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George Collins, SJ, and Charles Gallagher, SJ, are ordained to the priesthood


George E. Collins, SJ, and Charles R. Gallagher, SJ, were ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 2010, at St. Ignatius Church, Chestnut Hill, MA, by Bishop John P. Boles, retired auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Boston. Pictured above are Provincial Fr. Myles Sheehan, SJ, Fr. George Collins, SJ, Bishop Boles, Fr. Charles Gallagher, SJ, and Provincial Assistant for Formation, Fr. Richard Deshaies, SJ.

On June 13 at noon, Fr. Collins  celebrated his Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Ignatius. Fr. Gallagher  celebrated Masses of Thanksgiving on June 13 at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Campion Center, Weston, and on June 20 at St. Mary, Our Lady of the Isle, Nantucket, at 11 am.


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George Collins, SJ



George Collins, SJ, 49, is the seventh of nine children of George E. and Helen T. (Sullivan) Collins. He grew up in the Mission Church Parish in Roxbury, MA. Along with his five brothers and three sisters, George attended the Mission Church Grammar School where he was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. In 1978, George graduated from St. Mary’s High School in North East, PA, a minor seminary operated by the Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers. George received an undergraduate degree in accounting from Boston College in 1998.

After working at the Boston Edison Company for many years, George returned to Boston College where he received an MA in Pastoral Ministry in 2000. He entered the Society of Jesus on August 20, 2000 and pronounced vows on August 15, 2002. During the remaining years of Jesuit formation, George was sent to Chicago where he earned his MA in Philosophy (2004) before being assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Storrs, CT for one year of regency. George finished his regency assignment at Cheverus High School in Portland, ME where he taught theology for two years (2005-2007). George was next assigned to study theology at Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University in Berkeley, CA. where he received a MTS degree in May, 2010.

At his ordination, George will be vested by his brother, Fr. John A. Collins, C.Ss.R., and his uncle, Fr. Francis E. Sullivan, C.Ss.R. Fr. Collins will spend his first summer as a priest working at St. Ignatius Church, where he was an active parishioner for six years before entering the Society of Jesus. In the fall of 2010, he will return to the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley to complete his STL degree in Christian Spirituality while residing at St. Agnes Parish in San Francisco where he will assist on weekends.

Charles Gallagher, SJ


Charles Gallagher, SJ, 45, grew up in Binghamton, NY and on Nantucket Island, MA. He is the son of Gordon V. Gallagher, DDS and the late Juliette Gallagher. He has three siblings, all married with families: Anne and Jeffery Connors of Wellesley, MA, Joseph and Patty Gallagher of Fair Haven, NJ, and Vincent and Paula Gallagher of Hanson, MA.

Charlie graduated from Marquette University with a BA in history in 1988. He attended Binghamton University for his MA in history (1992) and Marquette University for a Ph.D. in history (1998), where he was a Cyril E. Smith Dissertation Fellow. From 1997 to 1999, he served as the archivist and historian for the Diocese of St. Augustine, FL, when he wrote his first book, Cross & Crosier: A History of the Diocese of St. Augustine. In 1999, he entered St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Palm Beach, FL. In the summer of 2000, he entered the Society of Jesus. After pronouncing vows in August, 2002, he was sent to St. Louis University from 2002-2004 for philosophical studies. During his regency assignment from 2004 to 2006, he taught courses in the Department of History at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

During his theology studies in the UK, Charlie lived in the Jesuit community in Wimbledon and served as an Assistant Chaplain at Her Majesty’s Prison, Wandsworth, the largest prison in the UK. In 2008, his second book, Vatican Secret Diplomacy: Joseph P. Hurley and Pope Pius XII won the John Gilmary Shea Prize, an annual award given by the American Catholic Historical Society. In 2009, he received the Bachelor of Divinity degree at Heythrop College, University of London. Also in 2009, through Heythrop College’s special program, he received an STB degree from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

From 2009-2010, Charlie was the Visiting Fellow at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations where he taught courses to UN diplomats on religion and international relations. He also continued his writing and research on US -Vatican diplomacy, and was named a “private investigator” into the pontificate of Pope Pius XI by the European Network for Research on Pope Pius XI in the Vatican Secret Archives. He has recently been assigned to the Department of History at Boston College. Read more about Fr. Gallagher in thecatholicsun.com article.

Fr. Thomas J. Kenny, SJ, Ordained to the Priesthood

Thomas J. Kenny, SJ, was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 2009 at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, Chuestnut Hill, Mass., by Seán Cardinal O'Malley, OFM, Cap. Family and friends joined in the celebration.

Pictured l-r: Fr. Thomas J. Regan, SJ, Provincial of New England Province, Fr. Thomas Greene, SJ, New Orleans Province, Fr. Kenny with his parents,Thomas and Barbara Kenny of Belmont, Cardinal O'Malley, the Archbishop Emeritus of Kingston, Jamaica, Lawrence Burke, SJ, and Fr. Richard Deshaies, SJ, Assistant to the Provincial for Formation.

Todd Kenny, SJ

Fr. Thomas (Todd) Kenny, SJ, comes from Belmont, Massachusetts, attended Belmont High School and graduated from Boston College in 1995 with a BS degree in Environmental Science. He then served with the Jesuit Volunteers where he taught marine science at Xavier High School in Chuuk, Micronesia for two years. Todd entered the Society of Jesus on August 23, 1998 and pronounced vows on August 12, 2000. During his years of Jesuit formation, he did First Studies at Loyola University, Chicago, earning an MA in Health Care Ethics. After Loyola, he spent one year working with youth groups in the Amazon region of Brazil and two years at Seeds of Tomorrow Orphanage, Salvador, Brazil mentoring children while living at St. Anthony’s Parish. In 2006, he began theology studies at Weston Jesuit School of Theology, now Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Todd is currently completing a master’s degree in theology and pursuing further studies in ethics.

Read Fr. Kenny's Vocation Story.

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