I got to know the college campus
minister, a young priest named Father Peter
Meehan, who was very encouraging of my
interest in the Jesuits and introduced me to the
Jesuit vocation director. I entered the Society
of Jesus in 1977 after earning a bachelor of arts
degree fromNYU.”
Fr. Joe’s journey inministry actually led him to Canisius High
School long before he became president. His first assignment
as a Jesuit Novice was at Canisius High School in 1978
where he taught in the Higher Achievement Program (HAP).
“Remember, I had very little experience with the Society of
Jesus so my novice director wanted to send me to a vibrant
community and selected the Jesuit apostolate in Buffalo,”
he explains. “I was so enthralled with my first summer
here, teaching mathematics, moderating clubs, and taking
students in HAP on field trips. Canisius High School is
where I first experienced the joys of teaching.”
1 99 7
1998
1 99 5
1996
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
2 0 1 1
2 0 1 2
1999
2006
2 0 1 3
1992 – Named as director
of vocations
for New York
and Maryland
Province Jesuits
1999 – Serves as executive director of St. Ignatius Retreat House in NY
2006 – Becomes pastor of The Church of
St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan
2013 – Begins as president of
Canisius High School
TODay F e at u r e
