Tenth Provincial of Region, 1979-1985
Edward M. O'Flaherty was born October 29, 1934 to Edward M. and Rose R. O'Flaherty in Roslindale, a section of Boston, MA. Following his graduation from Boston College High School, he entered the Society at Shadowbrook, Lenox, MA, on August 14, 1952. When fire destroyed Shadowbrook in 1956, he went briefly to the New York Province house of studies at Plattsburg, NY. Then, he studied philosophy at Facultes de Saint-Albert de Louvain, Belgium, earning a Licentiate of Philosophy in 1959. He taught Latin, French, and history at Cheverus High School, Portland, ME from 1959 until 1961. From 1961-1962 he studied anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and was awarded a M.A. in anthropology in 1964. From 1962 to 1966 he studied theology at Weston College, Weston, MA, earning an M.A. in 1966. He also was ordained there in 1965. His tertainship was at St. Robert's Hall, Pomfret, CT from 1966 until 1967. Then, he returned to the University of Pennsylvania as a Ph.D. candidate continuing his studies in anthropology and was awarded his doctorate in 1979. He was a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania in the Fall of 1970 and from 1971 until 1973; a lecturer in anthropology and philosophy at St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1970-1971; and a visiting lecturer of moral theology at St. Charles Seminary, Philadelphia, PA from 1971 until 1972. From 1973 until 1976 he taught anthropology in the Sociology Department at Boston College.
After three years of teaching at Boston College, he was asked to become rector of the community at the Jesuit School of Theology, in Berkeley, California-the first of three jobs leading important Jesuit institutions through dramatic changes in unsettled times. After his term as rector, he was provincial of the New England Province from 1979 to 1985 and, after a sabbatical in Paris, president of Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA, from 1986 to 1992.
When he stepped down as president, it was to move in an entirely new direction. For years he had been a member of the Ministers' Club, a Boston institution since the 19th century, where clergy from different faiths come together for fellowship and ecumenical conversation, and he had also long been involved in regular work on weekends in the parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston. These two interests converged when the Archdiocese asked him in 1992 to become Director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and to head the Office of Pastoral Support of Priests, working especially with recently ordained clergy. He moved back to Boston College, which became his home for the rest of his life. There he also took on jobs as assistant rector and community treasurer. He died from a brain tumor on February 21, 2012 at Campion Center, Weston, MA, where he is also buried.