Building a culture of safeguarding is a paramount consideration for all Jesuit and companion schools within the JECSE (Jesuit European Committee for Primary and Secondary Education) network. In 2019, the Secretariat for Education of the Society of Jesus underscored that "Jesuit schools are committed to creating a safe and healthy environment for all" (Jesuit Schools: a Living Tradition in the 21st Century – An Ongoing Exercise of Discernment), thus making safeguarding a key indicator among the ten identifiers guiding our schools. Although awareness of the need to take action in the area of safeguarding has significantly increased in recent years, many schools still face challenges due to a lack of resources, qualified staff, and experience to address these needs adequately. Consequently, JECSE, in collaboration with ZIP (Zentrum für Ignatianische Pädagogik - the Centre for Ignatian Pedagogy), aims to continue supporting schools in the field of safeguarding and to work collaboratively with them to strengthen the culture of protection. A survey conducted jointly by JECSE and ZIP in September 2023, along with interviews involving stakeholders engaged in safeguarding implementation across various levels within schools, has identified several key needs: - Enhanced access to model materials and tools - Sharing of best practice - Staff training on safeguarding - Guidance on staff training methodologies - Assistance in implementing activities, personalized advice, and expert support. In response to these identified needs, the new ZIP-JECSE project entitled "Safeguarding – From Awareness to Action" has been established to offer comprehensive support to our schools in these critical areas. Preparing a detailed school safeguarding roadmap In April 2024, a new Safeguarding project commenced in Ludwigshafen, Germany. An international Safeguarding Advisory Group, comprising representatives from various Provinces including Safeguarding and Education Delegates, School Safeguarding Coordinators, and Heads, convened for its initial meeting. During this session, they formulated a comprehensive school safeguarding roadmap and developed supplementary tools and materials aimed at enhancing schools' engagement in fostering a culture of protection. These resources will undergo consultation with schools to ensure their effectiveness. „We are developing a culture of protection in all the schools that belongs to the JECSE network. Schools will facilitate a proactive, ongoing process of reflection and discernment about the safe school environment more broadly, and encourage methods and activities that support a positive, safe `Ignatian school climate´“, said Ulrike Gentner, Director of the Center for Ignatian Pedagogy (ZIP) in Ludwigshafen. The members of the advisory group were very convinced of the project and its necessity: “I’m happy to collaborate in this project around safeguarding. Our pedagogical project calls us to create a safe environment for our students, inspired by authentic Cura Personalis. It gives joy to work with a group of committed colleagues who want to care, from a shared concern, for the children entrusted to our schools“, emphasized Frederik Van Rampelberg (Education Delegate - Belgium North). „Thank you for this moment of sharing, it is also formative for me, generative of new ideas. It makes me feel on a journey, beautiful and shared, and shows me a vocational ideal that it is beautiful to feel in myself and in others. Together we can do something!”, added Prof. Giuseppe Mannino (Psicologo Clinico, Psicoterapeuta, Analista esistenziale, Esperto in formazione umana e psicologia della pace). “It has become obvious during our recent conversations that different schools in the various jurisdictions covered by the JECSE network are at different stages of Development in relation to Child Protection. Many of our schools cannot rely on a legal framework as of yet. We believe that it is important that best practice is shared and effectively disseminated so that Children in all our schools enjoy the safest possible environment where they can flourish and thrive.” (Damon McCaul, Headmaster, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin, Ireland). Making schools safe places For Cathrin Rieger, education officer at Heinrich Pesch Haus and ZIP, it is a pleasure to be involved in this international prevention project: “Learning from each other, exchanging ideas and continuing to work together to make schools and institutions safe places for children, young people and adults. We also have to face new challenges — prevention never stops! Cyber-bullying, dangers on the Internet, peer violence, parental work, etc. are new challenges that we have to face,” she said. “We will not be able to carry out this huge task only with wise documents but spreading and sharing all around a sense of enthusiasm, hope and commitment. We have the chance to foster safeguarding culture in our schools throughout Europe“, said Manuel Fariñas de Alba (Director Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid). Safeguarding is an ongoing process JECSE Director Agnieszka Baran expressed her confidence that the joint effort and cooperation of all involved in the project will yield positive outcomes for the schools within the network. "It is paramount that our network continues to collaborate to reinforce the culture of safeguarding in our schools. We are heartened by the significant progress we have achieved in this realm in recent years. However, safeguarding remains an ongoing endeavour, and there is still much to be accomplished," she remarked. Agnieszka Baran extended gratitude to the Centre for Ignatian Pedagogy for its support and coordination of this project with JECSE. "I am also deeply impressed by the dedication of all participants in this meeting to engage with us on the challenges confronting our schools in the realm of safeguarding and how we can best address them," stated the JECSE Director. She further expressed appreciation to the entire Heinrich Pesch House team for warmly hosting the group and for fostering a supportive environment conducive to addressing the challenging issue of protecting the most vulnerable from abuse.

