Rev. Patrick J. Sullivan, S.J., was born a Brooklyn Dodgers fan on March 21, 1941, in Brooklyn, NY. He was the third of the five sons of his parents, William and Mary (Mae Conway) Sullivan. He was baptized and grew up in St. Jerome’s Parish in Brooklyn. He attended Brooklyn Prep and graduated in 1958. Later that summer, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Bill, Pat entered the Society of Jesus.
With a little variation, Pat’s course of studies in the Society was standard for a young New York Province Jesuit at the time: Novitiate and Juniorate at Bellarmine College, Plattsburgh, NY (1958-62); Philosophy studies at Loyola Seminary, Shrub Oak, NY (1962-65), and Theology studies at Woodstock College both in Maryland and in New York City (1968-72). Between Philosophy and Theology, Pat did his regency, teaching English and Latin, at Regis High School in New York City (1965-68). During regency he also worked on and received his M.A. in English from Fordham University in 1968.
Pat was ordained a priest by Terence Cardinal Cooke on June 12, 1971, in the Fordham University Church. After a final year of Theology at Woodstock (1971-72), Fr. Sullivan was assigned to Xavier High School in New York City, for what would be sixteen happy and productive years (1972-88), first as an English teacher (1972-81) and then as Rector of the Jesuit Community (1981-87) and President of the School (1981-88). It was during his early years at Xavier that Fr. Sullivan was able to take part in a two-summer tertianship program and then take his final vows on April 22, 1979. After his tenure at Xavier, Fr. Sullivan received a well-deserved and much-appreciated sabbatical.
A sabbatical often means that a Jesuit becomes available for a new assignment. And so it was that this consummate New Yorker packed his bags and headed for the New York Province’s mission in Micronesia for the next nine years (1989-98). Fr. Sullivan spent a semester getting his feet wet in the Pacific at Xavier High School in Chuuk and then was off to Guam to be the Superior of the Jesuits on Guam and the Director of St. Ignatius House of Studies, the mission’s pre-seminary not far from the University of Guam (1989-95). Here, Fr. Sullivan’s back door looked out on cliffs overlooking the Pacific; and it was here that he came face to face with the tragedy of and destructive force of typhoon, Omar. Ultimately, Omar died, and Fr. Sullivan was victorious. In 1995, he moved back to Chuuk to be the Acting Director and Superior at the NY Province’s other Xavier High School. This “temporary” assignment turned out to be a three-year stint (1995-98) and the end of his flirtation with the Pacific.
Fr. Sullivan moved back to the United States in 1998 to begin a whole new, fifteen-year phase of his apostolic ministry. He dove right in and became the Superior of the Jesuits at Loyola House of Retreats in Morristown, NJ, and Director of the Retreat House (1998-2001). After a sabbatical year at Fordham (2004-05), Fr. Sullivan moved into parish work at St. Anthony’s Parish in Oceanside, NY (2005-11) and then at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Benedicta, and St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Staten Island (2011-13).
In 2013, he moved to the Murray-Weigel-Kohlmann Jesuit Community in the Bronx where at first he lived at Kohlmann Hall serving in pastoral ministry as he was able. In 2017, he moved to the health-care facility at Murray-Weigel Hall where he continued his prayer for the Church and the Society. Fr. Sullivan was always a pleasant member of the Community. His jokes, his quick wit, his love for and his stories about his family, especially his mother, Mae, were delightful. He cared deeply for his Jesuit brother Bill, who was also at Murray-Weigel Hall until he died in 2018. His 4 brothers all loved him dearly. Tommy, Michael and Joseph visited Fathers Pat and Bill often. After a bad fall that left him with a broken hip, Fr. Sullivan died peacefully on May 27, 2024. May he rest now in the arms of Jesus whom he served so well during his lifetime.
