Alberto Ares SJ, from the Province of Spain, has been appointed as the new Director of JRS Europe. Alberto will take over his new position in September 2021, succeeding José Ignacio García SJ, who holds that office since the beginning of 2017. Alberto was born in a small village in the north of Spain, Veguellina de Órbigo. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1997, was ordained in 2007 and took final vows in 2014. He has a Ph.D. in International Migration and Development Cooperation from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas. He studied and obtained degrees in Social Ethics at Boston College, Theology in Comillas and Economics and Business Administration at the University of Valladolid. Much of his time as a Jesuit has been spent accompanying and studying migration and migrants. His work has taken him all over the world, from the United States to Brazil, Mexico to Morocco, Spain to India and El Salvador to Albania. He has been also the Social Apostolate Delegate for the Jesuits in Spain. He is currently the Director of the University Institute for Migration Studies at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas and Deputy Coordinator of the Jesuit Migrant Service in Spain, until September 2021. Alberto is also passionate about Ignatian spirituality and pastoral work with migrant communities and young people. He collaborates in two of the parishes that the Jesuits serve in Ventilla neighborhood, Madrid; and as part of that collaboration, he accompanies the Ecuadorian community "La Virgen del Quinche". He has been living in a community of hospitality. In his Jesuit community, they welcome and share life with young migrants and refugees in their process of autonomy. At the same time, the community tries to be a place of welcome for collaborators in the mission or for those who are in the process of vocational discernment.

Fr. Luciano Larivera (EUM) has been appointed as Secretary for European Affairs at the JESC. He is succeeding Fr. Martin Maier whose election as new director of Adveniat by the German Catholic Bishop Conference has been announced last month. Fr. Larivera introduces himself: I am Italian, born in 1968 in Milan, and both my parents had emigrated from the southern region of Molise. I am a former student of both the Jesuits of Leo XIII and the Luigi Bocconi University of Milan. After the year of compulsory military service, I entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1993. During the years of formation I lived in Genoa, Padua, Reggio Calabria, Naples and finally in Rome, where I was ordained a priest in 2004 and obtained my license in Moral Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. From 2003 to 2015 I lived and worked at La Civiltà Cattolica, where I carried out my journalistic service especially on: foreign news, issues of international politics and economics, the evolution of the European Union project, the social doctrine of the Church. In 2010 I professed my final vows, after my Tertianship in Culver City (Los Angeles). Since September 2015 I have lived and worked in the Jesuit community of Triste, in addition to various community and parish tasks, I directed the Veritas Cultural Center of the Jesuits, hosting father general, Arturo Sosa, for the 60th anniversary of the center in 2018. Among the cultural activities that I have promoted: the dissemination of Laudato si' and the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development; knowledge of other religions, in particular of Judaism, Islam and Tibetan Buddhism; meetings of Ignatian and biblical spirituality; training in journalistic ethics; the teaching of the Italian language for asylum seekers; reflection on the sustainable development of the port and the city of Trieste; finally, I promoted initiatives to deepen the geopolitical dynamics in the world and the implications in Europe, Italy and Trieste. The values and institutions of the EU, and its policies have always been an object of interest and a source of hope for me, and by coming to the JESC, with the position of Secretary for European Affairs. I am happy to share these passions and the engagement with the Jesuits and lay people who work there and the people with whom we will collaborate in the network.

This year, the meeting of the superiors of the EOF communities, together with the provincials, auxiliaries and the socius, took place by videoconference from 12 to 14 February. Bringing together all these people from Belgium, Greece, France, the Reunion Islands and Mauritius, without anyone moving from their homes: one thinks that the gift of ubiquity has become commonplace, and moreover, it is good for the planet. The small group discussions were very stimulating and focused on two themes: community life during the pandemic and training on abuse. Each community's situation is different and it is beneficial to have these meetings of superiors to see this. The famous cannonball that wounded Ignatius and without which the Jesuits would not be, gave rise to exchanges. Five hundred years already! This is being prepared and will be celebrated, among other things, during a large gathering in Marseille, on All Saints' Day. Eight thousand people are expected. The presence of Pope Francis is mentioned: Will he come? Will he not come? These times of common meetings, of prayer together and of sharing in groups did a great deal of good. At each meeting of the superiors and at other EOF assemblies, many Jesuits sincerely rejoice that the two former Provinces - France on the one hand, and French-speaking Belgium and Luxembourg on the other - are now united and that this union is taking place so fraternally. The EOF Province is no longer a newborn, it is standing upright, doing well and showing innovation in several areas, which is gratifying. Let us give thanks that we are members of an apostolic body where it goes without saying that we take care of each other and that the superiors all respond "present" when they are invited to meet and share.

