Fr. James C. Carter, SJ

Father James C. Carter, SJ, president emeritus of Loyola University New Orleans and the school’s longest-tenured president, died May 22, 2026, in Florissant, Missouri. He was 98 years old, a Jesuit for 80 years and a priest for 67 years.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in the chapel of St. Ignatius Hall, the Jesuit Community at Garden Villas North, in Florissant, Missouri, at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, 2026, with a visitation beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the same location. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis immediately following the funeral.

James C. Carter was born in New York City on August 1, 1927, to James C. and Elizabeth Dillon Carter. He was predeceased by his parents and two brothers, Dr. John F. Carter and Dr. Anthony Carter. He is survived by his sister-in-law, Charlene Carter, and his brothers in the Society of Jesus.

He entered the Society of Jesus in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, in 1945. He pronounced first vows on the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, July 31, 1947. He was ordained a priest on June 22, 1958, at Woodstock College in Woodstock, Maryland and professed final vows in the Society at the Gesú Church in Miami.

In 1960, he was assigned to teach physics at Loyola University New Orleans. He would remain in service there for most of the next six decades. In 1970, he was named provost and academic vice president, and in 1974 he began a 21-year tenure as the school’s president.

During his years of ministry in New Orleans, Fr. Carter led by example in the service of faith and promotion of justice. He served as a division director of the United Way, a director at New Orleans Public Service, Inc., and as president of the Metropolitan Area Committee. Father Carter served as interim executive director of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in 1996 and as co-chair of the New Orleans region of the board of the National Conference for Community and Justice. Among other honors, Loyola presented Fr. Carter with an honorary doctorate in 1995.

From 2001 to 2004, Fr. Carter served as pastor and superior of the Jesuit community at Immaculate Conception Parish in New Orleans, before returning to Loyola in 2004 to serve as a pastoral minister and part-time science, religion and physics teacher.

Father Carter’s academic career was wide-ranging, and he wrote broadly on nuclear physics, evolution and religion. His course on science and religion was one of the most popular at Loyola during his later years there. In 2017, he shared “Five Lessons from a Lifetime at Loyola” in an oral history video produced by a student at the university.

He remained at Loyola University until mid-2020, when he was assigned to a ministry of prayer, first at the St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Pavilion in Grand Coteau and later at St. Ignatius Hall in Florissant, Missouri.

Father Carter earned a Bachelor of Science in physics from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, a Master of Science in physics from Fordham University, in the Bronx, New York, and a doctorate from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He completed a licentiate in sacred theology at Woodstock College.

As we thank God for a life of leadership and service, let us remember Fr. Carter in our prayers.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province. They can be mailed to 4511 West Pine Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Donate online at www.JesuitsCentralSouthern.org.