On Sunday, August 4, the 5th Tomsk Catholic Festival of Ignatius of Loyola took place in the Jesuit parish in Tomsk, Siberia, organized by the joint efforts of the parishioners, who had been meeting regularly for three months to prepare everything and divide the responsibilities. Volunteers, donors and sponsors rushed to help. Our festival once began as a family parish festival, but it has grown into a city event, which is attended by many Tomsk residents and guests from outside the city every year – we read on the parish profile on the social networking site "W kontakt". When entering the "party," participants had to buy a ticket and exchange rubles for the currency of the festival - "loyolki." One could learn about the life of the founder of the Jesuits, the history of Catholicism, and recall how many distinguished Russians were Catholics. Tables full of traditional dishes from all over the world were waiting for everyone, and despite the rain, everyone survived until the raffle that ended the festival. In addition to the wealth of entertainment prepared for them, children also participated in a toy-making course. They could also take a picture with Pope Francis and ride in the Popemobile. Adults also had fun reminiscing about their own childhoods (the Popemobile is in the main photo). The parish priest, Fr. Wojciech Ziółek SJ, recalled the three basic goals of the festival: to show the figure of St. Ignatius to the “city and the world”, to raise money for the major renovation of the church built in 1833 by the November insurgents exiled here, and to introduce the Catholic Church to the residents of Tomsk.

The 2024 edition of the Faith and Politics workshop has just concluded, having taken place from August 18th to 25th. Held every two years, the event gathers about 20 young professionals in Venice, Italy, for one week of formation and sharing. Most of the participants, originating from all over Europe, are active in the field of public service, would it be in politics, in public administration or with NGOs. The week, organised by three Jesuit social research centres (the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Dublin, Aggiornamenti Sociali in Milan, and the Jesuit European Social Centre in Brussels), aims to be more than just a moment of intellectual formation. Through a mix of conferences, testimonies, sharing groups and times of personal reflexion, the focus is on renewing the participants’ understanding of their own sense of mission, at the service of their communities and the common good. To help the participants, a few guests and speakers are invited to share the lessons they draw from their years of public service. This year, Václav Pláteník, deputy health minister in Czech Republic, Sylvie Goulard, former French MEP, Ana Sassetti Mota, a Portuguese civil servant and Emese Kovago, who runs the Hungarian Jesuit Refugee Service, all joined the group for a day. With great openness, they shared their hopes and difficulties, their motivations, and their beliefs. Rooted in the tradition of Ignatian spirituality, the workshop pays a particular importance on how what is learned, discussed, and shared actually impacts people at a personal level. A particular care is given to offer tools of spiritual discernment, helping to sort through one’s emotions and ideas and find deeper meaning. The relationships and human connexions built among those taking part in the workshop become an integral part of the experience. Thanks to those connexions, the week is more than a succession of speeches and sessions. Common meals, breaks and outings for a drink or an ice-cream are just as important as the more formal aspects. Building trust and understanding, they enable new depths of exchanges and discussions. The city of Venice, with its rich and varied history, its beauty, and its cultural opportunities, is also more than a pretty background; the shared exploration of the city concurs to bring the participants closer to one another. At the time of leaving Venice, many shared a similar sentiment: the feeling of having found a safe place where to open up and confide the difficulties of every day work, the doubts about the utility of one’s actions in the public sphere or the temptations of discouragement and disillusion. But also, and more importantly, the participants shared a sense of renewal, of a new start. There is no better outcome the workshop could aspire to.

