Ignatian Youth Days in Poland. IDMy is a time of fun and joy for young people, but also an opportunity for development. Every day, young people have time to pray, including the Eucharist, and take part in workshops where they can develop their talents, acquire new competences or try their hand at something completely new for themselves. They can choose from more than twenty options, such as sports, art, language, practical, personality and work with others. In addition they spend time with friends and make new friends. The XIV Ignatian Youth Days are held under the motto "Are you afraid to desire? IDM will also have the opportunity to present individual communities during the competition for prizes at the film competition.

The International Jungmann Society for Jesuits and Liturgy held its biannual congress at the Jesuit Mwangaza Spiritual Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25 to 30 June 2018. The congress addressed the link between liturgy and popular devotions. While the liturgy of the Latin Catholic Church is particularly expressed in the celebration of the sacraments, especially the sacrament of the Eucharist, popular devotions are numerous, complex and marked by cultural and geographical diversity. Historical and religious reasons may explain their birth. How can they enrich the liturgy of the Church? What are the opportunities and risks? From Sacrosanctum Concilium (Vatican II) to Evangelii Gaudium (Pope Francis), theologians have approached this issue from different perspectives. For some, devotions speak to the heart of the person, while the liturgy speaks more to the intellect. For others, we should seek to harmonize popular practices with the liturgy of the Church, without forgetting what is stipulated in the last order of Canon Law, namely the salvation of souls, as the supreme law to be observed in any attempt to regulate the life of the Church (Can. 1752).  The Jungmann Society for Jesuits and Liturgy meets every two years, changing venue regularly. Thirty Jesuits from all continents, as well as 6 non-Jesuits attended the congress in Nairobi. This is the first time the association has held its congress in Africa, after having been in Rome (2002), Bangkok (2004), Fortaleza (2006), Montserrat (2008), Tampa (2010), Nitra (2012), Mexico (2014) and Dublin (2016). Apart from the theme chosen for this congress, a morning was dedicated to the theme of liturgical formation in the Society of Jesus, with the aim of introducing young Jesuits to the ars celebrandi from the first years of formation to priestly and religious life. Historically, the Jungmann Society was born in the early 2000s (see Jesuit Yearbook 2004), in order to revive liturgical life within the Society of Jesus which has the reputation of being poor in liturgy. The fruits of the Jungmann Society are already beginning to be visible within the Society where some provinces have sent young Jesuits to undertake liturgical studies in Rome and elsewhere. The Association is always happy to invite scholastics to its meetings. The members of the Association give liturgy courses in various Church institutions throughout the world. They also help their respective communities and provinces to improve the quality of liturgical life. The venue and theme of the 2020 Congress are not yet known. It will be decided at the Committee meeting next January, after evaluating the suggestions sent by members. Some members of the Jungmann Society participated in the Eucharistic celebration for the ordination of five Jesuits in Nairobi, before the congress. Some others have prolonged their stay in Kenya for a few more days, to deepen their experience of the African liturgy and realities. And during the Congress, two separate Kenyan Choirs were invited to sing at two different Eucharistic celebrations. The Jungmann Society's members appreciated the vibrant and active participation of so many people at the Eucharistic celebrations in Kenya.

Heythrop Collection of over 250,000 titles to be listed online and available at Senate House Library following Heythrop College Closure Heythrop College will close at the end of the academic year 2017-2018, Thursday 31 August 2018. The collection of over 250,000 volumes of books and bound volumes of periodicals, widely regarded as one of the finest collections of theology and philosophy in the UK, will continue to be made accessible onsite – many discoverable online for the first time - to readers through Senate House Library from October 2018. The Jesuits in Britain have entered an agreement with Senate House Library, University of London, where members of the Library can access the titles and order via the online catalogue for arrival at the Library on the same or next day. The books presently located in Kensington Square are being transferred to an external depository in Ruislip used by Senate House Library, part of the University of London, to ensure the collection is properly housed and conserved as a whole.   Heythrop College collection to go online for the first time At present, about half of the Heythrop collection is electronically catalogued while the remainder is catalogued on index cards. These cards will be processed in such a way that they will be available online from October making the catalogue of the whole collection visible and accessible in this way for the first time. Fr Damian Howard SJ, Jesuit provincial, said, “I am delighted that the University of London, an institution with which Heythrop College has had a long and happy partnership, is able to accommodate this significant collection. The Library will be maintained as a valuable and up-to-date resource accessible to members of the Church and of the academy.”   Developing the collection The Jesuits in Britain have employed Mr Michael Morgan as Head Librarian. He is currently Librarian at Heythrop College. He will be based at 114 Mount Street from 1 October 2018.  The Heythrop collection will be maintained and kept up-to-date with books and periodicals ordered and catalogued by the Librarian. A proportion of the Library’s rare books will, after September 2018, be located at Campion Hall, the Jesuit permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. Details of how to access the Heythrop collection through Senate House Library will be published by 1 September this website. The Heythrop Library dates to the foundation of the English Jesuits’ college of theology and philosophy in Leuven in 1614 and is a specialist library in those two subject areas.  It comprises some 250,000 volumes of books and bound volumes of periodicals. About 185,000 volumes are housed in the Kensington Square site of the College; another 70,000 are stored in the University of London’s depository in Egham. The Library is widely regarded as one of the finest collections of theology and philosophy in the UK. The Library is owned by the Jesuits in Britain who will continue own and develop it. It will continue to be accessible to the academic community and to members of the public interested in the library’s specialist areas. Senate House Library (SHL) is one of the UK's largest academic libraries for arts, humanities & social sciences with over 2 million books, 50 special collections and1,800 archival collections. The Library and its collections have been continuously developed since the 1870s. The Library is open to the public as well as students and academics of the University of London – membership required. For more information, visit their website: http://senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/