Access to an extensive multilingual bibliography of academic research on Jesuits and the Society of Jesus is being offered free of charge by this initiative that has been launched by a partnership of the ARSI (Archivum Romanum Societatis Jesu - Rome), the Jesuitica Project of the Catholic University of Leuven - Belgium, and the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies of Boston College - USA. It is a “living” bibliography containing books, scientific journals, newspapers, theses, and conferences - all well classified and indexed. Researchers can open an account to keep track of their research and can also contribute to it. Read more

The Pedro Arrupe International Volunteer Program (VOLPA) celebrates its 30th anniversary. The Pedro Arrupe International Volunteer Program VOLPA is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2021. This long-term international volunteer program was born in 1991 inspired by the legacy of Pedro Arrupe. His call to go out to meet other cultures and to change the unjust structures that generate suffering in our world was undoubtedly the flame that ignited this dream that today looks back to be grateful for so much transformed life. During this time more than 1,000 people have participated in this international volunteer program that emerged as a volunteer network of the Society of Jesus in its different Provinces in Spain. Throughout its history, this program has been promoted by Volpa Catalunya, Entreculturas and Alboan and currently, it is the last two that coordinate to give continuity to the program. To celebrate this 30th anniversary, a recreational meeting was organized to which many people linked to the program were invited: volunteers of these three decades, trainers, companions, local host organizations in Latin America, Africa and Europe, VOLPA in training, the people who have coordinated the program in these years of Alboan, Entreculturas and VOLPA Catalunya, as well as some of the founders and staff of the cooperation organizations involved in the training process. Finally, more than 220 people gathered online in March to celebrate and thank all that this experience of international volunteering has meant in their lives, and for many it has been "a lever of change that has marked our lives" as Gerardo Molpeceres commented, who was VOLPA in Ecuador and today is a trainer and volunteer of Entreculturas. Jesuitas España

Jesuits in Britain launch first online exhibition celebrating 50 years since the canonisation of the Forty Martyrs Prompted by the 50th anniversary of the canonisation of the Forty Martyrs, the Jesuits in Britain Archives has launched its first ever online exhibition in collaboration with Stonyhurst College Collections. The virtual showcase, “How bleedeth burning love”: British Jesuit Province’s Relics of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, presents treasured relics belonging to some of the priests and laypeople martyred for their Roman Catholic faith in England and Wales in the 16th and 17th centuries -  many of whom were canonised by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970. The new online exhibition can now be viewed at www.jesuitcollections.org.uk. These relics shine a light on an extraordinary period of English history, when men and women were persecuted and executed for their religious beliefs. Some of the relics in the exhibition demonstrate vividly the barbaric nature of the penalties inflicted upon those who held fast to faith and conscience, while others tell very personal stories of individual spiritual journeys of historic figures such as Thomas More and Mary, Queen of Scots. These relics have been treasured for centuries, valued for the powerful stories they tell, which have been passed from generation to generation.  Famous Jesuit martyrs Among the relics in the exhibition are those of the famous Jesuits, St Edmund Campion, St Robert Southwell and Blessed Edward Oldcorne, who were all sent to be clandestine missionaries in Elizabethan England at a time when Catholics faced persecution. Edmund Campion was arrested by priest hunters, convicted of high treason, and then hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn in 1581. On display is the rope that tied him to the hurdle, on which he was dragged from the Tower to Tyburn. St Robert Southwell was also executed at Tyburn in 1595 - he was famous for his literary works, including the 16th century poem ‘Christ’s bloody sweate’ which provided the quote for the title of the exhibition. On display is a bone. Blessed Edward Oldcorne had been a school friend of Guy Fawkes and was tortured in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot. Although no evidence was found to link him to the failed assassination attempt against King James I, Oldcome was hanged, drawn, and quartered in 1606. He was beatified in 1929. On display is his right eyeball. The exhibition also includes the relics of some famous lay people: St Thomas More and Mary Queen of Scots. One new discovery is the identity of a group of skulls and bones associated with Holywell Shrine in North Wales, which have now been identified, during the course of research for this exhibition, as those of the 17th century Saints Philip Evans and John Lloyd. The relics all form part of the British Jesuit Province’s collection. Much of the collection resides in the Jesuits in Britain Archives in London, and a significant part is on loan to, and cared for, by Stonyhurst College Collections in Lancashire. Rebecca Somerset, Jesuits in Britain Archivist, said: “The current situation meant we could not put on a physical exhibition as originally planned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Forty Martyrs, but by presenting the exhibition virtually, we are now able to reach a much wider audience. We are always keen to make these artefacts more easily available to others, and we are looking forward to presenting a series of online exhibitions. "In order to make the exhibition as accessible as possible, we are presenting the collection as a visual and audio experience, with images of the relics accompanied both by text as well as a recorded narrative." Follow @JesuitArchives and @StonyArchivum on Twitter for updates on #RelicExhibition