Joseph Koterski, SJ – you will be missed

I met Fr. several times – very impressive man. Died suddenly while conducting a retreat in CT. Only 67.

Beautiful remembrance in America magazine. Hit the link for the whole article, written with much love.

“I have never met anyone so generous—in his thought, in his person, in giving of himself to anyone and everyone,” Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, S.V., the mother superior of the Sisters of Life, reflected after learning of the death of Joseph Koterski, S.J.

Father Koterski’s birth is a testament to the great faith of his parents. Having difficulty conceiving, they went to the beautiful Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal to pray that God might bless them with a child. An answer to their prayers, he was named Joseph. Born in 1953, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1984, was ordained a priest in 1992 and took final vows as a Jesuit in 2001. On Aug. 9, Father Joseph was taken into eternity in the Year of St. Joseph.

Father Koterski was a member of the Philosophy Department of Fordham University since 1992 and was the editor-in-chief of the International Philosophical Quarterly. He served two terms as president of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. He was also integral to the existence of University Faculty for Life, serving as longtime secretary on its board of directors. He was a brilliant intellectual, but he was also at heart a humble priest who was boundlessly generous. Father Koterski also served as Master of Queens Court Residential College for Freshmen at Fordham University, living in a college dorm room year after year with freshmen seeking to live a Christian life. That always impressed me: Like many things he did, he didn’t have to do it. He joked that it kept him young.