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The Jesuit Retreat House
5629 State Road
Parma, OH 44134

Phone: 440.884.9300
Fax: 440.885.1055
E-Mail: jrhcleve@att.net

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Jesuit Retreat House


What Is A Retreat?Calendar | Typical Conference Retreat 

Retreat Directors
Individually-Directed Retreats


Carl Bonk, S.J.
is a native of Detroit, Michigan who entered the Society of Jesus in 1960 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1982.  He has served at Walsh Jesuit High School, where he was treasurer and part-time teacher, and at St. Ignatius High School, where he taught theology and coached baseball.  He has served on the staff of Jesuit Retreat House and Loyola of the Lakes Jesuit Retreat House.  Most recently he served as pastor at Ss. Peter & Paul Church in downtown Detroit. 

Rita Carfagna has been married for 30 years and is the mother of four grown children. She has been an active parishioner at St. Dominic Parish for most of her life. She is a graduate of the Ignatian Spirituality Institute at John Carroll University in Cleveland and has been practicing her ministry of spiritual direction for the past three years. In addition to providing general spiritual direction, Rita leads parishes through 9 week Ignatian retreats and accompanies individuals through the 30 week Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life. As a witness to the power of the Spiritual Exercises for bringing about inner conversion, Rita is passionate about spreading the Good News of the Kingdom of God through the good news of the Spiritual Exercises.

Sr. Rosemarie Carfagna, OSU is an Ursuline Sister who teaches at Ursuline College and John Carroll University. She has a doctorate in Spirituality and is involved in the Ignatian Spirituality Program at JCU. Over a period of years Sr. Rosemarie has given retreats and done spiritual direction. She has published articles and books in the field of Spirituality, including Divine Designs published by Sheed and Ward and Crisis and Contemplation soon to be published by Paulist Press.

Patrick Cleary-Burns is the founder and Executive Director of Itinerant Retreat Leaders, Inc.  Pat is a graduate of the Ignatian Spirituality Institute at John Carroll University and holds a BA in Theology and MA in Pastoral Ministry, both from Boston College .  He has directed men and women in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius at John Carroll and JRH,  led more than 20 day retreats for non-profit organizations at JRH, discernment retreats for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, the 2008 Deacons Retreat for the Episcopal Diocese, and programs at the 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the Newman Foundation and Joseph's Home and the Regional Council of the Ignatian Volunteer Corp.  Pat and his wife Jeannie live in South Euclid and are members of the Community of St. Malachi.

Fr. Jack Dister, S.J. was recently assigned to be a retreat director at Jesuit Retreat House.  He draws upon extensive pastoral ministry experience, having served at St. Therese's Retreat Center (Columbus, OH),  Loyola of the Lakes Jesuit Retreat House (near Akron), Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland), and University of Detroit Mercy.   He has served nine years as Provincial Assistant for Retreat Houses and for Social Ministry for the Detroit Province of the Jesuits.  Earlier he spent many years in teaching and administration at John Carroll University (near Cleveland ).

Sr. Mary Ann Flannery, S.C. Sr. Mary Ann is a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and the 12th director of Jesuit Retreat House.  She previously served for 20 years as an Associate Professor of Communications and Chair of the Communication/Theatre Arts Department at John Carroll University. She has ministered as a retreat director for many years in the Cleveland area. She served as a superior of her congregation and as a free-lance journalist before beginning her career at John Carroll in 1989. she is interested in communication and its role in theology and religion.

Carol Gyorki has been married for 44 years and has two grown sons and six grandchildren. She is a member of St. Joan of Arc Parish, Chagrin Falls. She is a graduate of the Ignatian Spirituality Institute at John Carroll University. She has degrees in catechetics/psychology from Notre Dame College and a Masters in Counseling from JCU. She has directed retreatants in 9-week parish programs and directed others in the 19th Annotation retreat. She is interested in spiritual companioning of women who are seeking a deeper spiritual life - recognizing their God-given goodness and inner beauty as they draw closer to the one who calls them. 

Richard Jerdonek is a graduate of the Ignatian Spirituality Institute at John Carroll University. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the Spirituality Program for Adults at St. Ignatius High School, attended the Rome Consultation with directors of Jesuit retreat houses, and served as JRH's Board President. Rich and his wife Julie received the Dorothy Day Award from the West Side Catholic Center for service to those in need. Rich is a management consultant, and earned his MBA from Stanford University and MS from Case Western Reserve. Rich and Julie have three grown sons and are members of St. Basil's Church in Brecksville, Ohio.

Mary Kay Jones is married, the mother of five grown children and grandmother of three. She is a Pastoral Minister and a certified spiritual director. For over 20 years she has taught in Catholic schools. Having made various Ignatian retreats Mary Kay has a Masters Degree in Ministry from Ursuline College and is a graduate from the Ignatian Spiritual Institute. She also works for the Office of Catechetical Studies in the training of religion teachers. She has directed a 9 week parish program "Praying with Ignatius of Loyola" a number of times. Spiritual direction and accompaniment are her main interests. 

Karen Patena is a Cleveland diocesan certified pastoral minister as well as a spiritual director. Her ministry of spiritual direction includes inner healing prayer. She also facilitates pastoral ministry candidates in spiritual formation. She has a particular love for praying with scriptures and reflecting on the lives of the saints, big '5' and little's', seeing in them God's passionate love for us and the invitation for us to respond to that incredible love. Karen and her husband, Jim, take great delight in their two grown sons, daughters-in-law and two grandchildren.

Fr. John Vrana is a native of Cleveland and was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland on May 20, 1967. After two years of parish work he was assigned to teach at Saint Mary Seminary in Cleveland. In preparation for that work he studied at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada and at the Katholike Universitet te Leuven in Belgium where he earned the degree, Doctor of Sacred Theology. During his eighteen years on the seminary faculty he also served as Spiritual Director. After the seminary assignment he returned to parish work both as an associate and as pastor. He has served as a director for retreats at JRH and elsewhere and continues to serve as a spiritual director for priests, women religious and laity. He is currently an associate pastor at St. Francis de Sales in Parma.