Take a dozen Jesuits. Make them stand at seven stations on a route between a shrine near Budapest and their community house in the capital of Hungary. Ask them to describe each step of the Jesuit formation at the consecutive stops. Add them a hundred friends, and get the whole lot of people run or walk the 9 kilometre distance amidst the woods. Fill the sporting activity with spiritual content, and encourage the participants to dedicate every joy and pain the physical exercise has to offer to the present and future members of the Society of Jesus. After crossing the finish line, cook goulash for more than a hundred in the garden of the Jesuit community. Draught beer and fine lemonade is also a must. Blend it with nice jazz music. Finally serve it in bright autumn sunshine, and there you have the recipe of the first Hungarian Jesuit community run/walk. This unique occasion took place on the last Saturday of September as one of the major events in the Year of Vocations proclaimed by the Hungarian Jesuit province at the beginning of 2019. The members and friends of the Society of Jesus in Hungary have a long history of joining foot races, but this time they – implementing vocation promoter Bálint Nagy SJ’s concept – decided to organise a fun run of their own. What is more, it was not actually a competition, but an event where the spiritual aspect was at least as important as physical activity. The entire day was given a frame story, in which the participants, as if “wannabe” Jesuits themselves, followed the stations of the formation step by step from the noviciate to the final vows and ordination, halting for two minutes at the stops and listening to the Jesuits there presenting their actual studies in a nutshell. The venue of the event was also telling. The popular hiking destination used to be the „spiritual port” of the Jesuits before the transition in 1990, when in Communist times the shrine dedicated to Virgin Mary housed their noviciate. It was also in this church where a Jesuit general paid his first visit ever to Hungary in 1978. Pedro Arrupe met with the Hungarian Jesuits working half illegally in the country, and presented them a chalice to encourage his persecuted companions to keep their faith and commitment. It was a touching moment at the mass celebrated prior to the run when socius Zoltán Koronkai SJ told the participants: the silver grail they can see standing on the altar is the very same one that Father Arrupe gave the Hungarian Jesuits nearly half a century before.

Created in 1989 by Fr. Charles Delhez sj, the "What to think about...?" collection celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. A conference has been organized on this occasion at the Forum Saint-Michel, in Brussels, on 24 October, on the latest work in the collection. Its theme? Robotics and artificial intelligence. Published by Jesuit Publishing, the "What to think about...?" series aims to propose a Christian reflection on a question relating to current religious, spiritual or social events, in sync with today's climate and issues. In affordable language, it offers objective, scientific, sociological, sociological and philosophical references and a theological analysis that allows the reader to find the elements of personal discernment. Among the best-sellers in the collection: - "Transhumanism" (P. Xavier Dijon sj) - "Paranormal Experiences" (François Mathijsen) - "The Holy Shroud" (Stone of Riedmatten) - "Saint Paul" (P. Philippe Wargnies sj and Mgr Pierre Warin) - "The Jesus of Christians" (P. Charles Delhez sj and P. Jacques Vermeylen) and if we go back in time: - "Palliative care" - "Depression" - "The errors of the Church" - "Astrology" - "Jehovah's Witnesses" - "Spiritism" A 100th issue on robotics and artificial intelligence The 100th issue of the collection was written by Dominique Lambert, physicist and philosopher, professor at the Jesuit University of Namur, on the theme of robotics and artificial intelligence. In this booklet, the author shows, from examples, how and why these autonomous robots raise many epistemological, legal, ethical and anthropological questions, which must be answered while avoiding both dangerous technophobia and incoherent technolatry. A conference was held on Thursday 24 October at the Forum Saint-Michel in Brussels. Upcoming publications Among the upcoming themes in the "What about...?" collection : - "The Animals" (P. Éric Charmetant sj) - "The Last Endings" (P. Benoît de Baenst) - "The angels" (Hans Ausloos) - "Dogmas" (P. Michel Fédou sj) Jesuit Publishing: a collection of 1200 publications Located in Brussels and Paris, the Jesuit Publishing House is a work of the French-speaking Western European Province. With a background of about 1200 titles in the fields of spiritual accompaniment, intellectual research in philosophy, ethics and theology, and formation in the service of the Gospel and the Church, they publish some sixty new publications each year in a spirit of great openness to contemporary issues.

