Jeanmarie Santopatre - Guest speaker via Zoom on November 10, 2022

Jeanmarie Santopatre is a native of Albertson Long Island, New York. Her grandparents immigrated to New York from Italy around 1920.

 

An avid proponent of her Catholic faith and Social Justice, she read Daniel Berrigan, S.J.’s books that helped shape her passion for truth and social justice. She was a photojournalism major at Syracuse University and upon graduating from Syracuse, Jean embarked on a career as a newspaper photojournalist in Southwestern Connecticut.

 

After a successful newspaper career, Jean joined the public relations and publications staff at Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT as the university photojournalist. She was drawn to Ignatian Spirituality and completed the Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life of St. Ignatius and was a mentor in the Ignatian Residential College during her tenure there. Also, she co-led student Mission Immersion trips with Campus Ministry to the Passamaquoddy Reservation in Maine, Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico and Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

 

 

At Fairfield, she studied Ignatian pedagogy and spirituality and received her Master of Arts in Educational Technology.  Jean’s discernment led her to embark on a new career path. She was accepted to Yale Divinity School and completed her Master of Art in Theology, Education, Leadership and Ministry in 2015. She completed two units of CPE as a Bridgeport, CT hospital chaplain and interned at St. Thomas More, the Yale Catholic chaplaincy while at Yale Divinity School.

 

Upon graduation from Yale, Jean was hired as the Director of Campus Ministry at Lauralton Hall, an all-girls Catholic, Mercy college prep school in Milford, CT. After four years as Campus Minister and Religion teacher, her discernment through Spiritual Direction, led her to seek a position in Ministry that engages Ignatian Spirituality and Social Justice. She joined St. Ignatius of Loyola Church in mid-August 2019 as the Pastoral Associate for Faith Formation for Family and Ignatian Young Adults, and Social Justice Ministry.  She feels blessed to be here! Jean is completed the Formation to become a Spiritual Director and was certified in December 2019 with the Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality, Fairfield Univeersity.

 

She resides in Black Rock, Bridgeport, Connecticut with her husband, Michael Freeman and their son, Dylan who graduated from Fairfield University in 2020.

 

“Go forth and set the world on fire.”  ~St. Ignatius Loyola