Carol Atwell Ackels

Carol is Director of the Ignatian Spirituality Institute. A spiritual director in the Ignatian tradition she serves as retreat director of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius in various formats. She offers weekend retreats, the Exercises in Everyday Life, and one-to-one directed retreats at Jesuit retreat houses across the United States.  Carol regularly gives programs and days of reflection to parish and Church groups. She launched and continues to give workshops to shape persons, Jesuits and lay, who are moving into retreat ministry and spiritual companioning in the Ignatian tradition. Appointed by the Provincial, Carol served six years on the bi-province Commission on Ministry--the group that discerns long-range planning for apostolic work of the Jesuits and their colleagues. Carol co-authored with Joe Tetlow, S.J. the twelve week Ignatian retreat Finding Christ in the World, and worked with Anthony Borrow, S.J. developing the Toward Greater Freedom retreat for parents at Jesuit College Prep of Dallas. Carol holds a J.D. from SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas and a Master of Art in Theology and Leadership from Gonzaga University, Spokane. She and her husband reside in Dallas and are the parents of five adult children.