Fr. Orobator grew up in Benin City, Nigeria, practicing traditional African religion. After visiting the local Jesuit parish as a teen for Easter vigil Mass, he became enamored with Catholicism and the Jesuit Order. After two years of college, where he studied linguistics and African languages, he joined the Jesuits in 1986 and was ordained in 1998.

He received his Ph.D in theology and religious studies from the University of Leeds in England, his MBA from Georgetown University, and his licentiate in sacred theology from JST-SCU, from which he also received an honorary doctorate in 2012. He received a bachelor’s degree in theology from Hekima University College in Nairobi, Kenya, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Institut de Philosophie Saint Pierre Canisius in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Prior to becoming dean, Fr. Orobator was president of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar, responsible for leading the inter-provincial mission of the Society of Jesus in the region. 

He is especially known for his scholarship and talks on ecclesiology—or the study of the Church—as well as theological ethics, human rights, and human dignity, especially fuller participation of women in the life of the Church.