Province News

Fr. Robert Geisinger Appointed Procurator General of the Society of Jesus
Thursday, February 15, 2001

Superior General Peter-Hans Kovenbach, S.J., has appointed Fr. Robert Geisinger, of the Province of Chicago, as Procurator General of the Society of Jesus.

In his new position as Procurator General, Fr. Geisinger will serve as the chief in-house canonical advisor to the Jesuit Superior General in Rome. His duties will encompass a wide range of matters pertaining to Jesuit rules and regulations, as well as most ordinary Jesuit business conducted with the Vatican, dealing specifically with any matters of canon law, the universal law of the Catholic Church.

"It is a joy to be able to pass on the news of this appointment," noted Provincial Richard J. Baumann, S.J., in his announcement to members of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. "Fr. Geisinger is not only very ready, willing and apt for this responsibility, but he is one of our own Chicago province men! We are grateful to Fr. Geisinger as he prepares to serve the worldwide Society in this important international position."

Fr. Geisinger comes well prepared for his new post, which he assumed on February 2, 2001.

Born in Parma, Ohio, in 1958, Fr. Geisinger attended St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland. In 1980, he received his bachelor's degree in English literature from Loyola University in Chicago. The following year, he entered the Society of Jesus. After completing a master's degree in philosophy with a minor in industrial relations at Loyola University in 1985, he taught religion and linguistics at the Brebeuf Preparatory School in Indianapolis until 1987. In 1990, he received his master of divinity degree from the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., and began his doctoral studies in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Fr. Geisinger completed his doctorate in 1994. In addition to fulfilling various parish duties, he spent the next three years serving as Associate Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and as a presiding judge on the archdiocese's Metropolitan Tribunal. During this time, he also served for a short time as socius (executive assistant) to the then-Acting Provincial Francis J. Daly,S.J.

A man of diverse interests, Fr. Geisinger worked as a news director of radio station KNOM in Nome, Alaska, from 1980 to 1981, prior to entering the Jesuits. In the 1970s, he worked as an assistant manager of Chicago's Granada Theater while completing his undergraduate course work at Loyola University. Since 1998, Fr. Geisinger has taught canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University; he will continue to teach on a more limited basis now that he has assumed his new position as Procurator General. As a prelude to his new position, he has spent the past year assisting in the office of the Procurator General.