(Below is an excerpt from the letter of Fr. Daniel Patrick L. Huang, current Provincial Superior of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus, dated 10 May 2008: )

It is with great joy and gratitude to the Lord that I wish to announce that, in his letter dated 9 May 2008, Fr. General Adolfo Nicolas has “decided in the Lord to appoint” as the next Provincial of the Philippine Province FR. JOSE CECILIO J. MAGADIA, S.J.

In his letter, Fr. General asks me to extend his “thanks and encouragement to Fr. Magadia as he prepares to assume this very important service to the universal Society, and to his Jesuit brethren and all your lay colleagues in the Philippine Province and its apostolates.”

Fr. Magadia will assume office some time in early June, after his Installation, the date of which be announced to the Province soon.

In the meantime, I wish to join Fr. General in thanking Fr. Magadia for his generous availability for this new mission. I ask too that, on the eve of the feast of Pentecost, we pray in a special way that the gifts of the Holy Spirit be poured out in abundance on our new Provincial, so that he might know the “love, joy, [and] peace” (Gal. 5: 22) which are the first fruits of the Spirit’s presence.

Fraternally in our Lord,
DANIEL PATRICK L. HUANG, SJ
Provincial

fr-jose-magadia-sj.jpg Fr. Jose Cecilio “Jojo” Magadia was born on 19 December 1960. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1980 and graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) in 1985 with a degree in Philosophy. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1991 and pronounced his final vows in 2003. He has a Ph. D. in Political Science (Major in Comparative Politics, Minor in Political Theory) from Columbia University.

Among the many hats he has worn as a Jesuit are: English teacher (Xavier Univeristy High School); parish priest (Mabuhay, Zamboanga del Sur); Associate Dean (ADMU); and rector and formator (Loyola House of Studies).