A Jesuit in Formation Prepares to Serve the Universal Church
By Rachel Amiri
William Manaker, SJ, a third-year theologian at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, is animated by his vocation as a contemplative in action at the service of the Church.
“This is what we strive to be,” he said. “There’s an attitude of immersing oneself in the world in a very incarnational way, to go out and to be on mission, to see what the reality is on the ground, but also to approach it with a stance that is contemplative, rooted in a relationship with God and in prayer.”
It was a summer mission to Belize during his Jesuit formation that helped Manaker see how he is called to serve that mission. In 2022, he worked collaboratively with other Jesuits, lay catechists and a religious sister to give retreats in Mayan communities around Punta Gorda and the Toledo district of Belize.
The retreats, which were oriented around spiritual formation and guiding participants to deeper prayer, were developed in response to the needs of the local church. “It was a fruit of listening to the needs of these local villages and saying, ‘What is it that you really need?’” said Manaker.
Working on a team with catechists who taught and translated for the Jesuits into the Indigenous Q’eqchi’ language was both challenging and beautiful – and taught him the importance of working together.
“If the Jesuits had tried to do this on our own, we could not. Nor could the Mayan catechists have done that on their own. It really was an experience of collaborating for the good of the local church,” he said.
He has carried this perspective with him, as the experience outside the classroom has shaped his interest in ecclesiology, the study of the Church.
“After you’ve been out there, you come back to prayer and bring all these things to reflection, and that, in turn, generates new life and new ministry.”
His interest in theology began as an undergraduate in Catholic Studies and philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. While studying abroad in Rome, he met Fr. Joseph Carola, SJ, who served as the students’ chaplain. He was “nudged” by a professor to consider the Jesuits, entering the novitiate in 2014.
“The Church has been very important to me in my life. I wouldn’t be a Jesuit, offering myself in service to the Church in this very concrete way if it weren’t,” he said.
This fall, he is completing a Master of Divinity and beginning coursework in a licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) at the Clough School as he discerns future academic study.
“I am interested in thinking about the tension that comes with the diversity of ministries and gifts and charisms in Church, and how that can actually be a tension that builds up and gives life,” said Manaker. Although tensions can yield conflicts, they can also be where the Holy Spirit works. “It’s not that we’re trying to solve all these problems, but it’s asking, ‘What is the Holy Spirit calling us to do?’”
He sees the Holy Spirit at work in this creative tension, pointing to Pope Francis and the path of synodality. “It’s a beautiful way of recognizing that we all need each other, that there is a unity in the Church that needs all of the diverse members of the Church listening and walking together to actually carry out the mission of the Church.”
Studying at Boston College alongside not only other Jesuits in formation from around the world, but also with religious women and men and laypeople preparing for ministry has also shaped his deep appreciation for the diversity of gifts and ministries in the Church. His current housemates hail from four of the seven continents. “I think it’s a great experience of the universality of the Society of Jesus and the Church,” he said.
Anticipating his priestly ordination in the summer of 2025, Manaker was ordained to the transitional diaconate in Boston on September 14th along with seven Jesuit brothers from around the world who are also studying in Boston. He is hopeful as he looks to future ministry as a Jesuit priest.
“I’m excited to share the joy and the hope that we can all find in Christ, ‘the joy of the Gospel,’ as Pope Francis says. I hope I do that already, but I look forward to doing that in newer ways as a priest and as a deacon.”
Is God calling you to a vocation in the Society of Jesus? Visit www.beajesuit.org to continue your discernment.
Image at top of page: William Manaker, SJ, gives a talk on vocation at a catechists’ retreat in Jalacte, Belize.
