REVEREND MARK WEBER, SVD
Fr. Mark Weber, SVD, served as provincial superior of the Chicago Province of the Society of the Divine Word from 2005 to 2011.
As provincial, he held responsibilities that are similar to those of a bishop; overseeing the work of more than 250 missionaries and serving as chief administrator of a territory that stretches from Canada to the Caribbean and from Nebraska to Massachusetts.
The Chicago Province is the Society of the Divine Word’s largest province in the Western Hemisphere. Founded in 1875, the Society of the Divine Word is the world’s sixth largest Catholic religious order for men and the largest one that focuses on missionary work.
Fr. Weber joined the Divine Word Missionaries in 1977. Ordained in 1982, he spent eight years in Ghana: two years as a seminarian and six years as a missionary priest. From 1983 to 1989, he was chaplain at St. Paul Technical School in Kukurantumi, Ghana.
When he returned to the United States in 1989, he joined the staff of the 8th Day Center for Justice, focusing on issues regarding social justice. Those efforts included raising awareness of inequitable global trade systems, the need for affordable housing, the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, and forgiveness of oppressive national debts for developing countries.
For most of the 1990s, Fr. Weber worked on the formation staff of Divine Word Theologate in Hyde Park and eventually was named rector. As a staff member, he helped guide the training of Divine Word seminarians at Catholic Theological Union.
After his tenure with Divine Word Theologate, Fr. Weber served St. Anselm’s Parish in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood. To assist the Archdiocese of Chicago, Divine Word Missionaries have staffed the predominantly African-American parishes of St. Anselm and St. Elizabeth since before World War II. Fr. Weber lived and worked at the parish for five years, including three as pastor. His peers elected him as Chicago provincial in 2005 and reelected him in 2008.
Fr. Weber holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Divine Word College in Iowa and a Masters in Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Members of the media wishing to interview Fr. Weber should contact Theresa Carson at 847-412-1606.