Jesuits in Britain have a new Provincial General Superior. Father Damian Howard SJ will take over at the helm of the organisation in Britain, which is formally known as the Society of Jesus.

The Roman Catholic order was founded by St Ignatius of Loyola and counts Pope Francis among its members.

Fr Howard trained in Chile, has been a parish priest in South London and also has a PhD from the University of Birnmingham in Islamic thought.

He said: 'I am both deeply touched by this act of trust and daunted by the challenge. But I know I can count on the prayers and support of the Jesuits in Britain and of our many friends. Filled with confidence in God and aware of the urgency of the mission entrusted to the Society by the Church, I am thankful, too, to my predecessor, Fr Dermot Preston, for his cheerful and wise leadership over the last six years.'

There are around 18,000 Jesuits worldwide, spread out across 100 countries.

In his profile on the Jesuits' website, Fr Howards says of his journey: 'God has a way of luring you into a good thing without being totally up-front about what is in store (Matthew 20:22) and you slowly discover that your ideas weren't rooted in reality anyway. And so you just have to keep choosing the life.'