History
St. Camillus Jesuit Community, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Jesuits never “retire” in the usual sense; they are always ready to do what they can to help souls. After many years of faithful and generous service, the Jesuits who reside at the St. Camillus and Colombiere communities stay involved in the community, celebrating Masses, hearing confessions, and praying for the Church and many friends and benefactors of the Society of Jesus.
The new Jesuit residence at St. Camillus is designed to provide for today’s healthcare needs and will reflect the Ignatian tradition in its architecture and focus on community. By supporting this important campaign, you will honor the Jesuits’ many years of service by providing for their ongoing care when they need it most.
The Society of Jesus planted the seed of a Jesuit vocation in the hearts of these men during their formative years, allowing them to give their lives in service to God, the Church, and people like you.
Thank you for your consideration and for all you do for the Jesuits. As always, be assured of our prayers and gratitude for you and your loved ones.
About Senior Jesuit Care
In 1992, senior Jesuits moved to the St. Camillus healthcare campus for the first time. They lived in a hospital building that was constructed in 1932. Within five years, the community grew to include 25 Jesuits, and by 2014, it had grown to 50 men who now occupied most of the old hospital building. As the community got larger, it became increasingly apparent that the old building was unable to meet the needs of the senior Jesuits. In the summer of 2014, Fr. Provincials Tom Lawler, SJ, and Brian Paulson, SJ, appointed a committee to look into renovating the old hospital to better meet the needs of the St. Camillus Jesuit Community and the whole of the province’s healthcare plans.
Provincial Letter
Dear Friends,
We stand at a pivotal time as we have formed a province out of the Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin Provinces, the new USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus. While our new province faces a bright future with a novitiate that is at maximum capacity and many men in formation, we also face the challenge of caring for a historically high number of senior Jesuits as they enter the final chapters of their earthly service to God. To meet this critical need of caring for our senior and infirm Jesuits, the Midwest Jesuits are embarking on an unprecedented $25 million capital campaign, With Others. For Others. This capital campaign will provide financial resources to support the healthcare needs of our aging priests and brothers, including the construction of a new Jesuit community on the campus of St. Camillus, a senior healthcare community operated by the Camillian Fathers on the western edge of Milwaukee. With Others. For Others. is an appropriate title for this undertaking, as it reminds us of the challenge laid before us by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ (Superior General of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983):
“Our objective must be to form men-and-women-for-others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ…; men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors.”
The USA Midwest Province invites you to join us in this campaign to provide the financial resources necessary to care for our Jesuits who have lived their lives as “men for others,” serving “with others” and among others. Thank you for your consideration. As always, be assured of the prayers and gratitude of the Jesuits for you and your loved ones.
In Christ,
Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ
Provincial