Techny, IL—On June 1, Fr. Mark E. Weber, 51, took office as the newly elected provincial of the Chicago Province of the Society of the Divine Word. For the past three years Weber has served as a member of the Chicago Province Provincial Council and as pastor of St. Anselm Parish in Chicago. He was a member of the formation staff and rector at Divine Word Theologate, Chicago, from 1991 to 2000 while also serving as USC Justice & Peace Coordinator. Following his ordination in 1982, he returned to Ghana, where he had completed his overseas training program, and he served as chaplain at St. Paul Technical School, Kukurantumi, until 1989.

Born in Dyersville, Iowa, Fr. Weber attended St. Francis Xavier Grade School and Beckman High School. He earned a B.A. in Sociology at Divine Word College, Epworth, and professed religious vows at the Society of the Divine Word St. Augustine Seminary, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in 1977. He earned a Masters in Divinity at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago and was ordained in Techny, Illinois in 1982.

As Fr. Weber accepted the job of provincial he said, “I loved it at St. Anselm’s! I grieve at the thought of leaving this parish where multi-year dreams were just beginning to take shape; where I’ve become part of the family; where I expected to spend the next nine years.” And specifically to the members of the Chicago Province he said, “I trust that the grace to make it work is with us as a community. We’re all in this together, my brothers. We are ordinary guys, working hard; and as ordinary guys, each of us brings his strengths and limitations to the mission. God seems to have a habit of using ordinary people like us, working together, to do extraordinary things.”