Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, SCJ superior general, wrote the following letter on the occasion of Fr. Jan de Jong’s retirement:
Dear Father Jan,
On April 27 the community at Sacred Heart School of Theology honors you on the occasion of your upcoming retirement. I wish to add my name to those who thank you and congratulate you for your years of service to the School of Theology. We thank you for the energy you put into ensuring that the charism and spirituality of our Founder is alive at the school.
You came to the United States in 1969 to teach ethics or moral theology, I believe, at Sacred Heart School of Theology. You ended up your ministry as President – Rector of the seminary. I do not think that this arc from teacher to rector that connected the beginning and end of your ministry in the United States was part of your imagination when you first arrived here. We thank God for the gift that you have brought to this institution.
Your ministry in the United States in between these times included hospital chaplaincy at St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, training others in Clinical Pastoral Education for St. Luke’s, supervising students and finally directing pastoral education at Hermann Hospital and Methodist Hospital, both in Houston.
Your training in ethics served you well as you served on a number of ethics boards and you were a great mentor to medical students when they had to deal with cases involving medical ethics.
Throughout your life, you have always shown a deep bond with the SCJ community. After having spent all these years in the medical world, you listened to the appeal of your provincial superior to serve as novice master. We know the word availability as central to our spirituality. For you it was bred into the bone. The community is grateful for your witness.
The beginning and end of your ministry has been in education. As you know, education, and in particular, the education of men for the priesthood, was something very dear to our founder. I thank you, in the name of the congregation, for continuing the founder’s vision in this vital service to the church. We pray that in retirement you may continue to instruct and be instructed. May the Lord accompany you so that the joy and memory of your service may brighten your retirement.
In the Heart of Christ,
Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho
Superior General
