Panelist Biographies

Fr. Michael Amaladoss, SJ: is a Jesuit theologian from South India who has written on inculturation, inter-religious dialogue, spirituality and Christology. He has taught theology in Delhi and Manila, also in Paris, Brussels and Washington DC – and in many other places. He has written 29 books and 390 articles, besides editing 6 other books. He is former Assistant to the Superior General of the Jesuits in Rome and current Director of the Institute of Dialogue with Cultures and Religions. He also has a diploma in South Indian Music and has composed over 150 devotional songs in Tamil.

Ms. Johanna Chao: is a mother, grandmother, and a trained spiritual and retreat director. She is on staff at the Xavier House/Ignatian Spirituality Center in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong. In collaboration with the Jesuits of China Province, she directs retreats, organizes and conducts training programs on spirituality and spiritual companionship for clergy, religious and laity in China and Hong Kong.Previously she was a full-time faculty member at St. John’s Seminary, Boston, where she was the Director of Supervised Ministry, in charge of the pastoral aspect of the priestly formation program of the seminarians.

Fr. Howard Gray, SJ: is currently Assistant to the President for Special Projects at Georgetown University. He has served in many top administrative positions of the Society of Jesus in the United States, and is renowned for his leadership in educating Jesuits, clergy, and lay people in how to guide retreatants in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. He is Founder and Director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Boston College. He has written extensively in the areas of Ignatian Spirituality, the Spiritual Exercises, Mission and Ministry. He has given a number of workshops on Ignatian topics in the USA, the UK and Ireland, East Africa, South East Asia, and Australia.

Fr. Arthur Leger, SJ: is from the Pacific Islands and a citizen of Fiji. He has a long career as an educator, both before and after joining the Society of Jesus. He holds Master’s degrees in Educational Administration, Christianity and Culture, and in Divinity. At Gonzaga University, Spokane, he completed a doctorate in Leadership Studies with his thesis on the pastoral approach of Church leaders in the Pacific.

Fr. Peter McIsaac, SJ: born in Canada, is now a Jamaican citizen. He studied theology in Canada and in Kenya, where he also studied the African traditions in which Jamaican culture is rooted. He currently serves as pastor in a Kingston parish, as Chair of five schools, and as director of the deaconate program for the Archdiocese.He also teaches at a local theological college, and has been appointed regional Jesuit superior.

Ms. Bernadette Miles: is the Director of Campion Centre of Ignatian Spirituality (a Jesuit Retreat House in Melbourne, Australia) and is married with four boys. She trained in spiritual direction and theology after twenty years of computer consulting and business management and has a special interest in formation of apostolic leadership and applying the concepts of Ignatian Spirituality to Organizational Development.She is also the National Coordinator of the Arrupe Program which is the Australian Province’s formation program for Spiritual Directors in the Ignatian tradition and givers of the full Spiritual Exercises.

Fr. Robert Ng, SJ: is a Jesuit Priest and was born in Macau. He obtained a Masters Degree of Philosophy from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then studied Theology at London University and later obtained a Masters in Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome and a Doctorate in Theology from Taiwan Fu Jen Catholic University. Since 1981, he has been teaching Ethics and Theology at the Holy Spirit Seminary, Hong Kong. He is also the editor of a quarterly Chinese periodical “Spirit” and author of several books.

Fr. Mark Raper, SJ: is President of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific based in Manila. He spent 20 years in the service of refugees, serving during the 1980s as the first director of Jesuit Refugee Service in Asia, based in Thailand. From 1990 to 2000 he was its International Director. In 2001 he held a visiting chair at the Center for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University. He previously served as Provincial of the Australian and New Zealand Jesuits and as President of Catholic Religious Australia.

Fr. Stephen Tong, SJ: has been the director of Xavier House since 2004. He was born and brought up in Macau. After joining the Society of Jesus in 1990 and finishing his novitiate formation in Singapore, he studied philosophy in Manila and theology in Hong Kong. He was ordained in 2000, and finished his further study in theology and spirituality in Boston in 2001. His mission from the Society of Jesus is to promote Ignatian spirituality in the Chinese context. He has been giving retreats and various kinds of spiritual formation, both to religious and lay people, in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Fr. Benoit Vermander, SJ: is a French Jesuit who has been working in China and Taiwan since 1992. He holds doctorates in theology and political science. He has been director of the Taipei Ricci Institute since 1996, which he recently moved to Shanghai. He is now teaching spirituality and interreligious dialogue at a leading Chinese university. He has written extensively on Chinese religions and comparative spirituality.

Fr. Geoffrey Monty William, SJ: is Director of Ministry of Spiritual Direction at Loyola/Regis College, and senior lecturer in Spiritual Theology, University of Toronto, Canada. His courses include: Approaches to Spiritual Direction and Discernment; Discerning the Signs of the Times: Contemporary Cultural Analysis and Contemporary Manifestations of Spirituality; An Intensive Double Course on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. He has been a leader in development of the practice of the Spiritual Exercises over four decades.