The Jesuit week... it's dynamite! At the beginning of 2021, the Saint-Joseph school in Reims hosted a five-day "Jesuit week". The aim was to make the children, their families and all the staff of the establishment better acquainted with who the Jesuits are and what they do. A week rich in meetings, in which 15 Jesuits took part. Living this sixth Jesuit week at the Saint-Joseph school in Reims, from 11th to 15th January, was not at all obvious in the health context that we are familiar with. In spite of the restrictions, it was a beautiful festival of meetings and activities: introduction to Ignatian spirituality, intervention on "Internet, its assets and its dangers", a presentation on emotions, daily meditation sessions, discovery of the zither, board games, proposal of the sacrament of reconciliation and mass for the pupils, various magic tricks... without forgetting the surprise visit of Saint Ignatius in person, at the primary school during recreation! This Jesuit week unfolded with generosity and was very dense, as can be seen from the summary in figures: 15 Jesuits spending from 1 to 5 days in the school, 6 gatherings, 7 hours of adult formation, 4 conferences, 60 visits to primary classes, 28 hours of witnessing, 52 hours of thematic interventions (internet, discernment, meaning of studies, living well together, courses), 10 hours of confessions, 12 hours of forum 'free questions on faith and the Church', 14 prayers/celebrations, 1 big game and even 6 magic shows.   A Testimonial: "To welcome fifteen Jesuits, to meet them, to laugh, to play, to hear their testimony, to discover the Society of Jesus, to pray together. What a gift! For each one of us, Jesuits today have a face, a history, a vocation, a mission, a word, unsuspected talents (music, magic, sculpture...) and are witnesses of Christ. Their simple, joyful and profound presence has sown little lights in the hearts of young people and adults alike. So here we are, carried in this new breath, certain that we have a common DNA, that of the great Jesuit family and happy with all these treasures that we have received and shared with the Jesuits. A unanimous wish: to live a Jesuit week again. Thank you! » Pascal Gauderon SJ

In the Society of Jesus, every Province must create, keep and develop a fund exclusively for financing the formation of young Jesuits, its assets cannot be diverted to other uses. With the demographic changes in the Society across the different areas of the world, and occasional historical incidents, it happens that today there are Provinces with very strong formation trusts but very few young Jesuits and, at the same time, Provinces with many young men in formation but not enough resources to support them. On May 2020, following a recommendation of the General Congregation 36 to give continuity to an initiative of Fr. Nicolás in 2013, Fr. General decided to establish a Solidarity in Formation Council (SFC), composed by the six Conference Presidents, the General Counsellor for Formation and the General Treasurer, to assist him “in discerning how best to prioritize and respond to the most pressing formation funding situations around the globe”.  As a first step, it was asked that each Conference make a discernment in order to identify and prioritise, in their own area, both the unresolved needs and the resources available to be shared regarding Jesuit formation – be they financial, in personnel, expertise or any other kind. Since November 2020, the JCEP has been doing that work. A questionnaire was sent out to gather quantitative data for an informed overview of the situation in the Conference. On February 6th, the Major Superiors met online to evaluate that information and discern the guidelines for the report to send to the SFC, which will meet this Spring. Independently of the Province that welcomes him, every young man that enters a Novitiate joins the one world body of the Society of Jesus. The steps being taken want to assure that all the formation funds, wherever they may be gathered and administered, may ultimately help to support the formation of all young Jesuits worldwide. Each donation, offered anywhere, is a contribution to sustain the future of the global mission of the Society of Jesus, by supporting its new members. Thank you for continuing to support Jesuit formation. Herminio Rico SJ. – JCEP Socius

