Tuesday, February 20, 2007

(Maryland) Rev. Joseph Robert Hacala, SJ, 61, former president of Wheeling Jesuit University, died on February 19, 2007, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minn., from complications due to amyloidosis, a rare but potentially fatal organ protein disease.  He was a Jesuit for 44 years and a priest for 31 years. Father Hacala had been receiving treatment for the disease at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., since September 17, 2006.

Born in Charleston, W.Va., Father Hacala graduated from Charleston Catholic High School and entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., on July 30, 1962.  After taking his First Vows on July 31, 1964, Father Hacala pursued Juniorate (college) studies at Wernersville from 1964 to 1966 and was sent to study philosophy and sociology at the Bellarmine School of Theology in North Aurora, Ill., receiving a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Loyola University of Chicago in 1968.  He then pursued graduate studies in social work at the University of Illinois, where he received a master’s degree in 1970.

From 1970 to 1972, as a Jesuit scholastic, Father Hacala taught urban sociology at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School and was coordinator of the Jesuit Urban Service Team and the North Central Community Organization in Philadelphia, Pa.  Following his regency, Father Hacala pursued studies in theology for a master’s degree in divinity from Regis College in Willowdale, Ontario, from 1972 to 1975.  He was ordained to the priesthood by the Most Rev. William D. Borders, archbishop of Baltimore, on June 7, 1975, at Loyola College Chapel in Baltimore, Md.  Father Hacala made his Tertianship in Griffithsville, W.Va. and in Baltimore, Md., from 1978 to 1980, and his Final Profession in the Society of Jesus at Wheeling Jesuit College on August 15, 1982.

Father Hacala began his priestly ministry at Wheeling Jesuit University as coordinator of Appalachian ministries from 1975 to 1976.  He continued in that position while serving as vice-superior of the Jesuit community in Griffithsville, W.Va., from 1976 to 1980 and rector of the Jesuit community at Wheeling Jesuit University from 1980 to 1984.  In 1984, Father Hacala was appointed director of the National Office of Jesuit Social Ministries at the Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C., a position he held until 1990, when he became executive director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.   

Following a year at Loyola University of Chicago where he held the Considine Chair of Applied Ethics, Father Hacala was appointed special assistant to Secretary Andrew Cuomo at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and director of HUD’s Center for Community and Interfaith Partnerships in Washington, D.C., from 1997 to 2001.  He then returned to Wheeling Jesuit University to again serve as rector of the Jesuit community from 2001 to 2003, while also working as special assistant to the president, senior advisor to the president for social justice, director of Mission and Identity, and executive director of the Wheeling Jesuit University Appalachian Institute.  In 2003, Father Hacala was appointed president of Wheeling Jesuit University, an office he held until 2006 when he became ill.   

Announcements from the Maryland Province are published as needed.
This notice is archived on the web: www.mdsj.org/Deaths/ Hacala_Joseph_2.htm
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact William Watters, SJ, 410.532.1412.