Traditionally, the Heverlee nursing home celebrated a Christmas festivity in which all the nursing and service staff are closely involved. Especially the Eucharist is a particularly warm communal celebration.  During the word service the Christmas story is depicted alive.  The youngest nurse recruited was to be Mary. She seemed to have stepped out of a painting by the Italian painter Raphael... The gardener accompanied her as Joseph, in Bedouin clothes. At the start of the celebration they walked into the church and are taken by a winged angel to the stable next to the choir. There Mary puts her child in a woven basket. Then the shepherds arrive but unfortunately without sheep. Meanwhile, the choir sings Christmas songs and the Christmas story is read by other members of the nursing staff. At the end of the celebration an old brother found his tenor voice again to sing Silent Night, assisted by two remarkable soprano voices. Our minister can testify with how much pleasure rehearsals were attended and with female creativity for appropriate clothing was sought. During the celebration there was joy on everyone's face to read even if one is Muslim or has little knowledge of Catholic liturgy.

CRISTIANISME I JUSTÍCIA is a study center, dedicated to reflecting on social and theological issues. At the urging of the Jesuits of Catalonia, the center was created in 1981 as an attempt to respond to the important mission of “serving faith and promoting justice.” The center brings together an interdisciplinary team of more than 80 professors of the social sciences and theology, as well as other professionals and experts who are in direct contact with concrete social realities. Here are the newest publications of the Centre you can download in English, Catalan and Spanish Guides 10: The Art of Friendship in Saint Ignatius of Loyola In this booklet the author explains the various ways in which Ignatius Loyola experienced friendship and promoted it among his companions. He agreed with Aristotle that friendship was “the thing most necessary for life,” but he also realized that friendship was a spiritual gift that needed to be cultivated and nourished with great care. Author: Josep Mª Rambla Jesuit. Theologian. Specialist in Ignatian spirituality. Study spirituality from insertion into a popular environment and social action. Among his publications: "God, friendship and the poor" (Sal Terrae). "Ignacio de Loyola, lay and Jesuit" (-eides, n. 48) Booklet 169: Dismantling the hells. Practicing the nonviolence of Jesus today In the face of the hells created by violence, oppression, and repression, the victims of injustice seem to have no other alternative than fight (action-reaction) or flight (silent submission). This booklet explores the “third way” of Jesus, which goes far beyond those two options. This “third way” is the path of active non-violence, a path that requires great lucidity, creativity, faith, and constancy. It comes out of a long biblical tradition, and it acquires special meaning in the context of our present-day society. Author: Joan Morera Perich a Jesuit, who earned his licentiate in Biblical Theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University of Rome, with a thesis that compares active nonviolence in the Suffering Servant of Isaiah with the active nonviolence of Jesus of Nazareth. He is the author of Diàleg de sords? Pedagogia per a reconciliar conflictes(Claret 2009) [Dialogue of the Deaf? Pedagogy for Reconciling Conflicts], and he is interested in assisting victims of conflicts, using the active nonviolence of the Kingdom.  Paper 11 Christianity and the new right in Europe The policies of the so-called New Right and its questioning of the most basic human rights, especially as regards migrants and refugees, undermine the deepest foundations of the Old Europe. The present text seeks to investigate the causes and conditions that lie behind this specter that is haunting the continent, and it warns of the attempts by movements of the extreme right to use Christianity and religious confrontation in order to justify their ideology.

The 35th Annual Belvedere College Sleep-Out has taken place on 22-24 December 2018 on Dublin’s O’Connell Street and College Green. Some of the students involved met with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications. They spoke about the experience of doing the Sleep-Out last year. “I never realised how hard it could be to sleep on the ground.” They also talked about the homelessness crisis and the work that some Belvedere students do, meeting with people on the streets, offering them food and a chat. Harry Hamlet McGuire says that when they do go on the streets they keep in mind the words of Brother Eamonn Davis SJ: “He tells us that when we go down to meet the homeless that we don’t stand over people… We’re sitting down and kneeling next to them and we’re having a conversation with them… and we’re getting to know them”. According to Matt Grogan: “I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself… I’m fortunate enough that I have a roof over my head every night and there’s food on my table every morning, which I’m incredibly grateful for. And through the school I’m aware that there are people who aren’t as fortunate as myself… and I feel obligated to give back”. Kevin Owens who is taking part in the Sleep-Out for the second year in a row also spoke to Pat Coyle. Last year’s Sleep-Out raised just under 200,000 euro. Cormac Yalloway is really hopeful that they can get well over that amount this year. Whatever money they raise will be divided between the Peter McVerry Trust, Focus Ireland and Home Again.

