The Superior General of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) Fr Arturo Sosa has appointed the present Rector of St Aloysius College in Birkirkara, Fr Jimmy Bartolo SJ, as the next Secretary of Education (Secondary and Pre-Secondary) of the universal Society of Jesus.
Fr Bartolo will move to the Jesuits’ General Curia in Rome to start his new mission in January 2026, where he will succeed Fr Josè Alberto Mesa SJ who will have completed more than 15 years as the Secretary for Education.
Fr Jimmy Bartolo will take a great deal of experience, knowledge and dynamism to the Secretariat because of his many years working in schools, provincial coordination of schools and team work at the level of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials.
Fr Jimmy has been co-ordinator of the Church Schools Association in Malta since 2015, and is currently a member of the JECSE (Jesuit European Committee for Primary and Secondary Education) steering committee. He was president of the Fondazione Gesuiti Educazione (the equivalent of Province education delegate) of the EuroMediterranean Province between 2017 and 2022 while having been Rector of St Aloysius College for the past 11 years.
“This appointment clearly shows confidence in the person of Fr Jimmy Bartolo as well as great appreciation for the work done in our school in Birkirkara. Not only by Fr Jimmy, but also by all the Jesuit rectors and the countless Jesuits and the lay and religious collaborators over the 117 years of the life of this College. For this, we cannot but rejoice and celebrate: our school in Malta is a source of pride for me as well as for the entire EUM Province,” Fr Ronny Alessio SJ, Provincial of the Jesuits’ EuroMediterranean (EUM) Province wrote this morning. Malta forms part the EUM Province together with Italy, Albania and Romania.
Dr Charles Bonello, Chairperson of the St Aloysius College Board, explained that this role is a key post of the Society of Jesus in the field of Jesuit Education, and in this position, Fr Jimmy will be serving a critical leadership role in inspiring, overseeing and coordinating the Jesuit Global Network of Schools (JGNS).
Today there are nearly 2,500 schools in the network, between Jesuit and companion schools, Fe y Alegría and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), educating about 2 million students, from all kinds of religious, cultural, social and language backgrounds in 5 continents and 80 countries. Launched in 2021 by Fr. General Arturo Sosa, the JGNS manifests the collective global identity of these schools and their local and regional networks. The JGNS commits to the mission of justice and reconciliation at the service of the Catholic Church.
Until taking up this role Fr Bartolo will continue his work as Rector of St Aloysius College for the rest of the current scholastic year, while being available to give a smooth hand over to his successor. This will take place through a process of discernment and reflection to ensure that the change is managed well.
“For St Aloysius College it will be an important moment for the educational community that grows “together,” that believes in the future, in young people, in Providence, and relies on lgnatian pedagogy that has formed so many men and women for others. On my part, I promise that my close collaborators and I will accompany this process closely, both before and after the appointment of the new rector,” the Provincial of the EuroMediterranean Province said.
Source: Newsbook.com.mt