The Jesuit NGO Migra Studium has launched the "Hospitalaris" campaign, with the aim of getting 100 families in Barcelona to welcome a migrant, asylum seeker or refugee, into their home for 3 months. During this time, the person receives practical support, job training and language classes from Migra Studium. This campaign is part of the work carried out by the Jesuit Migrant Service to promote the welcoming of migrants and refugees. As M. Carmen de la Fuente, director of the organization, explained, "Most people who come to our country flee from poverty, war and political persecution. They are not criminals. In the case of people who seek refuge, the most common thing is that their life was as normal as ours, until they had to flee. In many cases, when they arrive here, they are completely helpless and our experience shows  that a family environment comforts them and helps them to face the next steps more safely”. Migra Studium launched the hospitality network in 2017. Several foster homes received migrants or asylum seekers. During 2018, 20 families have already received 27 people in Barcelona, with the support of the team of Migra Studium and volunteers who accompany this process. This formula, which already works in other countries, has been a success: 90% of the people welcomed have found home and work; and all the families have valued the experience as very positive. More info: http://www.hospitalaris.org

Fr. Arturo Sosa has decided to appoint Father Cipriano Díaz Marcos (ESP) Regional Assistant for South Europe (EMR). He will take this position, in succession to Father Joaquín Barrero (ESP), on September 1, 2019. On this date, he will become General Counsellor.  “Father Joaquín Barrero does not leave office for another nine months” writes in a note Fr. Sosa. “I would like to express my gratitude to him already now. As Regional Assistant since 2008, he has accompanied several restructuring processes of Provinces and Regions, and he has lived his dual mission of General Counsellor and Regional Assistant with the demanding position of Superior of the community of the General Curia.  Father Cipriano Díaz has extensive apostolic experience that has led him to carry out parish responsibilities, to run a publishing house (Sal Terrae) and to animate the sector of social apostolate. He was superior of several communities, and Consultor of the Province of Castile. Since 2014, he has been Delegate of the Provincial of Spain for the Third Age and Provincial Consultor. In 2016, he participated in the 36th General Congregation.  I recommend Father Cipriano Díaz to your prayers” adds Fr. Sosa “as well as all those who, in different ways, collaborate with me for the government of the Society. During the year 2019, the Society of Jesus will enter the process of implementing the universal apostolic preferences that will soon be determined. A renewed General Council will help me on this road. May Our Lady of the Way obtain for the whole apostolic body of the Society the grace of a deeper union as companions in the mission of reconciliation and justice, which is that of Christ".

The first meeting of psychological and spiritual support centres, based in our Jesuit Centres all over Poland, took place in Warsaw last December. About 20 representatives from the 7 existing and 2 soon-to-be clinics met at the headquarters of the Inigo Foundation for Psychological and Spiritual Assistance. The day spent together was an opportunity to get to know each other, listen to and exchange experiences. All those invited, were enthusiastic to attend and were pleasantly surprised when they saw they were in such big number. While in Gliwice, Kraków, Łódź, Lublin, Poznań, Toruń and Warsaw there are psychological and spiritual assistance centres that have been open for many years, others in Gdynia and Częstochowa are about to open their doors. These places were borne out of the desires of Jesuits and lay people. This meeting - also the fruit of desires - was another step forward. Everyone went their separate way with the desire of Magis and aware of the mission that unites us, in spite of the different places and realities we work in.

