| Name | Gerald Smola | Jesuit |
| Date of Birth | Ca. 1922 | |
| Date of Ordination | 1951 | |
| Association with LUC | 1955 | |
| Position at LUC | Unclear | |
| Date of incident, Location of Incident | 1950s | Detroit University Jesuit High School, MI |
| Number of victims/accusations | 1 posthumous accusation | |
| Case status | Accused | |
| Status of Individual | Dismissed from Jesuit order | 1969 |
| Deceased | 2001 |
The earliest case of a credibly accused member of the Jesuit order who had a documented association with Loyola University Chicago was Fr. Gerald Smola.[1] The public record contains very few details on his life and career before he joined the university. This Jesuit priest spent about one year, 1955, at Loyola University Chicago. However, publicly available records contain no clear indication on what his position was. He left the Loyola to teach at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio in 1956.[2] The Jesuit List[S1] states that he was dismissed from the Society of Jesus in 1969. Smola’s career between his dismissal and his death in 2001 is not on public record. Whether he had access to minors during that time is also unknown. He was posthumously accused of having abused a child in the 1950s, while teaching at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. The Jesuits do not list a reason for his dismissal.[3]
[1] The Society of Jesus – USA Midwest Province, “USA Midwest Province Jesuits with an Established Allegation of Sexual Abuse of a Minor” (The Society of Jesus, February 21, 2020), 11, https://www.bishop-accountability.org/order_lists/Jesuits_Midwest/2020_02_21_Jesuits_Midwest_Established_Allegations.pdf.
[2] Jeff Anderson & Associates PA, “The Anderson Report – Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese and Dioceses in Illinois,” 88.
[3] “Fr. Gerald F. Smola – BishopAccountability.Org,” November 18, 2019, https://www.bishop-accountability.org/accused/smola-gerald-f-1951/.
