Joined the Pastoral Staff at Gesu in June 2006

Fr. Paul D. Panaretos, S.J. came to Gesu via Sri Lanka, where he completed his Tertianship in 2006. Tertianship is the third phase of formation before the Society of Jesus invites a Jesuit to profess final vows. From 2000-2005 Father served as Retreat Director at Loyola of the Lakes Jesuit Retreat House in Green, Ohio, just south of Akron.

Fr. Panaretos, a native of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, was not always a Jesuit priest. He served the Archdiocese of Detroit for a dozen years before he entered the Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus. He studied philosophy at Sacred Heart Seminary College in Detroit and theology at The Divinity School, Yale University.

“I always wanted to be a priest. I didn’t realize that Jesus had blessed me with two vocations: priesthood and religious life,” Fr. Panaretos said.

“I did want a break between undergraduate and graduate schools. I worked as Research Assistant to the Chief of Infectious Diseases at Detroit General Hospital for over four years after college. Besides learning my way around a hospital, I slowly appreciated God had created me to be a celibate. When I told my parents I was leaving the hospital to study theology to be a priest, my mother said, “It’s never been out of you.”

“From the beginning, my priestly ministry more than satisfied me. As I gave myself to several parishes and to serving the archdiocese in additional ways, I felt a need to simplify my life. That increased until I needed to explore religious life as an avenue to do that and to be a part of a community. I’m grateful the Jesuits and I discovered each other. They offer me more avenues to ministry, rooted in Ignatian spirituality, which is a blessing for me.”