Fifty-five years after the expulsion of the Jesuits of Al Hikma University from Iraq in 1969—the Jesuits of Baghdad College had already been expelled in 1968—the Jesuits have bought a house in Baghdad. The property in Karrada, a central neighborhood of Baghdad city, is not yet habitable and needs extensive renovation. The house will serve as legal address for registering the Jesuits as a religious community under the Latin Bishopric of Baghdad. Upon completion of the works, the two-floor house will be able to accommodate three Jesuits and will have meeting and conference spaces as well as a small chapel. The well-constructed buildings of Baghdad College and Al Hikma University, situated a few kilometers apart in Sulaikh and Za'afraniya neighbourhoods, respectively, are still standing. Baghdad College is still one of the top government schools for boys. The former Al Hikma is now the Middle Technical University. Both had been expropriated without compensation, although the church of Baghdad College was later entrusted to the custody of Chaldean Catholic Church. Later, the church had been vandalized and was deconsecrated. Significantly, the graves of five American Jesuits who had served heritage in Baghdad lie within the perimeter of the church that is listed as a historical building. The purchase of the property in Karrada could be instrumental for the recovery of the church and its registration under the endowment of the Latin Bishopric of Baghdad as well as for seeking to obtain some form of compensation for the remaining expropriated properties. These efforts are not an exercise to turn the clock back. Rather, the guiding vision is to listen to the Holy Spirit, to understand how Jesuits may selflessly and creatively serve God's children in Iraq in the future. Formation of Christians in the faith, spiritual support to sisters and priests, and reaching out to the youth of the country feature prominently among the pastoral challenges and opportunities of this long-suffering country. The harvest is indeed great.

 «Three days of meeting and communion in a profound, joyful and open style to think about life and the future»: thus Fr. Andrea Picciau SJ, coordinator of the Jesuit youth network of the Euro-Mediterranean Province (Italy, Albania, Malta and Romania), founded on 12 November, talks about the meeting of around 300 young people aged 18 to 35 who live experiences linked to spirituality Ignatian, and the responsible Jesuits. The three-day event was held from 25 to 28 April, in Frascati, at the Giovanni XXIII Center. Among the proposals are three workshops, centered on the different points of the mission. Knowing Magis was the first of the workshops that all 300 young people experienced together. «A moment to get to know ourselves, God and others better. To meet and start sharing. But also the beginning of our being part of the great Ignatian family, each with their own characteristics, riches and fragilities, gathered around the Lord. To help us visualize this we were helped by the idea of ​​the early Christian mosaic and in particular by the mosaic of S. Clemente in Rome which accompanied us throughout the weekend. Finally we explored the concept of Magis as an extra not in terms of quantity, but of quality of commitment, of life, which seeks to be shaped by the style that the Lord has shown us", says Picciau. In the Loving Magis, a laboratory of integral ecology was experienced, to better understand how to live, with the Lord, an attitude of love towards oneself, towards others and towards creation. «Concretely we started from the specific problem of Fast Fashion, to understand in an experiential way the complexity of the issues at stake, and then relate them to the teachings of Laudato si'».  In Serving Magis «we experienced a laboratory to find the tools to be able to translate the love we live and feel into action, to make this world more beautiful and habitable, making our life a gift, a service. A practical laboratory on choices, in which starting from the question about a service to choose, we entered into the art of discerning spirits, the fundamental criteria for choosing and the verification of choices. For our lives to be more meaningful to us and others. In a time that pushes us to divide ourselves and look only at ourselves, we want to unite and build paths of encounter and beauty together." On the new website  magis-eum.org  the proposals scheduled this summer promoted by the various entities of the network, including Pietre Vive, Meg, CVX-Lms, Centro Poggeschi, Selva.