Bad Schönbrunn - At the beginning of 2019, 45 participants of the 'Formation Gathering' met at the Lassalle-Haus in Bad Schönbrunn, Switzerland, from 2 to 5 January. Formation Gathering' is the meeting of the Jesuits still in formation from the countries of the future Central European Province (ECE: Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Lithuania). Since many young Jesuits are involved in youth work or work there, the meeting in Switzerland was about the Youth Synod and its consequences for the Jesuits in the four provinces. In order not to start with vague future scenarios but with the concrete present, it was the Jesuits currently working with young people who gave testimony about their experiences. What was striking is the broad variety of how Jesuits are engaged in working with young adults: at University and in school chaplaincy, in associations of Catholic students (KSJ) and in charismatic movements of young adults. From all these areas Martin Föhn SJ (HEL), Sebastian Maly SJ (GER), Arndt Gysler SJ (GER) and Beat Altenbach SJ (HEL) shared their experiences. They encouraged to accept all the ways youth are living their faith today and at the same time to help with Ignatian ways of pastoral care where possible and necessary. The longing for development in silence and in the security of spiritually shaped communities seems unbroken. The Youth Synod was approached in two ways: first, by a reading session of some text extracts from the Synod’s final document; second, by the reports of their participants: The Auxiliary Bishop Alain de Raemy (Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg), the youth chaplain Claude Bachmann (Lucerne) and Bernd Hagenkord SJ as director of the press office of the Youth Synod. Encouraging and sobering résumés were spoken, but above all there was the consensus: The Youth Synod should not be regarded as concluded, but as a prelude to an ongoing process of renewal of pastoral care, which not only works for, but especially with the young people on changing our lives in this world. Rahel Kölbener, chairwoman of the worship movement "Adoray" in St. Gallen, also emphasized this missionary perspective. She knows from her own experience that young adults are openly searching for ways of expressing and deepening their faith. Andreas Schalbetter SJ, chaplain of the University of Lucerne, showed us what possibilities there are to help students in their spiritual research. It was the first part of our excursion to Lucerne, followed by a guided tour through the Jesuit Church by “Living Stones”: Students accompany tourists – in this case, also young Jesuits! – explaining the meaning of art and architecture of the church, thereby opening up access to the faith traditions contained therein. After a visit to the room of silence in the University of Lucerne and the rooms of “horizonte“ (“horizons”, the name of the university chaplaincy) and a mass with the four provincials, the day ended with an amusing variety evening in the Lassalle House, which the Jesuits themselves designed. We concluded by a session with information on the trends in Jesuit Formation and looked ahead to the Formation Gathering 2020 in Prizren (Kosovo) which will be prepared by the newly elected ECE JIF committee. Before saying goodbye, the participants celebrated Mass with the newly ordained priests from Hungary, Lithuania and Germany, followed by an individual blessing - not least for everything that the still young year has in store.

Jesuits and colleagues who work in spirituality centres in Ireland, Britain and the Netherlands came together for their annual meeting in Drongen, Belgium, on 3-5 January 2019. The theme this year was communal discernment – in other words, how groups can learn to reflect well before making joint decisions. The main speaker was Franck Janin SJ, President of the Conference of European Provincials, and one of the founders of the ESDAC way of proceeding » of communal discernment, which is inspired by the pedagogy of St Ignatius and by contributions from the social sciences. He led the participants through two days of discovering in a practical way some aspects of what communal discernment is with a particular emphasis of working in small groups involving particular scenarios. First, the participants took time to pray with a theme alone and in silence. Second, they were split into small groups where everyone had the opportunity to listen and share their insights. Third, the whole group participated in a feedback exercise at a plenary session. The process very much underlined the power of prayer, listening and respectful sharing in terms of coming to some kind of consensus on a topic, as opposed to the normal debate model where there is often a power play with some people left excluded. A form of spiritual discernment, it invites individuals to speak their truth, confident that they will be respectfully listened to, and allows for new possibilities and creative thinking. On the final day, Bishop of Raphoe Alan McGuckian SJ presented a case study called the ‘Living Church’ project from Belfast’s Down and Connor Diocese, where he was the previous director. The programme uses these methods of listening, group work and consensus building to renew parish structures. The meeting was organised by the Peter Faber group of Jesuit retreat house directors and spirituality delegates, who are: Roger Dawson SJ, Piaras Jackson SJ, Bart van Emmerik SJ, David Smolira SJ and Brendan McManus SJ.

The Jesuit Conference of European Provincials’s office opens a hiring process for a new Secretary/Administrator half time position based in Brussels. This job plays a supportive role, undertaking a variety of administrative, communication, and organisational tasks. For more information and contact please read the job description , or follow this information in Facebook. Deadline for applications: February 22, 2019