Brother Seán Sammon (Manhattan, New York, November 26, 1947) is the former Superior General of the Marist Brothers order, a role he held from October 3, 2001 to 2009.[1] As Superior General, he led the approximately 4500 Marist Brothers working around the world in their mission to "make Jesus known and loved", as per the maxim of their founder, Saint Marcellin Champagnat.
Brother Seán was born into a migrant family: his father was Irish and his mother English. He attended the Marist run St. Agnes Boys High School, and continued on to the juniorate in Cold Spring-on-Hudson, New York. His novitiate was made in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts and in 1967 he pronounced his first vows.[1]
In 1970 he graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie. He taught at his alma mater while studying at The New School where he earned a Master's degree in 1973. In 1982 he received a doctorate in clinical psychology from Fordham University. In 1978 he was invited to be a staff member at the House of Affirmation, a renewal and rehabilitation center in Massachusetts, and was named its International Clinical Director in 1982, a position he held until 1987.[1]
He has published 10 books and multiple articles on topics of religious life and psychology. He was named provincial of the Poughkeepsie Province in 1987 and was elected president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men Religious of the US. He has been Vicar General of the Marist Brothers since 1993. He was elected Superior General of the Marist Brothers on October 3, 2001,[1] a position he held until 2009.[2]
In 2009 he received the title of Doctor honoris causa, from the Catholic Pontifical University of Paraná, Brazil.[3]