Directors & Board Members

Fr. Michael Coutts, SJ

Fr. Michael Coutts, S.J. is a Jesuit belonging to the Canadian Province. He is a past Director of Manresa Retreat House and previously, he worked in the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes — Toronto. Before that he worked for 10 seasons at the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland Ontario. Most of his priestly life, he has been working in Parishes as well as facilitating retreats.

Fr. Henk van Meijel, SJ

Fr. Henk van Meijel, SJ is the director of Manresa.  Henk joined the Society of Jesus in 2006 at age 50, after having been proprietor for 25 years of a small business, and about five years of coordinating youth ministry. His initial spiritual direction formation was at Loyola House, Guelph, Ontario. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Regis College, Toronto. He worked at the Jesuit Native apostolate on Manitoulin Island, whereupon he studied at the University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia, with an emphasis on Ignatian leadership and pastoral counselling.

Fr. Jim Kelly, SJ

Fr. Jim Kelly, SJ, (MA, MDiv., ThM, STL) has considerable experience in pastoral care in a health care setting. Fr. Jim recently returned to Manresa after several years as pastor on Manitoulin Island.

Fr. Kevin Kelly, S.J.

Fr. Kevin Kelly, SJ grew up in Ottawa and entered the Society of Jesus in 2011 after working for 12 years at a multinational pharmaceutical company where he held a number of leadership positions in Canada, the US and Europe. He was ordained a priest in May 2020.  Kevin’s interests include spiritual direction, integrating Ignatian spirituality into the business context, and working with those in recovery from addiction. Kevin is a member of the Ignatian Spirituality Project in Toronto, a retreat program that supports those in recovery who have experienced homelessness.  Fr. Kevin is the Director of the Jesuit Retreat Centre in Montreal, Villa St. Martin.

Fr. Christopher Llanos, SJ

Fr. Christopher Llanos, SJ was born on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad and moved as a child to Calgary in 1971. He pursued studies at the University of Calgary, where he earned a degree in Psychology and briefly worked as a supervised therapist for individuals on the Spectrum. In 1986, Fr. Llanos entered the Jesuits, subsequently undertaking philosophical studies in Chicago, followed by two years of service at an inner-city school and church in Kingston, Jamaica.

Upon presbyteral ordination, Fr. Llanos engaged in pastoral work in Jamaica. He later pursued advanced education, obtaining a Doctorate specialized in Immigration Policy and Ethics from Harvard University. Following the completion of his doctorate, he served by teaching, counselling and conducting retreats and giving spiritual direction. 

He now resides at La Storta Residence in Pickering where he supports Regis students and engages in retreats, spiritual direction, and pastoral ministry within Durham Region parishes.

Fr. Charlie Pottie, S.J.

Fr. Charles Pottie, SJ (pronounced, “Pâté”), is originally from Nova Scotia with Acadian roots.  He entered the Society of Jesus in 1959 and has completed 62 years as a Jesuit.  He taught liturgy and sacramental theology from 1980 to 2006 in various universities – in Toronto, Ottawa, Rome, Halifax. He has been giving the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola since 1970 in one form or another, accompanying people in their journey of faith.  He had been in the Calgary diocese from September of 2011 to August 2019 and his ministry involved the continuation of his work with Ignatian Spirituality including the Spiritual Exercises, retreats, and spiritual direction and as Jesuit liaison with Christian Life Community – a lay association rooted in the Ignatian vision.  He had resided at St. Mary’s Cathedral Rectory in Calgary, had similar ministry in the Atlantic region, based   in Halifax, NS. with another Jesuit, working with lay partners in promoting Ignatian spirituality. He is now doing pastoral ministry at Manresa Jesuit Centre in Pickering.

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J.

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. was born in Montreal and entered the Jesuits in 1961. Ordained in 1972, he taught Scripture in Halifax, Regina, and Toronto before being named a bishop in 1995. He served as auxiliary bishop in Toronto, archbishop of Halifax, Ottawa, and Ottawa-Cornwall as well as apostolic administrator in the dioceses of Yarmouth, Alexandria-Cornwall and Hearst-Moosonee. Since becoming emeritus archbishop in 2022 he lives in the St. John Ogilvie Ottawa Jesuit Community and does pastoral ministry in parishes and retreat centres.

