François-Xavier Dumortier, S.J. (born 4 November 1948) is a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest and member of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. He was rector of the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

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from 1 September 2010 to 1 September 2016, when he was succeeded by Nuno da Silva Gonçalves.

Biography

François-Xavier Dumortier was born on 4 November 1948 in

Levroux Levroux () is a commune in the Indre department in central France, to the north of Châteauroux. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Saint-Martin-de-Lamps was merged into Levroux. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Saint-Pierre-de-Lam ...

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, and entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

at the age of 25. He was ordained as a priest in 1982, and made his final vows as a Jesuit in 1990. Dumortier was a philosophy professor for twenty years; he taught in particular at the

Centre Sèvres The Centre Sèvres is a university-level, Jesuit faculty of philosophy and theology on the Rue de Sèvres, in the heart of Paris. It was formed in 1974 from the merger of former Jesuit schools of philosophy at Lyon-Fourvière and philosophy at Cha ...

, the Jesuit faculty of philosophy and theology in France. He was rector of that faculty from 1997 to 2003. Afterwards, Dumortier was superior of the French province of the Society of Jesus until 2009. On 27 April 2010,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

announced that the rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Rev.

Gianfranco Ghirlanda Gianfranco Ghirlanda (born 5 July 1942) is an Italian Catholic prelate and administrator at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he has taught since 1975, served as dean of the Faculty of Canon Law from 1995 to 2004, and led as rector from ...

, S.J., would be succeeded by Father Dumortier as the next rector of the university. The appointment took effect on 1 September 2010.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

named Dumortier to participate in the Synod of Bishops on the Family in October 2015.

References

External links

Interview with Fr. Dumortier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumortier, Francois-Xavier 1948 births Living people 20th-century French Jesuits 21st-century French Jesuits Pontifical Gregorian University rectors People from Indre