Thursday, April 20, 2006

OBITUARY
PLEASE POST

(Maryland) Rev. Joseph Francis Sweeney, SJ, died on April 18, 2006, at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.  He was a Jesuit for 62 years and a priest for 49 years. 

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on September 17, 1927, Father Sweeney attended Brooklyn Prep, Brooklyn, N.Y., for two years and then St. Paul’s High School in Jacksonville, Fla., before entering the Society of Jesus on September 7, 1944, at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues, Wernersville, Pa., where he pronounced his First Vows on September 8, 1946.  After juniorate studies at Wernersville from 1946 to 1948, Father Sweeney studied philosophy at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., from 1948 to 1951. 

From 1951 to 1954, Father Sweeney, as a Jesuit scholastic, taught English at St. Joseph’s Prep, Philadelphia, Pa.  After the completion of his regency, he studied theology at Woodstock College, Md., from 1954 to 1958 and was ordained to the priesthood in the Woodstock College Chapel by the Most Rev. Francis P. Keough, Archbishop of Baltimore, on June 23, 1957.  He made his tertianship from 1958 to 1959 at the Jesuit Martyrs Shrine, Auriesville, NY.  

Father Sweeney began his priestly ministry at Georgetown University, where he taught theology (1959 to 1962), served as director of admissions (1962-1968) and pronounced his Final Vows in the Society of Jesus in the university chapel on February 2, 1962.  After completing his term (1968-1974), as president of Gonzaga High School, Washington, D.C., Father Sweeney resided at Carroll House in Washington and pursued graduate studies in education from 1974 to 1976.  He then served as superior of the Jesuit Community at 3751 Jenifer St. N.W., Washington D.C. from 1976 to 1983 while working at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).

In 1983, Father Sweeney returned to Georgetown University to become counselor in the Georgetown School of Medicine (and the School of Dentistry until 1990) where he offered advice and spiritual counsel to students, faculty and staff, a position he held until his death on April 18, 2006.  
 

Announcements from the Maryland Province are published as needed.
This notice is archived on the web: www.mdsj.org/Deaths/Sweeney_Joseph_2.htm
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact John Swope, SJ, 410.532.1412.