Father Kelley appoints Facilitator for Catholic and Jesuit Mission and Identity

In an effort to integrate Fairfield's Catholic and Jesuit mission more broadly into the life of the University, Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. appointed the Rev. James M. Bowler, S.J. to a newly created position, University Facilitator for Catholic and Jesuit Mission and Identity. A recommendation that grew out of the deliberations of one of the subcommittees of the current academic long range planning process, the position offers a central resource to people in all divisions desiring to ground their work in the basic vision and history of the Jesuit educational tradition.

Fr. Bowler now reports to Fr. von Arx.

"Since the present and future success of Fairfield University depends in part on its Catholic and Jesuit identity, it is our responsibility to shape the ways these traditions will be articulated and lived out on this campus in the coming years," said Fr. Kelley. "Fr. Bowler, who is known for the quality of his listening skills, brings a fascinating mix of experience and credentials to the position, and will help create a climate that promotes and supports the leadership of others - faculty, staff, and administrators - in this articulation and living out of Fairfield's founding values."

In seeking to preserve and strengthen Fairfield's defining characteristics, Fr. Bowler will help raise to conscious awareness a mission which, for 450 years, has sought: 1) to integrate the intellectual and spiritual, and 2) to instill an awareness that academic achievement brings with it a responsibility to serve. In the Jesuit tradition, that desire is born of an academic rigor that includes embracing difference, incorporating the best of "the new," examining social systems critically, and becoming directly involved with those who are underprivileged and underserved.

The multi-faceted approach Fr. Bowler expects to take will add some new initiatives to Fairfield's reflections on its identity, and bring others into greater relief. He hopes to establish faculty-led colloquia on relevant topics; provide opportunities for professional staff to share with one another the spiritual meaning they find in their work; create a climate for faculty to do the same; work with and foster communication among those engaged in service-learning across the curriculum; and continue making available ongoing opportunities for Ignatian retreats and individual spiritual direction.

"I see the function," says Fr. Bowler, "as one of bringing out what already exists - the basic goodness of people, an innate sense of the sacredness of all the earth, and the awareness that through service to others our own spirit and sensitivities are also enriched and expanded. Clearly, as the history of Jesuit education amply illustrates, one does not have to be Jesuit or Catholic to identify with the basic principles upon which St. Ignatius of Loyola built a time-honored educational tradition."

Additionally, Fr. Bowler will serve as a resource to the president, vice presidents, and trustees regarding Fairfield's Catholic and Jesuit mission and identity. He intends to draw on the advice of the members of the academic long range planning subcommittee, chaired by associate professor of religious studies, Dr. Elizabeth Dreyer, which drafted the recommendation for his position.

Fr. Bowler earned his BA at St. John's Seminary, an MA from Boston College, a Ph.L. and M.Div. from Weston School of Theology, and did doctoral studies in education at Boston University. He subsequently studied at Harvard Divinity School under James Fowler, is certified in clinical pastoral education, and attended three extended institutes at the C.J. Jung Institute in Zurich.

Professionally, he taught at Fairfield Prep from 1967 to 1969, and returned eight years later as the school's headmaster. In between, he worked for the Massachusetts Department of Education and as Director of Planning and Secondary Education for the Jesuits' New England Province. For the past twenty years, he has focused his ministry on spiritual direction as director of the Campion Renewal Center, executive director of the National Jesuit Retreat and Renewal Ministries, as a fellow at Emory University's Center for Research in Faith and Moral Development, and as a staff member at the Guelph Center of Spirituality in Ontario, where he was responsible for training and supervising spiritual directors in the Ignatian tradition.