Michael R. Simone, a Jesuit priest of the USA Midwest Province, is pastor of Gesù Parish in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he attended Holy Name High School and John Carroll University. After some years of work and discernment, he joined the Jesuits in 1997. Formation took him to Detroit, Chicago, Toledo, and Boston, and after graduate theological study at Weston Jesuit School of Theology, he was ordained a priest in 2007.
His first assignment after ordination was Gesu Parish in Detroit, Michigan. From there he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, to attend Johns Hopkins University where he received a Ph.D. in Northwest Semitics and Assyriology. From 2013 to 2021, he was assistant professor at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. While there, he taught Scripture and preaching, served on the core faculty of spirituality studies, and was chair of the Education Policy Committee.
Fr. Simone is also a writer and a regular contributor to many Catholic publications. He serves on the editorial team of America magazine where, from 2016-2019, he had been a weekly columnist. In addition to his work for America, he has written for the Portuguese Jesuits’ Mensageiro do Coração de Jesus and was a contributor to the 2023 and 2025 editions of At Home With The Word. Among his publications, Fr. Simone is the author of the monograph Your God is a Devouring Fire (CBQMS 57), a chapter on divine fire in God and Gods in the Deuteronomistic History (CBQI 2), a commentary on the book of Judges for the Paulist Biblical Commentary, and commentaries on the prophecies of Nahum and Zephaniah for the New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Revised Edition.
Fr. Simone gained important pastoral experience at Gesu parish in Detroit, at St. Leonard’s and St. Cecilia’s parishes, both in Boston, and as associate pastor of Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago. He has also served as a prison chaplain at MCI Cedar Junction and a hospital chaplain in the VA Maryland Health System. He is also a regular public speaker, giving retreats and offering talks on biblical and spiritual themes to parishes, religious communities, and diocesan gatherings.
From 2021-2022, Fr. Simone lived in Dublin, Ireland, where he served on the staff of Morningstar Hostel for the Homeless and presided regularly at the Jesuit parish of St. Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street.
On July 1, 2024, Fr. Simone began his duties as pastor of Gesù Parish in Milwaukee.