Filipino Jesuit Earns a Doctorate Degree in Sankt Georgen, Germany

Every year, many students from Phillippines go to Germany to earn their post-graduate degrees in various disciplines. Aside from the scholarship oppurtunity, studying in Germany presents a unique oppurtunity to learn the local language. Fr. Gil Donayre SJ, a Jesuit priest from Cagayan de Oro Philippines, has recently completed his Doctorate Degree in Philosophy at Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt, Germany.

He started his studies in 2017 with a 6-month german language course up to C1 level. In 2018, he labored on his doctoral dessertation focusing on the topic: The Environmental Crisis through the Christian and Islamic Positions: A Comparative Theological Study on Religion´s Approaches to the Environmental Crisis. He succesfully completed his Doctorate in Philosophy (Ph.D) on November 2023 in Sankt Georgen, a Jesuit University which offers courses in the fields on catholic and religious studies. 

While doing his studies, he was also active in the ministry of Filipino Migrants in various places in Germany like Frankurt, Kassel, and Grundau. After his studies in Germany, he will be assigned as assistant to the Novice Master and Minister at the Sacred Heart Noviciate in Novaliches Quezon City. 

Father Gil was born in Margosatubig, Zamboanga del Sur, where he was baptized and confirmed. He went to high school in Xavier University High School in Cagayan de Oro City and proceeded to the Ateneo de Manila University to obtain his undergraduate degree in Economics in 1999. Right after college, he joined the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines (JVP) and was assigned to Bendum, Bukidnon to work with Fr Peter Walpole, SJ and the Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC). In 2001.

He entered the Society and has since obtained two master’s degrees from the ADMU – in Mathematics (MOM 2006) and in Philosophy (MA-Ph 2007). His teaching experience over the past 5 years (in Ateneo de Naga as a regent and in Ateneo de Manila as part-time faculty) spans various disciplines from Trigonometry, to Calculus, Statistics, Philosophy and Theology. He has also been part of the team that engages parish ministry in the Ina ng Kapayapaan Parish in Montalban.

Last December 29, Father Gil bid his farewell to the communit and he flew back to the Philippines two days after.