By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
DALLAS | Funeral services were taking place today, Feb. 5, for Jesuit Father John H. Edwards, former pastor of Gesu Church in Miami.
Photographer: COURTESY | Vincent Orlando
Jesuit Father John Edwards, pastor of Gesu Church from 1975 to 1983, died Feb. 1 at the age of 91, after 74 years as a Jesuit and 61 years as a priest.
The 91-year-old, a Jesuit for 74 years and a priest for 61, died Feb. 1 at Treemont Healthcare and Rehab Facility in Dallas, Texas, where he had lived since 2008.
Father Edwards also served as founding director of Emmaus Residence in the Diocese of Palm Beach, from 1990 to 2000.
Born in Dallas on Sept. 26, 1924, he entered the Society of Jesus Aug. 14, 1941 at St. Charles College in Grand Coteau, La. Following first vows, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in classics from Spring Hill College. He returned to Dallas to teach at what was then known as Jesuit High School (1948-51); then studied theology at St. Mary’s College in St. Mary's, Kansas (1951-55), earning a licentiate in sacred theology in 1955.
While still studying theology at St. Mary’s, he was one of the translators and editors of “The Church Teaches,” a collection of key church doctrinal documents not readily available in English.
He was ordained to the priesthood June 16, 1954 at St. Joseph’s Chapel at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., and pronounced his final vows in 1958 at Jesuit High School in Dallas.
Upon completion of his Doctor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1958, he taught ecclesiology for two years at St. Mary’s. He then served at the New Orleans Province novitiate in Grand Coteau (1960-65).
He was appointed Province Consultor in 1961 and provincial of the New Orleans Province July 31, 1965, at age 41. He was among the first wave of appointments made by the then Jesuit Superior General Father Pedro Arrupe.
His tenure, 1965-1971, was a time of great change in the Church and society in general. He saw the need for bold action and this, coupled with his interest in organizational dynamics, led him to institute a province planning process that included the first province assemblies. This gave the members of the province an opportunity to participate in governance in ways that had not been seen before. He was among the first provincials to institute a system of vice-provincials to assist him in the work of governing the province and caring for the men. Today, almost every provincial has assistants, but this was very much a new idea in 1970.
When his term as provincial ended in 1971, he almost immediately moved to being rector-president of Jesuit High in Tampa, where he served for two years. For the next 16 years, he served in parishes, first as associate pastor at St. Rita’s in Dallas, then as pastor at Gesu in Miami (1975-83) and at Sacred Heart in El Paso (1984-89.)
His last posting as superior was at Ignatius Residence in New Orleans (2000-2004). He then was associate pastor at Immaculate Conception in New Orleans (2004-2008) before moving to the Dallas Jesuit Community.
Father Edwards is survived by his sisters Dorothy Thornhill, Joyce Johnson, Loyce Nussbaum, their spouses, many nieces and nephews, and his brothers in the Society of Jesus.
He will be buried in the Jesuit Cemetery, St. Charles College, Grand Coteau, La.
