18 Facts About James Reuter

James Bertram Reuter was an American Jesuit Catholic priest who lived in the Philippines since he was 22 and taught at Ateneo de Manila University.

James Reuter was a well-known public figure who was a writer, director and producer in theatre, radio, print and film.

James Reuter was a prominent figure in the resistance against the two-decade rule of President Ferdinand Marcos, and played a key role in the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew Marcos.

James Reuter educated and trained students in creative works, inspired by the works of Christ, instilling the importance of prayers most especially the Holy Rosary, working alongside and continuing the mission of the Rev Patrick Peyton, best known as the "Rosary Priest".

James Reuter later retired to the Xavier House in Santa Ana, Manila, before he was transferred to the Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Paranaque, where he remained until his death on New Year's Eve 2012.

James Reuter first came to the Commonwealth of the Philippines as a 22-year-old seminarian from the Jesuit formation house of St Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, remaining in the country for almost his entire life.

James Reuter was the last surviving member of the camp.

James Reuter returned to the United States following his liberation and was ordained into the priesthood at Woodstock, Maryland.

James Reuter submitted an unsolicited short drama for radio to Peyton in 1947 and it was used in the weekly broadcasts of the Family Theater radio shows that aired on the defunct American radio network Mutual Broadcasting System or MBS.

James Reuter returned to the Philippines in 1948, and on his own established Family Theater Productions, duplicating the efforts of Peyton in the United States, he solicited free radio airtime on radio station KZPI and got named Filipino actors and actresses to volunteer their voices and acting talent to dramatize family oriented soaps and the praying of the Rosary.

James Reuter brought Family Theater to television in 1953, operating until the declaration of Martial Law on 23 September 1972, when media was forcibly shut and seized by the government of Ferdinand Marcos.

James Reuter visited political detainees in the various Martial Law "detention centers", and pleaded with diplomats for the west to stop supporting Marcos' administration.

James Reuter served as the spiritual guide to the programme's weekly episodes, and until his death hosted another daily 5-minute reflection programme on the ABC5 called "Three Minutes a Day".

James Reuter had earlier suffered a mild stroke after staying in the hospital for the last three years.

James Reuter's casket lay in repose at St Paul University Manila on January 3,2013, and was transferred to Church of the Gesu inside the Ateneo de Manila University's Katipunan campus.

The Requiem Mass for James Reuter was held at 08:30 PST on January 5,2013, said by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, Jose Cecilio Magadia, with Bienvenido Nebres as homilist, with the James Reuter's Glee Club as the choir.

The interment followed at Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches, Quezon City at 11:00, where James Reuter was buried along with other Jesuit priests and seminarians.

James Reuter founded the Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission Inc and directed live on stage presentation of Family Theater in the Philippines, the Family Rosary Crusade.