New Provincial of the Jesuits of French-speaking Western Europe: Fr. Thierry Dobbelstein
Father General has appointed Fr. Thierry Dobbelstein as the next Provincial Superior of the Jesuits of French-speaking Western Europe. This Province includes France, the Walloon Region of Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as Greece, Mauritius and Réunion. Thierry Dobbelstein will succeed Fr François Boëdec and will take office on 31 July 2023, the feast of St Ignatius.
Thierry Dobbelstein was born in 1968 in Belgium. As a student at the Collège Saint-François-Xavier in Verviers (in eastern Wallonia,) he met the Jesuits and got to know Ignatian spirituality through CLC-Youth groups. He entered the novitiate in 1988. He then went on to study physics (which he had started before joining the Society,) Philosophy in Namur and Paris, and theology in Frankfurt and Brussels. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2000.
He
dedicated fifteen years to teaching and youth ministry in Liege and was
superior of the community from 2010 to 2016. That year, he was appointed Socius
of the Provincial of the Jesuits of Southern Belgium and Luxembourg and, in
this capacity, participated in the creation of the French-speaking Western
European Province. In 2017, he became Socius to the current Provincial,
François Boëdec. In 2022, he returned to his native country to coordinate the
Jesuit educational institutions of French-speaking Belgium in Namur.
Fr. Thierry Dobbelstein
New Provincial of the Jesuits of French-speaking Western Europe
Related Posts:
Br. Jim Boynton, SJ, is the 30th President of University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. With almost four decades of teaching and leadership experience, he has a unique perspective of the connectedness of the worldwide Society of Jesus...
During his visitation to the Provinces, Fr. General always tries to participate in an ordination of a Jesuit or to preside a celebration of Final Vows. During the time he spent recently in the United States Midwest Province (UMI), he had the pleasure of receiving the Final Vows...
Fr. General Arturo Sosa visited Milwaukee on Sunday, 7 April, bringing much consolation to the Jesuits and apostolic leaders of the area. The weather was not very springlike, but the occasion was lively, warm, and inspiring.
Time passes and memories fade, but how long would it take to dull the pain of the tragic explosion at the Port of Beirut on 4 August 2020 that destroyed or damaged a large part of the city? No Lebanese, no matter where they live, can forget.
Imagine this: you finally conquer that mountain you’ve been training for, the view from the peak is breathtaking, but then... you just pack up and go home? Easter can feel a bit like that sometimes. After the long period of lent, we celebrate the victory, the resurrection...
