Robert R. Ballecer (born 1974), also known as the Digital Jesuit or by his handle PadreSJ, is an American Catholic

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest who serves as Assistant for New Evangelization for the

Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

of the Society of Jesus in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Ballecer is also a tech podcaster and was host of the shows ''This Week in Enterprise Tech'' and ''Know How...'' on the

TWiT.tv TWiT.tv, which is the operating trade name of TWiT LLC, is a podcast network that broadcasts many technology news podcasts, founded by technology broadcaster and author Leo Laporte in 2005, and run by his wife and company CEO Lisa Laporte. ...

network.

Early life

Ballecer was born on May 29, 1974, in

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Coun ...

, and grew up in

Fremont, California Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...

. His parents emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1970, and he grew up in a traditional

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

household. He dumpster dove for computer parts and built his own computer. In the 1980s, he ran an online bulletin board system. He started working for R&A Professional Consultants in 1988.

Education

Ballecer studied at

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. In 2020, Niche ...

and

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

, where he majored in computer engineering, and also became interested in becoming a Catholic priest. He joined the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s in 1994 and ran a computer server to put the order's California Province online. He studied philosophy at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

and then taught computer programming at Loyola High School in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He studied theology at the

Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University is a Jesuit seminary within Santa Clara University and one of the member colleges of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California. Prior to its merger with Santa Clara Univers ...

Career

Ballecer helped the Jesuits set up their own email addresses and started websites for Jesuit high schools. He served at the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in San Jose, and was named director of the Center for Apostolic Technology. He became a fan of the

TechTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming. ...

show ''

The Screen Savers ''The Screen Savers'' is an American TV show that aired on TechTV from 1998 to 2005.Fost, Dan (17 May 1999)A Day in the Life of ZDTV's `The Screen Savers' ''San Francisco Chronicle'' The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV (later k ...

'', which ran in the late 1990s and 2000s. He started blogging for "The Tech Stop" in 2001.

Leo Laporte Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the host of ''The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. O ...

found Ballecer in TWiT's chat room in 2010. Laporte asked the chat room who could host show on enterprise technology, and the chat room suggested "PadreSJ", the chat handle for Robert Ballecer, could host this show. Ballecer started hosting the show ''This Week in Enterprise Tech'', anchoring live events, and hosting the

do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

show ''Know How...''. He has also appeared as a guest on other

shows, and hosted ''Coding 101'' and ''Padre's Corner''. As a priest, he oversaw efforts to encourage young men to pursue the priesthood. For four years starting in 2009, he worked for the

Jesuit Conference Jesuit Conferences are groupings of administrative divisions (Provinces and Regions) of the Society of Jesus. These Provinces and Regions are organized into a conference to promote common goals and oversee international projects. A Conference connec ...

as the National Director of Vocation Promotion in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. He also produced a series of short films titled ''Jesuits Revealed'' to improve the Jesuits' online image. Ballecer lived in

St. Ignatius College Preparatory St. Ignatius College Preparatory, commonly referred to as SI, is a private, Catholic preparatory school in the Jesuit tradition, serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1855. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, in the Su ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 2016 and still resides there when he is in the US. As of July 2018, he works for the Roman Curia as an Assistant for New Evangelization. He still makes occasional appearances on TWiT shows such as ''

This Week in Tech ''This Week in Tech''–casually referred to as ''TWiT'', and briefly known as ''Revenge of the Screen Savers''–is the weekly flagship podcast and namesake of the TWiT.tv network. It is hosted by Leo Laporte and many other former TechTV emplo ...

'' and ''Hands-On Tech''. In December 2019, he started a ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...

'' multiplayer survival server in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

for "gamers who want a little less 'toxic' and a bit more community."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballecer, Robert 1974 births Living people 20th-century American Jesuits 21st-century American Jesuits American computer programmers American male bloggers American bloggers American people of Filipino descent American podcasters Technology commentators TWiT.tv people Bellarmine College Preparatory alumni People from Fremont, California People from Hayward, California Santa Clara University alumni Loyola University Chicago alumni Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley alumni Catholics from California