Dec. 11, 2024 – Jesuit Fr. Simon Smith’s life as a priest was distinguished by long service that was varied, international with an eye on neglected people, and always well informed. To all these ministries he brought a trademark passion, which was often shown by the low and solemn tone he adopted in speaking about them.
His service included teaching English and math at Baghdad College in Iraq and studying Arabic for future teaching (1955-1958, 1991-1993). Unfortunately, Baghdad College and Al Hikma University were seized by the Baathist government, and the Jesuits were expelled in 1969. Fr. Smith’s Baghdad experience stayed with him, however. Embracing wholeheartedly the Jesuits’ existing policy of welcoming students of all faiths to their Baghdad schools – Muslims, Jews, Christians of Eastern and Western traditions — Fr. Smith committed himself also to learn Arabic to share the life of ordinary Iraqis. His commitment to the Iraqi people was lifelong and helps explain his later enthusiasm for Nativity school students in Boston and Worcester.
Fr. Smith did his theology studies at Weston College (1958-62), supplementing them with study at Harvard Divinity School in 1966-67. At Weston, he helped launch New Testament Abstracts, and after his ordination in 1961, served as co-editor of NTA, assistant dean, and prefect of liturgy. Influenced by his Baghdad experience, he directed the international ministry of the New England Jesuits (1972-75) and then of all the American Jesuit provinces (1975-84). His interest in other countries led him to spend two years at in Kenya to coordinate the Jesuit Refugee Service in Africa (1984-86). Moving back to the United States to work at the national Jesuit headquarters, he continued with Jesuit Refugee Service and Jesuit Missions (1987-90). After a sabbatical in Boston in the following year, he became busy again as chaplain of the Refugee Immigration Ministry and its related ministries (1993-2001).
In 2001, Fr. Smith discovered a ministry that was to occupy the later years of his life — teaching at Nativity schools, first in Boston and then in Worcester. Nativity schools provide a tuition-free Jesuit education to boys from underserved families; they are part of a nation-wide network offering intensive academic, after-school, and graduate support programs empowering young men of color to break the cycle of poverty, thrive in high school, college, and career, and become compassionate “men for others.” Involvement in these schools marked a point when Fr. Smith’s care for the marginalized and the underserved resurfaced dramatically. He had always been an enthusiastic no-holds-barred person who poured out his energy to people in need, and it is not surprising the Nativity students touched something deep within him. He spent 2001-2006 teaching at the Boston Nativity school and 2007-2011 in the Worcester school.
Fr. Simon E. Smith, SJ, was born on July 19, 1930, in Stoneham, Mass., to Simon Smith and Marie (Callanan) Smith. Fr. Smith’s sister Marie in New Hampshire survives him. There are numerous cousins. His father worked for the United States Postal Service; and his mother worked as a secretary. He was baptized at Immaculate Conception Church in Malden. Graduating from Boston College High School in 1948, he entered the Society of Jesus that same year. His Jesuit formation was typical of the era: two years of novitiate and two of juniorate at Shadowbrook in Lenox, Mass. (1948-1952), three years of philosophy at Weston College (1952-1955), learning Arabic to teach in Baghdad (1956-1958), and theology studies at Weston College for an M.Div.
In 2011, declining health made it necessary for him to move to the Campion Health Center in Weston, Mass., where, among other services, he offered spiritual guidance to adults in the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. Life in retirement enabled him to double down on his reading and eagerness to share his ideas with others. Unapologetically progressive in his choices of books and articles, his reading reflected his commitment to alienated and marginalized people. In the last weeks of his life, Fr. Smith made known his physical decline to the Campion Center community and invited fellow Jesuits and friends to visit him for conversation and prayer. His suffering from kidney failure, however, proved relentless. The end finally came at 12:30 am on Dec. 8, 2024.
