Rev. William J. Watters, S.J.

Fr. Bill Watters, SJ was born on March 1, 1934, in Montclair, NJ. After graduating from St. Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City, NJ, he entered the Maryland Province Society of Jesus in Wernersville, PA on July 30, 1952.

Fr. Watters studied at Fordham (1959), Weston (1962-1966). He was ordained by Richard Cardinal Cushing in 1965. After ordination, he went for further studies at Loyola Chicago (1969) and Regis Toronto (1985).
Fr. Watters taught at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia from 1959-1962 and 1967-1969. From 1969-1975, Fr. Watters taught at Loyola Blakefield and spent summers at Blue Ridge Summit, a Jesuit villa where he conducted weekend retreats for Blakefield students.

Between 1975-1984, Fr. Watters was assigned as Provincial Assistant of Pastoral Ministries, ministering to 200 Jesuits engaged at parishes, retreat houses, hospitals, and social centers. In 1985 he became pastor at Old St. Joseph’s, Philadelphia, until he was missioned to Benin City, Nigeria in 1989 as a pastoral assistant and acting pastor at St. Joseph’s Church, a parish with over 10,000 parishioners. While there, he established Joseph House and chaired a committee to initiate a plan to build Loyola Jesuit College (1995), the first Jesuit secondary school, located in the Federal Capital, Abuja.

Between 1991-2005, Fr. Watters was pastor of St. Ignatius, Baltimore and 2008-2015. During this time, Fr. Watters established St. Ignatius Loyola Academy (1993), Cristo Rey Jesuit H.S. (2007) and The Loyola School (2017). He served on boards and as President of St. Ignatius Loyola and The Loyola School. As pastor, he welcomed new families, assisted in expanding ministries, and renovated the interior of the church in 1999. Later, in 2001, he renovated the lower church.

From 2006-2008, Fr. Watters served as the Province Socius and used his summers for international travel to teach English to Jesuit scholastics in Vietnam or participate in Horizons For Justice, an experience of living with the poor in Mexico.

His ongoing project since 2017 has been in advancement for the new campus of The Loyola School in Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore. In his spare time, Fr. Watters serves on three Boards: Loyola Blakefield, St. Ignatius Loyola Academy, and The Loyola School. Currently, he serves as President Emeritus at The Loyola School and assistant priest at St. Ignatius Church. He resides at Colombiere Jesuit Community, Baltimore.