F
ebruary 27, 2019 — Father Lissaint Antoine, a Haitian Jesuit and a member of the Society of Jesus since 1996, has just been appointed Secretary of the Jesuit Province of Canada. He replaces Father Leonard Alitilia, who took over the direction of the New Gesù project on February 1.
The role of the provincial secretary is very old in the Society of Jesus. Until the 1970s, he was in charge of official Latin communications with the Vatican and with the Jesuit General Administration in Rome. He was often a specialist in church law; a trusted man of the provincial, he dealt with delicate canonical issues. He was also responsible for the province’s administrative records. If the secretary was a fine pen, he could also prepare the provincial’s correspondence.
Today the role has evolved a lot, especially with the digitization of many administrative tasks. Provincials often have executive assistants and generally prepare their own correspondence. Nevertheless, for many Jesuit provinces – just as for the general administration in Rome, which has its "Secretary of the Society" – the role of the Secretary of the Province remains very important. Father Antoine will continue to ensure official communications with dioceses, religious communities and Vatican authorities. He will assist the socius of the province with concrete projects related to his personal expertise in management: human resources management, creation of protocols for the new province, management of administrative archives, etc. He will also collaborate on other initiatives of the provincial house.
Welcome to the Lissaint Provincial House team!
