Beginning with a conversion of heart

Fr Steve Curtin SJ has been appointed as the new Provincial of the Australian Jesuits.

After learning yesterday of his appointment from Fr Adolfo Nicolás, the recently-appointed Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr Curtin said he felt ‘humbled' to have been placed in such a privileged position among his Jesuit brothers.

‘There are great challenges, it is true, but I feel a peace which I recognise is pure grace', said Fr Curtin.

Born and raised in a Catholic family in Sydney, where his 87-year-old mother Marie still lives, Fr Curtin attended school at St Ignatius College Riverview and then studied psychology at Macquarie University.

Fr Curtin joined the Jesuits in 1985, at the age of 28. In his time with the Society, he has worked as a teacher, pastoral worker and counselor, spending time working with the marginalised in Australia and overseas. He worked for five years with the Jesuit Refugee Service Asia/Pacific, first as Assistant Regional Director and then as Regional Director. A great deal of his work was with refugees from Burma but he also traveled extensively in South East Asia managing projects in Indonesia, East Timor, Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal.

Since 2001, Fr Curtin has been Director of Jesuit Mission. With his knowledge of South East Asia, Steve was given the task of broadening Jesuit Mission's support to newer mission areas while also maintaining support for the original overseas work of the Australian Jesuits in Hazaribag in India.

Fr Curtin has served as Chair of the Board of the Jesuit Refugee Service and on the Boards of the Loyola Institute and the Australian Jesuit Foundation. In his new role, Fr Curtin will oversee the Jesuits' ministries in Australia, which includes educational institutions, social ministries, parishes, spirituality centres and other works.

One of the challenges facing the Society, Fr Curtin said, is bringing Jesus' Gospel of love and reconciliation to families and communities. To find love, forgiveness and inner freedom in this world, he said, we need to begin with a conversion of heart.

‘I am happy to be facing the challenge of conversion with my Jesuit brothers, with such good and dedicated lay companions and so many other friends of deep faith', he said. ‘I will rely on them and on the help of God.

Fr Curtin will replace Fr Mark Raper as head of the Australian Jesuits on 31 July, when Fr Raper will be able to move full time into his new role as President of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania.

‘Mark's leadership has been immensely loving and thoughtful', said Fr Curtin, paying tribute to his predecessor. ‘My goal is his goal and the goal of Ignatius and St Paul, "that Christ may live in our hearts through faith and that we may give glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine".

‘I am happy to serve and humbled to have been placed in a position, which in the Jesuits, because our governance is spiritual, is a particularly privileged position of trust.'

Read Fr Curtin's full bio here.