Victor ASSOUAD, s.j.

Rev. Fr. Victor Assouad, SJ was born in Aleppo, Syria, into a Catholic family of the Maronite rite. In 1967, his family relocated to Beirut, Lebanon, where they still reside. At the age of sixteen, the war in Lebanon led him to continue his studies in France, where he prepared for and passed the entrance exams to the top French business schools in 1979. He was then admitted to École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) Paris, to specialize in management and finance. After graduating from HEC in 1982, Assouad joined the Society of Jesus (commonly known as the Jesuits) as a member of the Near East Province, which at that time included Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
After more than a decade of rigorous formation in philosophy and theology, he was ordained a priest in 1993. His academic and apostolic commitments led him to live in Lebanon, Egypt, France, Spain, and, since 2017, in Rome, Italy.
As a priest, Assouad spent ten years as an educator and Minister to Notre-Dame de Jamhour school in Lebanon, where he ministered primarily to high school students. He also served as head Minister at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut from 2015 to 2016 before being sent to Rome.
He has held several leadership roles within the Society of Jesus. He served as Master of Novices for his Province for seven years in Cairo, Egypt, in order to train candidates from the Arab world in Jesuit spirituality and way of life. In 2008, he was appointed Provincial Superior for the Province of the Near East and the Maghreb. Since 2017 he has served as General Counsellor and Assistant to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus for Western Europe and the Middle East.