Father General has appointed Fr Bernhard Bürgler as the new Regional Assistant for Central and Eastern Europe. He takes over from Fr Tomasz Kot who has served in this role for the past years. Fr. General's Regional Assistants are advisers to Fr. General who accompany the life and development of a set of Provinces, usually connected geographically or culturally. In this sense the Provinces that conform the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials in Europe and the Near East are distributed in three Assistancies: Western Europe (EOC), Southern Europe (EMR), and Central Europe (ECO).

Born in 1960 in Lienz, Austria, Fr Bürgler joined the Society of Jesus in 1991 after studying philosophy and theology. Following his novitiate in Innsbruck, he earned a doctorate in pastoral theology from the University of Innsbruck and completed training as a psychoanalyst.

Ordained a priest in 1997, he served as a spiritual director at the Collegium Canisianum and worked as a psychotherapist in Innsbruck. In 2004, he completed his Tertianship in Australia.

From 2004 to 2008, he was the director of the retreat centre Haus Gries in Germany. After that, he headed the department of spirituality and exercises at Kardinal König Haus in Vienna from 2008 to 2014. From 2014 to 2021 he served as Provincial of the Austrian Province, and from 2021 to 2024 as Provincial of the newly established Central European Province. After a sabbatical year, he returned to Innsbruck, where he has been active in spiritual accompaniment and retreat counselling.

Fr Bürgler takes up his new role as Regional Assistant for Central and Eastern Europe on 1 July 2026.