A 51-year-old Dublin priest today becomes the new provincial of the Irish Jesuits.
Father Gerry O'Hanlon, a graduate of Queen's University Belfast, takes over from Father Laurence Murphy who has completed his six-year term of office.
The new provincial entered the Society of Jesus in 1965 and was ordained in 1978. After completing a PhD in theology at Queen's in the mid-1980s, he began a distinguished lecturing career at the Milltown Institute in Dublin.
Since 1989 he has been living in Cherry Orchard, Ballyfermot. He contributed to One City, Two Tiers: A Theological Reflection of Life in a Divided Society. Published by the Cherry Orchard Faith and Justice Group, One City, Two Tiers is a critique of the economic and social divisions in Dublin today.
He has written extensively on issues of social theology, including his book, Solidarity - The Missing Link in Irish Society, published in 1991. Father O'Hanlon has recently returned to Ireland after a sabbatical year abroad.