Stefan Kiechle

Fr. Stefan Kiechle SJ was Provincial of the German Jesuit Province from 2010 to 2017. (Photo: 2013)

Stefan Kiechle (* 1960 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) is a German Jesuit and Catholic theologian. From 2010 to 2017 he was Provincial of the German Province of the Jesuits. Since January 1st, 2018 he has been editor-in-chief of the cultural magazine “ Voices of Time ” and delegate of the German Jesuit Province for Ignatian spirituality.

Career

Kiechle studied theology in Freiburg and Jerusalem . In 1982 he joined the Jesuit order. He further studied theology and philosophy in Munich and Frankfurt ( Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen ) and was ordained a priest in Munich in 1989.

He then completed a doctorate in Paris on Ignatian spirituality and received his doctorate in theology in 1994. He spent his third degree in 1995 in Chile. From 1995 to 1998 he was a university chaplain at the University of Munich in Munich. From 1998 to 2007 he was novice master in Nuremberg, after which he was head of the “Open Door” counseling center in Mannheim, led retreats and took on teaching assignments.

From September 1, 2010 to May 31, 2017, Kiechle was the successor of Stefan Dartmann Provincial of the German Province of the Jesuits .

Kiechle saw the election of the Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis as a “positive signal for the Church”. It is generally surprising, however, since Jesuits usually do not “strive for offices and dignity, but do not refuse them” when they are called to do so. The Pope's exhortation that the Church must go to the limits, to the periphery, to the people, as well as the call to turn to the poor, and also the desire for a simple style in the liturgy and in personal life is Jesuit.

Fonts

Together with the Jesuits Willi Lambert and Martin Müller, Kiechle publishes the book series "Ignatian Impulse", which is published by Echter Verlag .

As an author

Succession on the cross. A theological-anthropological study of Ignatian spirituality. Echter, Würzburg 1996, ISBN 3-429-01787-4 (dissertation).
with Clemens Maaß: The Jesuit order today. Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-7867-8328-4 .
Ignatius of Loyola. Master of Spirituality. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2001, ISBN 3-451-05068-4 ; Russian: ISBN 5-88403-042-8 ; Spanish: ISBN 84-254-2462-3 ; Swedish: ISBN 91-7580-332-1 .
Bigger than our heart Biblical meditations - retreats in everyday life . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2003, ISBN 3-451-28196-1 ; Polish: ISBN 83-7224-833-8 .
Decide. Echter, Würzburg 2004, ISBN 3-429-02535-4 ; English: ISBN 1-59471-035-X ; Polish: ISBN 978-83-60703-26-7 .
Exercise power (= Ignatian impulses , vol. 13). Echter, Würzburg 2005, ISBN 3-429-02700-4 .
Live by playing. Echter, Würzburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-429-03075-9 .
Jesuit. Between cliché and reality. Topos plus Verlagsgemeinschaft, Kevelaer 2013, ISBN 978-3-8367-0848-7 .
Exceed limits. Pope Francis and his Jesuit roots. Echter, Würzburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-429-03857-1 .

As editor

Brothers in the Society of Jesus. Upper German Province of the Society of Jesus, Munich 1985.
The vow of poverty. Upper German Province of the Society of Jesus, Munich 1986.