This July, Douglas Marcouiller, S.J., a professor at Saint Louis University, will take charge of the Society of Jesus’ Missouri province. He will be responsible for the approximately 300 Jesuits working in the region, which encompasses both a large portion of the Midwest and the nation of Belize.
“I was surprised by the appointment,” said Marcouiller. “I find the prospect challenging, but I will do what I can to serve the Jesuits of the province and the many people we work with.”
On Feb. 6, Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolás, S.J., announced his decision to appoint Marcouiller to the position. Marcouiller will replace Tim McMahon, S.J., the current provincial, on July 31.
Educated at Princeton, Yale and the University of Texas at Austin, Marcouiller has taught economics at SLU for the past five years. He also teaches courses at the Universidad Centroamericana in El Salvador each summer.
Marcouiller has worked extensively in Central America. He lived in El Salvador during the late ’80s while that nation was in the midst of civil war, and he knew the Jesuits assassinated at UCA by the Salvadoran army.
Marcouiller also currently serves as a religious superior for the 26 young Jesuits in formation at Bellarmine House near SLU.
As head of the Missouri province, Marcouiller will administer the Jesuits’ work in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma, as well as Belize and part of Illinois. The Jesuits’ ministries in the province include SLU, Rockhurst University and Regis University and also other schools, retreat houses and parishes.
According to the Rev. David Suwalsky, S.J., treasurer of the Missouri province, Marcouiller’s “primary task [as provincial] is cura personalis-the personal care of the men who are his responsibility, so that he understands them and their gifts.”
“His main job, interestingly enough, is a one-on-one with every Jesuit under his care,” said SLU Vice President for Mission and Ministry Frank Reale, S.J., who previously served as provincial. “He talks to the man about what is going on in his life and . his prayer.”
Marcouiller said that he is especially excited about this aspect of his new position.
“People who have had the job before me say that they are always incredibly edified by the generosity of the Jesuits with whom they work,” Marcouiller said. “I look most forward to my conversations with individual Jesuits and learning about their creativity, their hopes and their dreams, and then trying to put those into action.”
As provincial, Marcouiller will assign Jesuits to their ministries. In cooperation with university trustee boards, provincials assist “both formally and informally” in the selection of Jesuit university presidents.
“I suppose in some ways the key piece of the job is matching the man to the mission,” Marcouiller said.
Jesuit provincials come from a variety of backgrounds, according to Reale, and many are not academics. The last several heads of the Missouri province were not associated with SLU before their appointments. The current provincial was a parish pastor, and Reale had been involved in secondary education and provincial administration.
Marcouiller’s appointment comes as the Missouri province is beginning a merger with the New Orleans province. He will be helping supervise the creation of a combined province that will stretch from Denver to Tampa.
“Bringing those two groups of Jesuits into closer union with one another is one of the big tasks on the horizons,” Marcouiller said.
Marcouiller said that he is uncertain whether or not he will be able to remain a professor at SLU given the demands his new job will place on his time.
“I will maintain as close a tie to the University as I can, but I’m not sure yet how close a tie that will be,” Marcouiller said. “I’m talking to people now.”
Reale said that he expects Marcouiller to be both challenged and stimulated by his new position.
“It can be very tiring, but also very invigorating,” Reale said. “I always felt really alive while I was doing the job.”
