Rev. Robert E. Manning, SJ, a respected Jesuit administrator and the former president of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and provincial of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, died on October 6 of prostate cancer at Campion Center in Weston. He was 71.
A native of Somerville and a graduate of St. Clement’s High School, Fr. Manning entered the Society of Jesus at the age of 16 at Shadowbrook, the Jesuit novitiate in Lennox. He volunteered for the Jesuit missions and was assigned to Iraq, where American Jesuits had been operating Baghdad College and Al Hikma University in Baghdad since 1932. While there, he learned Arabic, studied the Koran and did his master’s thesis on the philosopher Avicenna. In 1964 he participated in Pope Paul VI’s historic visit to Jerusalem where, fellow Jesuits say, he was touched by the sight of Muslims, Christians and Jews living together in peace. He remained in Baghdad after the Baathist coup of 1963, returning to the United States in 1964 to study and work at Weston College.
In 1968 Fr. Manning enrolled in the New Testament doctoral program at Princeton Theological Seminary, the first Catholic, the first priest, and the first Jesuit to do so. According to his friend and successor at Weston Jesuit, Rev. Richard Clifford, SJ, his increasing involvement in the anti-war movement, however, proved incompatible with doctoral studies, and in 1970 he accepted the invitation of Rev. John Brooks, SJ, the new president of the College of the Holy Cross, to become chaplain and teach theology. He remained in Worcester from 1970-1985, serving as rector of the Holy Cross Jesuit community during his last three years.
In 1985, Fr. Manning was named provincial of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, which at that time numbered 720 men. After six years as provincial, he was named rector of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, where he served from 1991-1996, before being named President of Weston Jesuit School of Theology (WJST) in Cambridge.
As president, Fr. Manning presided over the re-affiliation of Weston Jesuit with Boston College, which combined WJST, BC’s Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry and the online programs of the Church in the 21st Century initiative into the new School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. The school, which is considered one of the nation’s foremost theological centers, opened on the Brighton Campus of Boston College this summer.
In addition, Fr. Manning served on the board of trustees at the University of San Francisco and Creighton University and on the boards of the American Theological Society and the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA). His work with the NCEA ‘s seminary division helped influence the Program for Priestly Formation of the United States Catholic Bishop’s Conference.
An avid reader, he enjoyed all things theological, including, Theological Studies, and Worship, as well as and his beloved New Testament, which he read in Greek. Most recently, said his Jesuit friend Fr. Paul Harmon, SJ, he read through St. Paul’s letters as part of the Pauline year.
During much of his presidency at Weston Jesuit, friends say, Fr. Manning endured multiple operations on his shoulders and hips because of a degenerative joint condition In February of 2007 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which forced him to resign as president in August of that year.
“A warm hearted and deeply affectionate man, Fr. Manning knew how to encourage people and let them know how special they were,” said Fr. Clifford. “Though in great pain during the 18 months of his illness, he spent much of the day phoning and emailing his friends and former students, and there was plenty of laughter in the exchange.”
Fr. Bradley Schaeffer, SJ, rector of the Weston Jesuit Community, said, “From the beginning of his illness, Bob told me that he wanted to die as a good Jesuit should, with his eyes set on the Lord. He has done that; he has completed his journey of faith with incredible grace and fidelity.”
Visiting hours will be held at 4:00 p.m. at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill on Wednesday October 8, followed by a Funeral Mass at 7:30 p.m. Internment will be at Campion Center in Weston.
