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In Memoriam

Jesuit Father Anthony P. Roberts died on Oct. 27, 2016, at the age of 89, at Manresa Hall Jesuit Community in Philadelphia.

He was born in New York City on Oct. 8, 1927. He graduated from St. Ann’s Academy in New York and entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pennsylania, in 1943. He received his Licentiate in Philosophy from Woodstock College in Maryland and later studied Hindi in Gomoh, India and Bengali at the Loyola School in Jamshedpur, India. He was ordained to the priesthood on Nov. 21, 1956.

From his time as a Jesuit scholastic until he returned to the States in 1996, Fr. Roberts committed his life as a Jesuit priest, teacher and minister to those on the margins in India. He spent the first 25 years in Jamshedpur, serving many roles at the Loyola School, including teacher of English and ethics, assistant headmaster, retreat coordinator and trainer for other teachers. He also served as the provincial of Jamshedpur from 1962-1968.

In 1979, Fr. Roberts studied Canon Law at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and then returned to India as a professor of Canon Law at Morning Star College in Barrakpore. In 1987, he became a judicial vicar for the Orissa Regional Tribune, serving for seven years. He also spent three years teaching at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Allahbad and served another four as a Canonical consultant, leading seminars for religious and clergy.

In 1996, Fr. Roberts returned to the States where he served 14 years as a pastoral minister at the Loyola Center in Philadelphia and moved to Manresa Hall Jesuit Community in 2010.