The third Ignatian Leadership Programme took place in June/July 2024. The Programme was led by the recognised authority on Ignatian leadership, David McCallum SJ, and was held at Campion Hall, the Jesuit postgraduate Hall in the University of Oxford. 12 Jesuits participated, eleven from the European Conference. Those in attendance were Jesuits in their first leadership roles. The purpose of the two-week course was to cultivate the attitudes, skills, and knowledge of Ignatian leadership, drawing on Ignatian spirituality, contemporary leadership studies, and the psychology of human flourishing. In other words, the aim was to form Jesuits for leadership understood as contemplation in action. The methodology on the course was varied, with the theoretical woven into the experiential and practical, offering a broad and enriching tapestry of learning. Throughout the programme, “seeds” were planted with care, to be nurtured and to grow over time. One participant shared “I am not sure what the fruit will be – I need time”. We therefore acknowledge contemplation continues, beyond the summer school. A hallmark of the programme is the strong emphasis on discernment as characteristic, not only of Ignatian prayer, but also of Ignatian leadership. The participants commented on and appreciated this singular emphasis as they explored the conceptual self, versus the observing self, versus the experiencing self. The following key words stood out on the programme: acceptance, freshness and spirit. Participants learned to accept their limitations and gifts, see their roles with fresh eyes, and enliven their spirit forthe magis. Growth in self-awareness and in magnanimity were deeply considered. Participants valued the safe spaces in which they could speak and share freely, sometimes about challenges. One participant said “(I was) able to slow down on the course (with) time to reflect, especially on self”. The programme was led by David MacCallum, who directs the Discerning Leadership Programme at the Curia in Rome, together with Roger Dawson. Other course instructors included John Dardis, Nick Austin, Dierdre Rowe and Austen Ivereigh. Participant feedback was very positive, with a strong recommendation of this programme to other Jesuits. Comments included: • “Course was an excellent seed – fertile good in this group.”• “It’s helped me to follow Jesus in more discernment and leadership as service.”• “This course was the perfect course at the right time.”• “It deepened my discernment for leadership.”• “Confirmation especially in self-awareness; confident in listening skills. More confidence in dealing in conflict.”• “It gave me hope in a difficult situation. It gave me a path to consolation.”• “This course is a gift – and gave me deeper understanding. It gave me tools, practicalities and cont exp. It’s an invitation to go deeper, of conversion even.”In 2025 we anticipate a further summer school, which will build on the experience and learnings of July 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Because sport and faith share common values ​​and because the Games that are opening are an opportunity to bear witness to the joy and "strength" of Christ, the Jesuits are mobilizing before and during the event: presence of chaplains in the Olympic village, exhibition, spiritual journeys, reviews... A tour of this mobilization.  The two Jesuit communities of Saint-Denis in the starting blocks Located in Saint-Denis Basilica and La Plaine Saint-Denis , the two Jesuit communities are fully mobilized, while the city will welcome up to 170,000 supporters daily, from July 24 to August 11 and then from August 29 to September 8, not including the residents of the neighborhood. " We will spend the summer with the residents who will not be able to afford to leave or pay for entry to the stadium, and experience the games together ," rejoices Fr. Jacques Enjalbert SJ, chaplain of the Maison d'église de Saint-Paul. Two Jesuits, Frs. Jacques Enjalbert and Grégoire Catta, as well as three Xavier sisters, Véronique Rouquet, Juliette Ploquin and Gudrun Steiss, will be part of the team of Catholic chaplains at the interdenominational center of the athletes' village . They will be available to athletes from all over the world for a warm welcome, fraternal support and spiritual listening, both before and after the events, and will also be able to pray with them. Near the Olympic village, in the Saint-Ouen-le-Vieux church, they will take turns, with diocesan priests, to celebrate a daily mass for them. As part of the Holy Games, the Jesuits will contribute to the proposals of the diocese of Saint-Denis by welcoming supporters and tourists in the two churches they run : Saint-Denys de l'Estrée and Saint-Paul de la Plaine. Located a stone's throw from the Stade de France and the new Aquatic Centre, the Saint-Paul de la Plaine church house will aim to link sport, art and spirituality through various initiatives: A photography exhibition from June 30 to September 18 on the theme of Body & Soul. Created by photographer Manuel Lagos Cid and journalist-videographer Benjamin Le Souëf, it will illustrate how the Christian faith sheds light on the relationship to the body and to sports practice through six themes. For each, a central text panel, bilingual French-English, will be framed by portraits of neighborhood residents evoking, in a short video, the way in which the experience of sport resonates with their life and faith journeys. This exhibition was designed in partnership with a spiritual retreat to be experienced as a family offered by the Jesuits (see box) . It will also be visible at the Saint-Denys de l'Estrée church, in the center of Saint-Denis, and at the Saint-Ferréol church, a Jesuit sanctuary on the Old Port in Marseille where the Olympic sailing events and some football matches will take place. Finally, a copy of "Pugilist ", a sculpture by Paul Landowski