JRS Europe together with other faith-based organisations published the position paper “Recommendations for humane return policies in Europe”. Increasing removal rates of migrants and asylum seekers has recently become a political priority, to the detriment of integration measures and safe and legal pathways of migration. “Any return policy has to guarantee the dignity and fundamental rights of the person. The fundamental principle must be to return in safety and dignity,” states the paper. The principle of non-refoulement –people in need of protection cannot be returned to unsafe countries– has to be respected in all procedures and actions. The organisations urge to invest in voluntary return, which should always be prioritised over forced return to put the well-being of people first. It is fundamental to keep the voluntary nature of “voluntary” return. European member states make it often extremely difficult for people to receive asylum or reunite with their families, leaving them no more option than to choose between voluntary return and forced return.  The political prioritisation of return policy has a negative impact on the asylum procedure and the individual right to asylum. Criteria used to assess protection available in “safe third countries” are often vaguely defined, not guaranteeing the effective safety of those countries. Due to this reason, the principle of non-refoulement is endangered. The paper stresses the importance on maintaining a clear separation between international protection and return policies.  The paper expresses deep concern on the practice of increasing returns to conflict and fragile countries as Afghanistan, Iraq or Sudan. Forcibly displaced people must never be returned to unsafe places where their life is at risk. The organisations ask for monitoring mechanisms, which trace back returnees and ensure that their safety is guaranteed.  Detention has increased during the recent years. Nevertheless, these practices have not proven to lead to more returns. Priority must be given to alternatives to detention. Detention must only be used as a last resort practice, as it generates psychological damage and increases the perception of migrants as criminals.  The paper highlights that there are hardly any legal entry channels to access Europe. It is as well highlighted that thousands of forcibly displaced people live in poverty and destitution as a result of deficient return policies. The organisations demand the insurance of a return policy that does not criminalise migrants and asylum seekers and does not force them into destitution. Development aid is steadily more used to pressure governments of countries of origin in the negotiations on the return of migrants and to contain people in their countries. The paper insists on ending the use of development aid as a migration control tool. Development aid has to be used for what it is established for: creating opportunities and well-being in the poorer countries. Picture: Waiting in a transit camp in Croatia (Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi / JRS Europe).  

The Centre for Ignatian Spirituality of the Southern European Province offers an experience of Ignatian spirituality through a video clip to those who are unacquainted with it. This clip will endeavor to highlight the "thirst for God" which is at the core of each human being, even those who feel far from the Church. "To follow this thirst is the beginning of a journey towards the peace of the heart and towards a more serene life, beyond the chaos we experience in our hectic days", Fr. Renato Colizzi, CIS director, explains. CIS is an organization of the Society of Jesus that endeavors to rediscover the Ignatian charism, and is responsible for the training of spiritual guides. Each year the Centre offers the spiritual exercises to over a thousand people - lay, religious, diocesan priests. The Spiritual Exercises are offered in various forms: residential experience, personally guided, in every-day life, in stages, or over a whole month. "The Exercises are a means to discern, to listen with the mind and the heart, to bring order in one’s life and to decide how to best serve others. “The goal is to reach those who are far from God through new means of communication ", Colizzi stresses. This 1 minute and 40 second clip was produced by Kaleidon and the Communication Office of the EUM Province and comes in Italian and English.  

On June 16, 2018 the Metropolitan of Białystok, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda SAC, ordained tje Jesuit Scholastics  Kamilowi Boberkowi, Rafałowi Bulowskiemu, Damianowi Czeniakowi, Pawłowi Dudzikowi, Krystianowi Mółce and Jakubowi Niedzielskiemu as deacons in the national sanctuary of St. Andrew Bobola in Warsaw. On June 23the Bishop of the Krakow archdiocese Jan Zając ordained in the basilica of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Krakow deacons Wojciech Bojanowski, Eryk Gumulak, Krzysztof Jeleń, Damian Pawlik, Wojciech Werhun and Przemysław Wysogląd as priests. On Saturday, June 30, 2018,Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, the Warsaw Metropolitan ordained two deacons, Łukasz Lewicki and Mateusz Orłowski, as priests at the Sanctuary of St. Andrew Bobola at Rakowiecka Street in the capital of Poland.