The Rev. Gerald Jerry Fagin, a longtime Loyola University faculty member who wrote extensively about spirituality and the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, died Thursday of cancer at Ignatius Residence. He was 74.

Father Fagin moved to New Orleans in 1973, when he started teaching theology at Loyola. During his time there, friends said, Father Fagins ability to communicate profound spiritual truths in ways that lay people could comprehend made him a beloved figure.

People always looked to him as a solid, peaceful, centered man with a lot of wisdom about him, said the Rev. Fred Kammer, director of Loyolas Jesuit Social Research Institute. He was a consummate spiritual director.

He had a zeal for the spiritual life and sharing the spiritual life with many people, said the Rev. Edward Ted Arroyo, rector of the Jesuit community at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. He tried to help people get in touch with their spirit and the spirit of God at work in their lives, Arroyo said.

Father Fagin relied heavily on the writings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits, said Thomas Ryan, director of the Loyola Institute for Ministry. This message, Ryan said, was at the basis of Father Fagins teaching: He wanted people to know that God loves them that was the bottom line in a deep, enduring and unconditional way.

A native of Dallas, Father Fagin graduated from Jesuit High School there in 1956 and entered the Society of Jesus at St. Charles College in Grand Coteau later that year. He earned bachelors and masters degrees in philosophy at Spring Hill and three degrees at Regis College in Toronto: masters degrees in divinity and theology and a licentiate in sacred theology. He earned a doctorate in theology at St. Michaels College in Toronto.

At Loyola, Father Fagin was an associate professor of religious studies, chairman of that department and rector of Loyolas Jesuit community. From 1996 until last month, he was associate professor of theology in the Loyola Institute of Ministry.

In 1989 and 1990, Father Fagin was the Jesuit provincial, the leader of the order in a 10-state region stretching from New Mexico to South Carolina. During that period in New Orleans, Ryan said, he brought students from his class at Jesuit High School to the Federal Building to meet the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, who was leading a nonviolent protest after church workers were murdered in El Salvador.

Later, I learned that the U.S. attorney disapprovingly noted that this wouldnt be happening if the Jesuit provincial were present, Ryan said. Jerry stepped forward and noted that he was present and approved.

Father Fagins books include The Holy Spirit, which he wrote with J. Patout Burns; Putting on the Heart of Christ; and Gods Dream for You, which will be published posthumously.

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Loyola University educator, author the Rev. Gerald 'Jerry' Fagin dies