This morning Pope Francis appointed Fr. Manuel Dorantes, priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as the Administrative and Management Director of the Higher Educational Centre Laudato Si’, with a four-year mandate.

Until now, he has served as pastor of Saint Mary of the Lake and Our Lady of Lourdes in the same archdiocese. Dorantes will begin this new role on December 1.

“With trusting faith in Jesus, I gratefully embrace the Holy Father’s call to serve as Administrative Director of the Laudato Si Centre for Higher Education.

Such an unexpected invitation left me humbled and appreciative. I look forward to collaborating with the men and women who work daily towards the realization of the Holy Father’s vision expressed in Laudato Si: to create tangible examples of the Church’s contribution to the care of our common home and to the integral development of the human person. The potential of the Centre in the areas of education, the economy of sustainability, ecological training and service is both challenging and inspiring.

“I am grateful to my family and the Church in Mexico that gave me the faith, and the Church in Chicago that formed my heart and mind in parish ministry over the last seventeen years. I thank Cardinal Cupich for his accompaniment during this process and for encouraging me to respond with generosity to the Holy Father’s invitation. I am indebted to the Priests, Religious Sisters, Lay Staff and Faithful of the parishes of Saint Clement, Immaculate Conception and Saint Mary of the Lake and Our Lady of Lourdes for all they have done for me and all that they do to live out Jesus’ mandate to love God and neighbor through concrete acts of mercy.

I look forward to meeting my teammates at the Centre and working together in this beautiful mission so that all peoples throughout the world can have the fullness of life that Jesus promised us”.