Fr. John Sullivan, SJ

Fr. John Sullivan, S.J.  was born in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1970. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1995 and was ordained a priest in 2007. Following his ordination, Fr. John spent another year and half studying theology and then a semester working with the Native People in Thunder Bay and its environs. From 2009 to 2011, he worked in Kingston, Jamaica as a Pastor, high school teacher and college lecturer. Fr. John completed a formation program in the Philippines and, upon his return to Canada, was Pastor of the Jesuit parish in Toronto, Our Lady of Lourdes.  Fr. John is also Director of Camp Ekon.  He is presently Pastor of St. Pius X Parish in St. John’s NL.

Fr. Earl Smith, SJ

Fr. Earl entered the Society of Jesus with the Canadian Province in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1987. This autumn he begins parish-based ministry at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Toronto, after having served Atlantic Region ministries for many years from 2006 to 2024. Earlier he worked in Manitoba with High School and parish ministry from 1988 to 2006.

He is a trained spiritual guide having taught and facilitated the giving and receiving of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius as a trainer-teacher and retreat provider in its many formats including shorter seasonal and scripture-based weekend long retreats. He looks forward to facilitating his first weekend retreat at Manresa this November.

Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ

Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ is known as “The Pope’s Astronomer”, as the Director of the Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. He is the author of popular books including “Turn Left at Orion” (with Dan Davis), “Would you Baptize an Extraterrestrial?” (with Paul Mueller, SJ); his most recent book is A Jesuit’s Guide to the Stars. Pope Francis named Brother Consolmagno the Director of the Vatican Obseravatory in September 2015. 

Fr. John O’Brien, SJ

Grew up in Mission, B.C., and after moving to Ontario with his family, attended Franciscan University of Steubenville. He has a degree in communications from the University of Ottawa and in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He joined the Society of Jesus  in 2008, after which he completed masters and licentiate degrees in sacred theology.  He is an educator, retreat-giver and is presently the Director of the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, ON.

Fr. Edmund Lo, SJ

Fr. Edmund Lo, SJ was born in Hong Kong, he immigrated to Vancouver with his family as a teenager, and joined the Jesuits upon the completion of his master’s degree in neuroscience. He was ordained a priest in 2018, and has been involved with vocation promotion and young adult ministry. He was part of the team who was in charge of the formation of 1st- and 2nd-year Jesuit novices for several years. He is currently the vocations director of the Canadian Jesuits.

Sr. Mary Rowell

Sr. Mary is a Sister of St. Joseph in Canada based at Villa St. Joseph Ecology and Spirituality Centre in Cobourg, Ontario where she leads retreats, courses, and is a spiritual director. She provides retreats and workshops across Canada and the United States. Formerly a nurse and nurse educator, Sr. Mary worked in health care and education around the world. Sr. Mary holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy and a Masters in Medical Law and Ethics from the University of London, U.K. and a Doctorate in Theology from the University of Durham, U.K. where her research focused on the interface of bioethics and theology. Sr. Mary is also a member of the Board of Directors at Covenant House.

Fr. Matthew Hendzel, SJ

Fr. Matthew Hendzel, SJ, earned his PhD in systematic theology from the University of St. Michael’s College in 2019. Ordained in 2024, he has served as an instructor and campus minister at Loyola High School in Montreal since 2023. His doctoral dissertation was published by Pickwick Publications in 2024 as Soul-Making by Grace: Purgatory’s Past, Present, and Future.

Fr. Scott Lewis, SJ

Fr. Scott Lewis SJ is Associate Professor Emeritus of Regis College at the University of Toronto and is currently a Lecturer in Catholic Studies at Campion College in Regina, Saskatchewan. He studied Scripture in Rome, obtaining the Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University. He taught and worked for two years in Jerusalem before coming to Toronto in 1997. From 2008 to 2014, he was director of the Jesuit Spiritual Renewal Centre in Pickering (Manresa) in addition to his teaching duties at Regis. Fr. Lewis presented insights on the Sunday Gospel readings Catholic Register from 2004-2024. His expertise is in the Gospel of John, the Letters of Paul, the Bible and Religious    Violence, and the history of exegesis.  Fr. Lewis lectures on Scripture and gives retreats both in Canada and internationally. His latest publication is ‘How Not to Read the Bible’, Novalis Press.

Fr. Henk van Meijel, SJ

Fr. Roger Yaworski, SJ

Fr. Bernard Carroll SJ

Kay Ahn

Doug Sheppard

Mike Hyland

Mary Kelly

Kathy Dempsey

David Dubowits