Jesuits In Lebanon

The Jesuits first arrived in Lebanon in the 1640's, but their initial efforts there ended with the Suppression in 1773. French Jesuits returned in 1831 and began a school in Ghazir, north of Beirut, which moved to Beirut in 1875 as an inter-ritual seminary, the first beginning of the modern St. Joseph's University. For two years Father Monnot toured the United States and Canada, enlisting the aid of 80,000 donors whose contributions made possible the purchase of land and the construction of buildings and a church. The campus grew as faculties were added and student enrollment increased.The medical facility, was opened in 1881. Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ, the present general superior of the Society of Jesus, earned his doctorate in theology at St. Joseph's University, and later was professor of general linguistics there. More Original link (here)