Ave Maria fires Joseph Fessio, SJ - again

Ave Maria fires Jesuit - again

Ave Maria University has fired theologian-in-residence and friend of Pope Benedict, Fr Joseph Fessio, SJ, who was previously sacked from his post as university provost.

Fr Fessio was fired as university provost in 2007 and then re-hired but demoted a day later after protests from students and an outcry from the orthodox Catholic community, Naples News reports.

In an e-mail Monday, Fessio wrote that his second firing stemmed from criticisms he expressed privately last November to AMU Board Chairman Jack Donahue about the university's financial footing.


"I've enjoyed my time there, I think I've made a contribution," Fessio said from the offices of Ignatius Press, a San Francisco-based Catholic publishing house he founded and still runs. "I would have been happy to continue there."

In a statement late Monday afternoon, the university confirmed it had "ended its formal relationship" with Fessio but did not cite a reason. "The decision was made by the leadership of the university and supported by its Board of Trustees," the statement said. "While Fr. Fessio will not be continuing in any capacity at the university, AMU wishes to express its gratitude to him for the assistance that he rendered to the university."

In his e-mail, Fessio wrote that AMU's academic vice president Jack Sites flew from a meeting in Houston to San Francisco to inform him that he was being fired. Fessio called the meeting amicable.

Fessio wrote that he told Donahue in November that the present administration at the university was "irrevocably wedded" to policies that were at the root of financial problems at the university and that without a change in administration, the university was "at great risk."
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Ave Maria University fires Rev. Joseph Fessio a second time (Naples News)

Ave Maria University dismisses Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ ... again (letter included) (American Papist)