On April 25, 2023, the Ignatianum University in Krakow hosted a Scientific Symposium entitled "The Crime of Pedophilic Acts: Social, Therapeutic, and Legal Aspects" organized by the Child Protection Center (COD). The event took place on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of COD. The symposium was held under the honorary patronage of Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the Primate of Poland, Monika Hornej-Cieślak, the Ombudsman for Children's Rights, and Professor Tomasz Homa, the Rector of Ignatianum University. The introductory speeches were delivered by: Dr. Krzysztof Biel SJ, Dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy at Ignatianum University Dr. Adam Żak, Director of COD Professor Tomasz Homa, Rector of Ignatianum University Monika Hornej-Cieślak, Ombudsman for Children's Rights, with a lecture on "Child Protection in the Light of the Kamilka Act" The sexual exploitation of minors is a global social problem. Recent reports on the scale of the phenomenon indicate a continuous increase in cases of sexual violence against children and youth, despite increasingly restrictive legal regulations aimed at perpetrators. The aim of the symposium was to reflect on the phenomenon of child sexual exploitation in its three aspects: social, therapeutic, and legal, and to seek new possibilities for preventing these crimes, also at the legal level. The above topics were discussed within three thematic panels.The first panel focused on the social aspect. In the social sphere, attention was drawn to the scale of the phenomenon, risk factors for becoming a victim, and possible aspects of prevention. The speakers included: Dr. Krzysztof Biel, Ignatianum University Dr. Monika Sajkowska, FDDS Mgr Sławomir Nowotny, ISKK The panel was moderated by Dr. Krzysztof Biel SJ. The second panel concentrated on the therapeutic aspect. The discussion revolved around the effects of sexual exploitation of minors and proposals for therapeutic interventions for victims of pedophilic acts. The speakers in the second panel included: Dr. Barbara Smolińska, Dialogue Workshop Professor Bogdan de Barbaro, Fundacja Na Szlaku Mgr Tomasz Franc OP (moderator) The third panel discussed the adequacy and effectiveness of legal regulations in the field of criminal and canon law. During the third panel, speakers examined the latest legal provisions. The speakers included: Professor Paweł Wiliński, Adam Mickiewicz University - Fundamental rights of the victim. Foundation and minimum standard Dr. Jan Dohnalik, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University - Canon law on sexual exploitation of minors and the vulnerable - where are we and where are we heading The panel was moderated by Professor Hanna Suchocka, Adam Mickiewicz University.

Father Stanisław Majcher, a Jesuit from the Retreat House in Zakopane, serves as a chaplain at the penitentiary in Nowy Wiśnicz. As part of his ministry, he moderates formational meetings for prisoners. On April 20, another meeting took place, attended by several dozen inmates and a few volunteers from Krakow, Lodz, Rzeszow, Zywiec, Nowy Sacz, Lachowice, and Gdansk. The main topic of the meeting was loneliness and isolation in everyday life. It's worth noting that prisoners do not experience loneliness in the classical sense, as they are surrounded by fellow inmates. However, the question was how to overcome the feeling of isolation that affects the inner self. Father Stanisław Majcher began the meeting by talking about external and internal freedom, introducing the topic. Then, fragments from the Holy Scripture about loneliness were presented to the prisoners to explore the issues at the intersection of spirituality and psychology, distinguishing between loneliness and isolation. The next two presentations were testimonies from volunteers sharing how they cope with isolation at home and in their professional lives. Referring to the scope of isolation in professional work, a volunteer mentioned his experience with Spiritual Exercises, where the silence of the retreat touched his inner self and consciousness. This led to a desire to talk to his coworker about their closed-off attitude. The result of the conversation was a spiritual and life awakening for the coworker, who emerged from that state as a changed person. The key to overcoming isolation is a relationship with God, and subsequently, building oneself on the path towards another person with God. It was also pointed out that Saint Ignatius Loyola wrote in the Spiritual Exercises: "The more the soul is isolated and alone, the more it can approach its Creator and Lord and unite with Him."

This summer, young adults can again discuss and reflect on ways to live sustainably at the "Eco Summer Camp". The one-week exchange focuses on socio-ecological transformation on a large scale and individual solutions on a small scale. The meeting will take place from August 18 to 25 at the Lassalle House in Switzerland and is under the motto "From wild consumption to responsible engagement" this year. "In concrete, personal terms, the revolution that the world needs often falls very hard for most people. Pure knowledge does not help to bring about great changes. That's the starting point of the Eco Summer Camp: How can we get the socio-ecological transformation that we know is necessary, moving?" says Valerio Ciriello SJ, who leads the camp. "Each of us knows behaviors that we should actually stop or change. And yet we don't do it. The head alone is not enough, not even for us Jesuits. And you can't force changes in people's hearts, neither through insight nor through regulations or coercion." Instead, Ciriello relies on encounter and exchange at the Eco Summer Camp. In exchange with outstanding experts The Eco Summer Camp is designed as an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and cross-generational sustainability week. Together with outstanding experts, participants have the opportunity to discuss current global ecological and socio-economic challenges. Sustainable strategies for addressing these challenges and ways to change one's own habits are explored in the camp. The program includes lectures and workshops, as well as walks, excursions, various dinner and cocktail formats, podium discussions, campfire talks, and reflection offers. The goal is to have as much encounter and exchange on an equal footing as possible, in both directions: the experts on one side and the participants on the other have something to say, and the Eco Summer Camp wants to offer the space. Students can earn ECTS points The Eco Summer Camp is also a summer school. This gives participants the opportunity to earn 4 ECTS points (European Credit Transfer System). However, acquiring ECTS points is not a requirement for participation. Non-students are also warmly welcome. Partners include the Center for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern, the Swedish Newman Institute, the Lassalle Institute, and the Research and Training Institute ESSR of the Jesuits in the Philippines, which promotes ecological sustainability and social justice. More info:https://www.jesuiten.org/news/mach-mit-beim-eco-summer-camp-2024