CTSA member Robert L. Faricy, S.J. died on March 4, 2022.
A reflection of his life by the Jesuits USA Midwest Province follows:
March 9, 2022 Death of Fr. Robert L. Faricy, S.J.
Let us pray in thanksgiving for the life of our brother, Fr. Robert L. Faricy, S.J., who died on March 4, 2022 at St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He was 95 years old. May he rest in peace.
Bob was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on August 29, 1926. He was very proud of growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and spending his summers at Steamboat Lake where his family operated a resort. He attended St. Mark's Catholic grade school and St. Thomas Military Academy in St. Paul before graduating from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1949 with a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering. Bob served in the U.S. Navy for one year (1949-1950). He entered the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Missouri, on August 8, 1950 and became part of the Wisconsin Province when it was created in 1955. He had the usual course of Jesuit studies at St. Stanislaus Seminary and St. Louis University. During Regency, Bob taught Math at Marquette High in Milwaukee (1956-1959). He studied Theology in Fourvière, Lyons, France. He was ordained at St. John's Cathedral in Lyons on September 1, 1962. After tertianship in Flanders, Bob completed a doctoral program in Theology at the Catholic University in Washington, DC. His dissertation topic was "Teilhard de Chardin and Christian Effort." He pronounced his final vows on August 15, 1967.
Bob began his long career as a professional theologian by teaching for five years at the Catholic University of America (1966-1971). In 1971 he moved to the Gregorian University in Rome, where he taught until he was named Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology in 2000. Bob combined teaching and writing in Rome with an extensive, in practice world-wide, ministry of lectures and workshops in spirituality and charismatic renewal. He continued his spirituality ministry when he returned from Rome to reside in the Marquette University Jesuit Community as a writer and researcher in 2000. Bob was able to return to Rome often when he taught courses at Regina Mundi Institute (2002-2005). In 2012 declining health led to his being missioned to St. Camillus to pray for the Church and the Society.
Bob was very proud of growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and spending his summers at Steamboat Lake where his family operated a resort. He was a proud 1949 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and was honored to serve his country in the Navy (1949-1950).
He was a smart, talented, and complex man who did not avoid important, controversial matters. He was fluent in Italian and French. During his almost thirty years in Rome, Bob was known as a demanding and effective professor. Although Bob's doctoral dissertation was on the Theology of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, he later turned his focus to Spirituality and Catholic Charismatic Renewal. He co-authored more than 40 books about prayer with Sr. Lucy Rooney, S.N.D., Luciana Pecoraio, or Frank Sullivan, S.J. Throughout his Jesuit life, Bob was a strong promoter of Spirituality -- including time spent as director of tv programming at EWTN (1987-1988).
Bob helped establish the Heart of Jesus Community in Rome. Hearing of his death, some members wrote these tributes:
“Thank you for being an exemplary instrument of the Lord, exercising the charisms of the Holy Spirit in your priesthood and teaching us to use them for the common good.”
“You have been a Father different from all the others. You knew how to give love, laughing and joking.”
Bob lived his life with passion and a certain exuberance. He was a man of strong convictions, action-oriented and always on the move. He found the diminishments of old age very challenging. But he turned peacefully towards the good and gracious Lord whom he loved.
Suffrages: As we remember with gratitude all that God has done through his life of service to God and God's people, we are reminded of our privilege and obligation to offer Masses and prayers for his eternal repose. All members of the USA Midwest Province and those applied to it are to offer one Mass intention for Bob. Members of the St. Camillus Jesuit Community will offer one additional Mass intention. All will wish to remember Bob in their prayers and Masses.
Mass of Christian Burial:
Monday, March 28, 2022
11:00 a.m.
St. Camillus Jesuit Community
10201 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Wauwatosa, WI 53226-3541
Burial:
Mount Olivet Cemetery in Milwaukee.
Condolences:
St. Camillus Jesuit Community
c/o George E. Winzenburg, S.J.
10201 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Wauwatosa, WI 53226-3541
gwinzenburg@jesuits.org
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Yours in Christ,
Glen Chun, S.J.
Socius
Authored by John Moriconi, S.J., with input from Patrick Burns, S.J. and George Winzenburg, S.J.
