Rev. John A. Carty, SJ, was born in Worcester, MA, on May 6, 1926. He entered the Novitiate at Shadowbrook in Lenox, MA, in 1948 after graduating from College of the Holy Cross. He received a master’s in Philosophy and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from what is now the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA. He also spent three years in Iraq studying Arabic and teaching religion, English and math. He was ordained a priest on June 13, 1959, at Weston College.
Following ordination and tertianship, Fr. Carty returned to Iraq for eight years where he taught religion, biology, and English at Baghdad College. He came back to the States in 1969 for another year of Arabic studies at College of the Holy Cross before heading off to the College of St. Famille in Cairo, Egypt, a school for boys founded by the Jesuits in 1879. He taught English and served as a spiritual director for seven years and superior of his Jesuit community for four years. In 1978, he moved north to Alexandria, Egypt, and St. Francis Xavier, where he first served as director of the university student center, and then as superior, minister, librarian, and treasurer.
In 1985, Fr. Carty headed down the Nile to the Jesuit community in Minia, where he stayed seven years and served in many roles, including novice director, minister, treasurer, librarian, and even as writer of house history. He returned to Cairo in 1992 to the residence of St. Athanase, again serving as minister and working with novices. In 1997, Fr. Carty came back to St. Francis Xavier in Alexandria where he remained for more than 20 years, serving as treasurer, pastoral minister, and director for university students.
Fr. Carty moved to the Community of St. Famille in Cairo in 2020, praying for the Church and the Society of Jesus. He died peacefully on February 28, 2022.