Alumni Spotlight: Rev. Brian G. Paulson, SJ ’77

As Conference president, Fr. Paulson will serve as part of the Superior General’s extended council and represent the Society in many church and civic venues. He will also represent the Conference internationally and serve as the religious superior of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California.

 

Fr. Paulson took time to reflect on his Rambler experience, the impact of Jesuit education and much more below. 

 

I started high school at Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, a 95 year old Jesuit boarding school where my dad, uncle and older brother also went.  It closed suddenly in 1975 after my sophomore year, and that led to my transfer to Loyola Academy.  I took the train from Waukegan to Wilmette my junior year, and we moved to Libertyville my senior year and I drove from there.  Loyola Academy was formative for me because it welcomed me warmly at a very sad moment of my life.  I also had lots of great teachers at Loyola.  For the first time in my life I was in class with fellow students who were very smart and, for the most part, hard-working and driven to succeed.  I deeply valued Jesuit friendships I made at Campion and wanted my Jesuit education to continue because I was already thinking about joining the Jesuits after college.  

 

Do you have a favorite memory from your time at LA? 

I was in the chorus for the musical, “The Music Man” in the spring of 1976.  There are at least three or four friends I made through that experience, both men and women, who I still count as very good friends today… and I have gone on to celebrate one of their marriages and baptize some of their children!  That is the one and only play I have ever been in and it was a great experience.  

 

I had lots of great teachers, but I think I learned the most from Bob Hires, my AP English teacher, and from “Doc” Aiello, who I had for a small honors seminar junior year in Political Science.  Mr. Hires made us read a massive amount of great literature the summer between junior and senior year, and then during senior year.  During the year there were those three page papers every other week which he reportedly corrected with a martini over the weekend.  Mr. Hires looked like Benjamin Franklin.  When “La Boehme” was on WTTW he paused our curriculum for a few days and we “learned” how to listen to an opera.  Who does that these days in English class?  He also organized a small group of us to go to see other live plays in theaters. One time, he made us write our own play so that we would know how hard it is to do.  Thanks to Mr. Hires, I know something about Ibsen, Chekhov, Shakespeare, Waugh, Lillian Hellman…the list goes on and on.  Doc Aiello helped us all to understand the political landscape, post-Watergate, especially regarding presidential power.  I went on to celebrate the marriage of one of his daughters!

 

In addition to “The Music Man,” I did extemporaneous speaking one year, and also sang in the “Prince of Peace” Christmas cantata each year, and served on the crew of “West Side Story” my senior year.  (I was not judged to be “type cast” as a Jet or a Shark!)

 

As President of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the USA, I am looking forward to the myriad of ways in which I can inspire, offer direction, and keep the information flowing between the provinces in North America and with the five other conferences around the world.  I will enjoy the international travel, especially to Rome!

 

I will miss getting to know each of the new members of the Midwest Province on a deeply personal level which occurs through the annual “account of conscience” which each Jesuit offers his provincial.  Reading applications for men desiring to join us was among the most consoling things I did as provincial, and meeting the men in person who I first met on paper is even better!

 

Bishop Robert Barron’s little monograph on the Eucharist is a gem.  It is coming out right now in a second edition.  Part of the book is an extended reflection on the 1987 Danish movie, “Babette’s Feast.”  The story involves an exiled French cook (from one of the finest restaurants in Paris) who was serving some Danish spinster women who were very Puritanical and abstemious.  Babette has a lottery ticket from long ago, and one day wins the French lottery and spends all her winnings on a lavish, delicious and festive meal and “converts” these women and their guests to a different sense of God’s love, mercy and beauty.  The moral of the story is the same as the life of Christ:  a life poured out in love and service to others is the way to true joy, happiness, peace and salvation.  Communion occurs because of Jesus’ self-sacrificing love which we are invited to share in and to imitate.  

 

“People are more important than paper…”. That was advice I received from a veteran administrator years ago when I was a young aspiring administrator.  Perhaps now it should be updated:  “People are more important than email and text messages.”   Take good care of the people right in front of you every day.  That’s the most important thing an administrator can do.  And if there is a problem, try to talk to the person face to face.  

Our sincere congratulations and best wishes to Fr. Paulson as he begins this next chapter! For more information, visit Jesuits.org.