A comprehensive six-month programme in Brussels. ‘‘We are happy to announce that this February, JESC will inaugurate the ELP. We will offer committed young Europeans a fellowship experience of professional training that will help them learn to guide ​our society with political virtue and Christian principles.” General Video: https://youtu.be/JxhKk8h9BEU Learning Segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqsEWUR649o&t=6s The ELP is a Brussels-based project where you, an emerging leader, will develop skills through theoretical and practical methodologies by living together with your fellows for six months. ​The activities will consist of five interrelated segments: You will be immersed in the administrative and political life of E.U. institutions and have the opportunity to meet with political leaders in Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and beyond. You will participate in modules and workshops presented by high profile academics and practitioners in order to develop your leadership skills and stimulate reflection and discussion. You will be immersed in a voluntary experience of living in and serving a marginalised community. You will receive spiritual guidance and discernment training. ​You will live in, and enjoy, a community of friends that is located in the heart of Brussels. ​​ ​The goal of ELP is to contribute to the formation of spirituality and to build on own calling, this way gaining tools for managing ​the life of a leader. ​Thanks to retreats, on-going formation, spiritual direction, sharing of experiences in groups and community life, those chosen will enhance their self-knowledge so as to understand others in a deeper way. An essential element is the experience of living together under one roof as a community. This experience will focus on building character through community life and common policies, such as spiritual training, environmental vigilance and international hospitality. Applications are now open! Join this adventure for hearts and minds to navigate the challenge.

On the occasion of World Migrant Day (December 18), the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM-E) has launched a video campaign to explain the functioning of the Communities of Hospitality that it set up in Spain almost three years ago. The project covers Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Bilbao and Valencia. Families or communities of lay people and religious are collaborating in the reception of families and refugees. The network has more than 300 volunteers and welcomes more than 100 migrants in need of protection each year. This reception project seeks to respond to the first arrival, that is to say the emergency and temporary reception of migrants who arrive at Spain and cannot access the system resources. And the long-term reception (up to 2 years) to vulnerable migrants, especially families, once they have exhausted the benefits of the reception system and need more support to achieve their autonomy. These experiences seek to articulate citizen solidarity in order to give an integral response to migrants that responds to the gaps in the national system of protection and integration; and promote experiences of encounter and hospitality that facilitate integration, coexistence and the construction of plural societies. Within the framework of the Jesuit Hospitality Campaign, the Jesuit Migrant Service network has promoted the implementation of these communities. You can see in these videos everything that has generated both in the people who have been welcomed, as in the communities of hospitality this experience. Specifically in the network of families in Barcelona, in the Community of Guadalupe (Madrid), in Casa Mambré (Seville), in Jesuiten Extea (Bilbao) and in Valencia.

Pope Francis always tries to meet with local Jesuits wherever his pastoral visits take him in the world. Travelling with him is Fr. Antonio Spadaro, Editor in Chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, who records and transcribes the conversation for the pope. These ‘conversations’ have always been published on the English edition website. Now we have brought the conversations together in a single digital edition entitled Pope Francis: Fraternal and Spontaneous. It’s easy to access on any device. Just click here to download the digital book: https://laciviltacattolica.com/pope-francis-fraternal-and-spontaneous In this season, I hope this gift of a first-hand, personal account of these meetings can be widely shared through Jesuit networks. Please let as many as you can know about the availability of these accounts of a relaxed, spontaneous, expansive Pope Francis. We have shared “Conversations” with Jesuits in English speaking Provinces in Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America. And we ask you also share with colleagues, family and friends. La Civiltà Cattolica is a multilingual publication (Italian, English, Spanish, French and Korean). Founded in 1850 at the invitation of Pope Pius IX, it is the first periodical in the Society to embody the formula widely adopted in many Jesuit publications.