made for the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, which represents a competitive boxer, will be exhibited in front of the church. Another "body and soul" fighter will face him: "End of game", a sculpture by Théophile Stein from the Volonté 93 collective in Saint-Ouen. In the church itself, the installation "l'habitant", by Thibaut Lucas from the Push collective in Aubervilliers, will enter into dialogue with the liturgical space. Visits and discovery of heritage Also in Saint-Denis, the association "Pierres Vivantes", an initiative launched by an Italian Jesuit in 2008, will organize an international camp during the first ten days of the games. The young participants will show visitors around the Saint-Denis basilica and raise awareness of the richness of the Christian mystery through art and architecture. During the second part of the games, a camp led by Fr. Pierre Alexandre Collomb SJ and Fr. Manuel Grandin SJ, and made up jointly of young people from the Magis network and the diocese of Saint-Denis, will take over and welcome tourists and pilgrims to this high place of art, history and faith. Body and soul, a spiritual training to experience as a family Let's get moving towards games! This is the proposal of the Body & Soul course which invites families to follow a spiritual training exploring the spiritual dimension of sports practice based on six themes that relate as much to daily life as to sport: play and discipline, body and soul, strength and fragility, test and combat, defeat and victory, competition and team spirit, i.e. six realities in tension. > Booklets and registration: Body & Soul Course A podcast: Saint Ignatius participates in the games with his specialty: the Spiritual Exercises ! When writing the Spiritual Exercises , Saint Ignatius of Loyola knew well that a sport requires training and repetition of exercises. In this year of games, Prie en chemin is offering from July 1st a course of 4 podcasts with free access to explore the link between sports training and the Spiritual Exercises : training, being fair-play, being “supported”, fighting to win… > Presentation

Fr. Peter Knauer passed away on July 21st 2024 in Berlin. He served in works of the Conference of European Provincials in Brussels for 15 years, between 2003 and 2018. It was not only because of his reputation as an excellent theologian and a highly appreciated chaplain and companion that Peter was famous in Brussels. All his different activities reflected very well the Ignatian adage “en todo amar y servir”: the pastoral work in his Spanish community, where he has left a big part of his heart; the Eucharists and spiritual accompaniment in many languages (including Esperanto) in the Foyer Catholique, the Chapel for Europe and the German-speaking community; the retreats he used to lead; books and articles he wrote, and, last but not least, his care for the community and the famous “Peter Pan” – the bread he baked every day.   A Brief Biography Father Peter Knauer was born in Berlin and grew up there with his brother Herbert. His father was a district court judge and his mother looked after the family household. In 1953, he graduated from Canisius College (CK) in Berlin and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus on Jakobsberg in the same year. After the juniorate in Tisis/Feldkirch, he studied at the Berchmans College in Pullach from 1956 to 1959 and graduated with a licentiate in philosophy. After completing his master's degree at the CK in Berlin, he went on to study for a licentiate at the Faculty of Theology in Leuven (Belgium) from 1961 to 1965. From 1966 to 1969, he completed his doctorate at the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Münster and subsequently became a lecturer in fundamental theology at the Sankt Georgen School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt am Main. He became Associate Professor of Dogmatics in 1978 and held the Chair of Fundamental Theology from 1980. He was also Vice-Rector of the university from 1993 to 1997. After his retirement in 2003, he worked at the Foyer Catholique Européen and the Office Catholique d'Information et d'Initiative pour l'Europe (OCIPE) in Brussels until 2018. Father Knauer also made an outstanding contribution to the reception of the Society of Jesus' own texts, which he retranslated from the original languages and published. Since 2018, he lived in Berlin-Kladow in the Jesuit retirement community Peter-Faber-Haus. After a short period of suffering, he now laid his life back into the hands of his Creator at Havelhöhe Hospital. A memorial mass will be celebrated on September 11th at 19:00 at the Chapel for Europe in Brussels.

Last June, the Kircher Network's HEST cluster on Christian-Muslim Relations, led by the Faculty of Theology at Loyola Andalucía University and in partnership with Universität Innsbruck, Université Saint-Joseph, and Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen, organized the Study Week "Bridging Intercultural Societies for Peace in Turbulent Times: Christian and Muslim Relations" in Granada, Spain.This academic initiative aimed to deepen the understanding of Christian-Muslim encounters during the historical period of Al-Andalus, a remarkable era in the Iberian Peninsula's history known for its cultural and religious diversity.Twenty-three students from different disciplines and scholars from eight universities and centres within the Kircher Network attended the study week, engaging in meaningful discussions and gaining insights into this influential historical period.The week-long program featured a series of lectures, workshops, and discussions led by experts. Participants explored Al-Andalus's rich heritage and its impact on contemporary society. Topics covered ranged from art and architecture to science and philosophy, highlighting Al-Andalus's significant contributions to world history.