The renown of few contemporary church figures has grown as much over time as that of the charismatic General of the Jesuits, Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991). Born into a bourgeois family in the industrial city of Bilbao, he studied medicine in Madrid, but after several years of study he left medical school to join the Society of Jesus, where decisive events awaited him. Expelled from Spain during the Republic, Arrupe was a citizen of the world by vocation and formation. During World War II he worked as a missionary in Japan, where he was accused of being a spy and imprisoned. He directly witnessed the explosion of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and he used his medical knowledge to attend to the victims.  In his position as Superior General he became one of the most captivating agents of change in the Church of the 20th century. At the same time he was a prophet for the 21st century, which he anticipated with many of his brilliant intuitions regarding justice, education, racism, globalization, the marginalization of women, and the plight of refugees and drug addicts. In the last fifty years, nearly one hundred Jesuits, inspired by Arrupe’s insistence on both service of faith and promotion of justice, have given their lives for defending the poor. Pedro Miguel Lamet researched Arrupe’s life for five years in Rome, Japan, and the Basque Country, and he had the privilege of spending many hours conversing with Arrupe after he had suffered a debilitating stroke. Drawing on a vast variety of sources, Lamet has written this entertaining and captivating biography, which has been revised several times and is already a classic, available now for the first time in English. Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J., the 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus states in the prologue, "this biography has the merit of being the very first to trace with fidelity [Pedro Arrupe's] human and spiritual profile and to make it available to a larger public. This book is part of the Jesuit Sources imprint, IJS Studies: Research on Jesuits and the Society of Jesus. You can order the book here Jesuitas España

In the JCEP there are already networks that gather people who work pastorally with youth, but each dealing with one area or aspect of that work. There was a need for looking at, reflecting, and promoting, at a higher level, all apostolate directed to young adults. It is a demand that comes directly from the Universal Apostolic Preferences. Not just from the third one – accompanying young people – but from each of the other, too: the care for our common home is something of particular interest to young people, they are the ones who are going live in it; poverty and exclusion affects in the direst ways the young; as they search for meaning in their lives they need to be shown the way to God. After a decision by the Major Superior of the Conference, on February 10th, in a meeting online, a new network formally started. It gathers the Coordinators/Delegates for Young Adult Ministry from each Province. It is not so much a group to do things, but a forum to share information about and evaluate all that is going on, to support each other in this common mission, to think and discern together in a space of mutual inspiration, to develop greater coordination and maybe to plan some joint actions. The mission and identity of the group will be deepened and clarified progressively, as it will look for a clearer definition of what a Jesuit Young Adult Ministry should look like today. A Steering Committee is in the process of being formed to assume the responsibility of moving forward this new JCEP Network. Herminio Rico sj. – JCEP Socius

London-based charity, the Jesuit Refugee Service UK has renewed its condemnation of the use of disused barracks as asylum accommodation in the wake of a fire at Napier Barracks, which has led to a lack of electricity and hot water. It was rapidly followed by revelations that Home Office officials intentionally deployed substandard asylum accommodation to manage public opinion.  Unequal Treatment In considering the use of barracks as asylum accommodation, the Home Office stated that destitute people seeking asylum were “not analogous” to British citizens and other permanent residents in need of state welfare assistance concluding that “less generous” support for people seeking asylum was “justified by the need to control immigration”, while better accommodation “could undermine public confidence in the asylum system”. These events follow a COVID-19 outbreak at Napier barracks the week before last, where it has been reported that 120 people have tested positive. Sarah Teather, Director of JRS UK, said “People who have been forced to flee their homes have been subjected to unsafe, undignified, and inhumane conditions in barracks accommodation. We have sometimes been told that this is an emergency measure. Now, we see compelling evidence that it is intentionally cruel and part of a wider strategy: the government is risking the lives of the most vulnerable in order to make a political point. This gratuitous brutality is an insult to the British public whose decency and care for those in need runs a good deal deeper than Ministers’ base instincts.” Continuous Support JRS UK’s detention outreach team is providing phone support to individuals accommodated at Napier barracks, and has witnessed a serious deterioration in the mental health of some individuals over their time there. Barracks accommodation both at Napier in Folkestone and at Penally in Pembrokeshire has been widely criticised as inhumane, with an inadequate supply of food and blankets and severely limited access to medical care. In November, a group of leading clinical experts noted the high risk of infection at the sites, where social distancing is impossible. They also noted that highly controlling regimes at the sites – including use of curfews – meant they resembled “open prisons” analogous to immigration detention. Both sites have regularly encountered protests by fascists who have sometimes sought to prevent NGOs and others from passing basic necessities to residents. JRS UK is aware of credible reports that this weekend, police and onsite managers also turned away people trying to deliver food and blankets. A situation overlooked by the Government The government is legally obliged to provide accommodation to people who would otherwise be destitute while their asylum claims are heard. People seeking asylum are banned from working and cannot access mainstream benefits, so are frequently forced to rely on such asylum support. The use of the barracks sits within a pattern of deliberately harsh asylum policies: the government has a policy of creating ‘hostile environment’ for people refused asylum and others without immigration documents, and bans people seeking asylum from working, partly on the dubious basis that allowing them to do so would act as a ‘pull-factor’ to others. In recent years, government ministers have repeatedly referred to detention as a ‘deterrent’ against immigration infractions. JRS UK’s latest report, ‘Detained and Dehumanised: The impact of immigration detention’ found that the real effect of the Home Office policy of immigration detention in prison-like conditions, is that it fosters a culture of death, self-harm and ongoing mental and physical trauma leaving those who are detained, or threatened by the prospect of detention, dehumanised. Jesuits in Britain

