“Today, we keep the Jesuits in the basement of Loretto College,” said Loretto provincial superior Sr. Evanne Hunter as she accepted the Magis Award from the Jesuits of English Canada.
There are Jesuits in the basement of Loretto College. They rent the space for Jesuits International, the Canadian agency serving Jesuit missionaries and overseas projects, and the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice. Hunter led a delegation of Lorettos representing the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the annual Jesuit Provincial’s Dinner in Concord, just north of Toronto.
The sisters, who have been working in Canada since 1847, were chosen for the Magis Award for their dedication to doing more than the ordinary in their dedication to the poor and the marginalized.
The Jesuits give the Magis Award annually to an individual or group who has lived up to the ideal of the “magis” — Latin for “the more.” In accepting the award, Hunter reminded more than 200 people attending the April 10 fundraising dinner that what the Jesuits and the Lorettos do they do for the greater glory of God.
As always, the dinner brought attention to men at two ends of Jesuit life. First, Jesuit Provincial Fr. Peter Bisson handed awards out to four Jesuits celebrating 50 years of living the vows. The Jubilarians were Fr. Wayne Bolton, pastor of St. Pius X parish in St. John’s, Nfld., Fr. Jack Burns, who serves the society in prayer at Rene Goupil House in Pickering, Ont., Br. Jim Deshaye of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre in Espanola, Ont., and Fr. George O’Neill, another man of prayer at Rene Goupil House.
Bisson also took time to highlight 14 men in various stages of formation who attended the dinner. Money raised at the Provincial’s Dinner goes principally to support the education of future Jesuit priests and brothers.
Bisson reminded the diners of the passing of two well-loved Jesuits over the last year. Bisson’s predecessor as provincial superior, Fr. Jim Webb, and Our Lady of Lourdes pastor Fr. Bill Addley, both of whom succumbed to cancer. But Bisson and just about everybody in the banquet hall were also buzzing about the Church’s first-ever Jesuit pope. “Even those who are tepid in their faith are greatly excited (by Pope Francis),” Bisson said.
To the Lorettos, Bisson directed the thanks of Canada’s Jesuits.
“Thank you very much for being our sisters,” he said.