Province: Canada
Birthday: January 5, 1982
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Education:
Honours Bachelor of
Science, Astronomy and Physics, University of Toronto
Doctorate, physics, Princeton University
Diploma in
Philosophical Studies, Regis College, University of Toronto
Bachelor of Sacred Theology, Pontifical Gregorian University
Highlights of Jesuit Formation:
Four-and-a-half month placement at the African Jesuits AIDS Network in Nairobi
Postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia from 2013 to 2015
Assisted with the
Vatican Observatory Summer School in 2014
Post-Ordination:
Will complete his Master of Theology
and Licentiate in Sacred Theology at Regis College, University of Toronto
Biography:
Adam Hincks, SJ, is from Toronto, Ontario, and is the eldest of
three. As a child, he lived for seven years in Lesotho where his parents were
volunteers with Mennonite Central Committee. Completing high school in Toronto,
he went on to do an Hon. BSc. in astronomy and physics at the University of
Toronto and a Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University. His graduate work was
focused on helping to deploy the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in northern
Chile and analysing its data. It was during graduate school that he discerned
his vocation to religious life, and he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Montréal
in 2009. Among his assignments as a novice was a five-month placement at the
African Jesuits AIDS Network in Nairobi. After pronouncing vows in 2011 he did
a two-year philosophy course at Regis College, University of Toronto. He was a
postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia from 2013 to 2015,
during which time he continued research with ACT and also worked on the
Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, a new radio telescope near
Penticton, British Columbia. From 2015 to 2018 he studied theology at the
Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained to the diaconate at
the Church of the Gesù in Rome in April of 2018, before returning to Toronto to
begin a Licence in Sacred Theology at Regis College. During his theology
studies, he has continued some scientific research on the side and is an
associate scholar of the Vatican Observatory. He occasionally contributes
articles to America Magazine and gives public talks on faith and science. After
his priestly ordination, he will celebrate his first Mass at St. Peter's in
Toronto where he has served as a deacon for the past year. (Canada Province)
Adam (standing) giving a tour for Martin Scorsese about the rooms of St. Ignatius Loyola, near the Church of the Gesú in Rome.
What was one particularly meaningful experience you had during your
formation, and why was it meaningful to you?
During theology studies, I was privileged to spend four weeks in
Israel and Palestine with my Jesuit classmates from Rome. We did our annual eight-day retreat in Jerusalem and then visited many of the important
pilgrimage sites. Although I already had a solid acquaintance with the Bible
and the life of Christ, this experience helped bring them alive in new ways.
How has your spirituality changed since entering the Society?
Before entering the Society, my knowledge of Ignatian spirituality
was fairly rudimentary. As a Jesuit, I have become much more a person of the
Spiritual Exercises in my prayer life and in the manner in which I discern and
make decisions. I have also had the privilege of accompanying others making the
Spiritual Exercises and witnessing how God spoke to them.
What is your favorite book, movie, music, or TV show
you’ve encountered since entering the Society and why do you love it?
“Anna Karenina.” I read this novel
for the first time as a novice on my pilgrimage and was deeply impressed by the
depth of insights about life and spirituality it conveys.
Adam explaining Brother Andrea Pozzo’s famous trompe-l’oeil paintings on a tour with Martin Scorsese.