Munich - A digital pilgrimage through Central Europe, 33 stations and a variety of exciting stories, games and puzzles - the new Jesuit app "Canisius Pilgrim Passport" invites you to a spiritual adventure through the new Central European Province of the Jesuits, which unites the previous Jesuit provinces of Austria, Germany, Lithuania-Latvia and Switzerland. The app 'Canisius Pilgerpass” is available free of charge in the google and apple app stores. Pilgrimage Individual Jesuits are making a representative pilgrimage along parts of the Canisius Way, thus combining the analogue pilgrimage with the digital one - micro-pilgrimage in times of the Corona lockdown. They report live on the pilgrimage action on the social media channels of the Jesuit Order. "One for all and all for one" they walk the path for all those who cannot walk and can be accompanied online. On the homepage canisius.world, users can tour the pilgrimage sites online and experience them interactively. The Facebook group 'Canisius Community' is the digital pilgrim's hostel during the journey. Pilgrims are to meet here, exchange experiences, give impulses and motivate each other. Seeking and finding God together in all things is also possible digitally.   A road through the countries of a new Jesuit province The 33 stations on the Canisus Way lead from Vilnius in Lithuania to Fribourg in Switzerland and through all the countries of the new Province, which also includes locations in Sweden and Chicago/USA. "In Riga, for example, we learn about the importance of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises for ecumenism. In Hamburg we meet a Jesuit who is an enthusiastic drummer." Users can immerse themselves in the life, work and spirituality of local Jesuits and experience what it means to seek and find God in all things. "At each stop there is a small task to solve to get the stamp for our digital pilgrim passport. But the pilgrimage can also be a journey to oneself and to God," explains Pia Dyckmans, Jesuit Public Relations Officer. "The Pilgrim Passport is not just a gaming app, but deliberately sets spiritual impulses and also includes a personal prayer corner, where the spiritual battery set up especially for it can be filled up in the course of the pilgrimage." A spiritual journey "The prolonged lockdown and the uncertainty of how things will continue despite Corona is taking its toll on the souls of many," knows Fr. Martin Stark SJ, Head of Communications & Fundraising, from his experience of online pastoral care. "So it's good to set off together virtually with the 'Canisius Pilgrim Passport' and to find time to recharge and take a deep breath through spiritual impulses." Getting to know all Jesuits, co-workers and friends and the exchange in the new Central European Province should also be promoted and strengthened by the pilgrimage action. The Central European Province of the Jesuits will be solemnly founded on 27 April 2021. The Provincial will be Father Bernhard Bürgler SJ, who until then was Provincial of the Jesuits in Austria. The new Province will comprise 424 Jesuits at 36 locations in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. Jesuits ECE