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. Peter Bisson, SJ

Peter Bisson, S.J., is a Jesuit priest in the Canadian Jesuit province. Originally from a French part of New Brunswick, he is now based in Ottawa. He currently serves as assistant to the Jesuit provincial for justice, ecology and Indigenous relations. He also works in Kateri Native Ministry in Ottawa and represents the Jesuits at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Circle, a network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders in the Catholic church.  He served as provincial for the Jesuits in English Canada from 2012-2018.

He has a strong interest in the spiritual and theological links between faith, contemplation, and social justice, which was the subject of his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, which he completed in 2002. Then he taught religious studies at Campion College at the University of Regina, 2001-2008.

Fr. Robert Foliot, S.J.

Fr. Robert Foliot, S.J. entered the Society of Jesus in 1962 and was ordained in 1973. He has been the pastor of Jesuit parishes and served as the Superior for Jesuit Communities across Canada for over 30 years. He has done much of his ministry in multi-cultural settings, lived and worked with First Nations people and is fluent in French and Spanish. He is presently at the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, ON.

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.

Fr. Jean-Francky Guerrier, SJ

Fr. Jean-Francky Guerrier, SJ is a Haitian Jesuit, member of the Province of Canada. He earned a licentiate in philosophy and humanities at the Jesuit Faculty of Philosophy in the Dominican Republic. As a regent, in Haiti, he served as a communication and advocacy officer and project coordinator at the Jesuit Migrant Service in Haiti, providing vital assistance to urban refugees and asylum seekers in Port-au-Prince. He was missioned to Toronto in 2017, pursuing theological studies at Regis College-University of Toronto. He also attended acting and improvisation classes at The Second City.
Fr. Guerrier’s voice and insights have reached many through his podcast, “Talking with Francky,” with Salt and Light Media Toronto. His compassionate listening, active communication style, and attentive nature left his listeners wanting more. Fluent in French, Spanish, English and Haitian Creole, Fr. Guerrier is a bridge between cultures and peoples.
Currently, Fr. Guerrier is pursuing doctoral studies in communication at the Universite de Montreal while honing his skills as programs coordinator for Haiti at the Jesuits of Canada’s, Office of Advancement.

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. Bernard Carroll, SJ

was born and grew up in a bilingual family in Montreal, Quebec. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1959 and was ordained in 1971. His Jesuit life has included teaching high school French; Campus Ministry during which time he also taught French language and social studies. He was Assistant Novice Director and Vocation Director for the Jesuits in English Canada; was involved with animating formation ministry with Indigenous people in Northern Ontario and for 10 years was a spiritual director at Loyola House. He was pastor of Holy Rosary parish in Guelph, followed by 5 years as Director of Martyrs Shrine in Midland. In 2016 he returned to Loyola House as a spiritual director and in October 2023 he became the Superior of the Pickering Jesuit Community. His special pastoral interests are in individual and communal spiritual growth, evolutionary and eco-spirituality, and liturgy.

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. Edmund Lo

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.

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