Ludwigshafen (ako) - For the first time, the Ferdinande Boxberger Prize for Ignatian Education, endowed with a total of 10,000 euros, was awarded within the framework of the "Days of Ignatian Education" in the Heinrich Pesch House (HPH). The winners are Prof. James Arthur, Director of the Jubilee Centre at the University of Birmingham, and Julius de Gruyter, Kai Lanz and Jan Wilhelm, who developed the anti-mobbing app "exclamo! The eponym of the prize With this prize, the founder of the prize, Friedrich Wilhelm Krekeler from Bonn-Bad Godesberg, commemorates his mother, Ferdinande Boxberger (1914-2014), and expresses the grateful connection of his family with Ignatian pedagogy. As a self-confident personality, the cosmopolitan Jewish Sauerlander, who was rooted in the cosmopolitan world, preserved her pride and dignity in the tectonic upheavals and upheavals of her centuries-long existence. "Personality development is not an academic matter. The name of this prize stands for it in an exemplary way", said Father Johannes Siebner SJ, Provincial of the German Province of the Jesuits, who presented the award ceremony. For Ferdinande Boxberger had been a woman "who stood for character formation in her family in an exemplary way". Alfred Delp's saying "He who does not have the courage to make history becomes her poor victim. Let us do" also applied to the eponym of the prize and her life. The motto of the life-affirming businesswoman, who was open-minded and turned towards strangers, was "Let us do! Always to become master of the situation, never victim of the circumstances. The Ferdinande Boxberger Prize The Ferdinande Boxberger Prize is divided into two parts: "On the one hand, we honour the life's work of people who have made an exemplary contribution to personality development in the sense of Ignatian pedagogy. And we want to support lighthouse projects in the schools of Ignatian pedagogy that stand in a special way for the goals of our pedagogy", said Father Johannes Siebner SJ, Provincial of the German Province of the Jesuits. Good pedagogy needs reflected action, committed personalities and outstanding initiatives. The prize is intended for people and groups who have adopted Alfred Delp's motto: Let us do it. Prof. Dr. James Arthur - Jubilee Centre, University of Birmingham James Arthur is Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Professor of Education and Citizenship at the University of Birmingham. In 2012 he founded the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. This institute at Birmingham University, in collaboration with educators, philosophers and psychologists, develops concrete models of character building for schools and explores the effectiveness of different concepts. The background to these efforts is the classical Aristotelian model of virtue ethics on the one hand, and modern developmental psychological models such as positive psychology on the other. With its scientific work, the Centre supports the work of local schools in order to advance the quality of school education, the school development of concrete schools and the further training of teachers. "The Jubilee Centre is a stroke of luck for our Ignatian schools," Johannes Siebner thanked the prizewinner. The Centre for Ignatian Education (ZIP) at HPH and the Jubilee Centre have become good partners. "This has given our work at ZIP great dynamism and breadth," said Siebner. With James Arthur, "a pioneer of pedagogy" became the first winner of the Ferdinande Boxberger Prize. "We want to make people more human through virtues," said Arthur, "virtues that help shape the character of young people. The work of the Jubilee Centre focuses on community, society and the individual in society. "Our goal is for people to think about others and about their neighbors. If you make people think that way, you improve society - and people. Both are important," he explained. Anti-Mobbing-App "exclamo!" from the Canisius-Kolleg in Berlin  Three high school graduates of the Canisius-Kolleg in Berlin - Julius de Gruyter, Kai Lanz and Jan Wilhelm - have developed the anti-bullying app "exclamo!" within the framework of a school project "business@school" with Boston consulting. (Latin for outcry). With the help of this app, bullied pupils can find out about help offers. "The app provides information so that those affected understand that the problem is not them but the mobber. And it encourages action," said the Provincial. "Violence must not be tolerated", he stressed. The app can be used for both current smartphone operating systems and is also available to teachers to discuss the topic of "violence".

Members of the  Xavier Network (XN) met in Portugal this fall, from 4 to 9 of October  for a three-day workshop on child safeguarding (CS) followed by the directors  meeting. The meetings were held at Torre d´Aguilha Seminar, located in Cascais municipality, around 20 Km west of Lisbon. The participants included directors of the different member organizations in Europe, Canada and Australia, as well as personnel working in international programs and with volunteers.  The goal of the Child Safeguarding workshop was to get a deeper understanding of safeguarding issues; to reflect on our role and responsibilities; as well as to develop skills and strategies for the implementation of policies and procedures to ensure the protection of people in our care. The sessions were facilitated by Emer Kerrigan, of the Irish Jesuit Mission office  and CS coordinator for the XN, and Brian Cranmer, CS advisor of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). The group benefitted from the invaluable presence of Fr Kyara Corbinian SJ, AOR development director and Fr Augostine Ekeno SJ, Parish Priest of St. Teresa’s Reconciliation Parish in Rumbek and Director of Multi-educational and Agricultural Jesuit Institute (MAJIS) in South Sudan. The workshop was a dynamic and pedagogical experience that allowed participants to build better knowledge and skills on how to identify child abuse and, more importantly, how to work together to prevent it. It created a respectful and safe environment where participants exchanged ideas, experiences and concerns about the implementation of the policies. Following the workshop, directors and some programs staff met to discuss issues of common concern to the members of the network with the objective of strengthening  our cooperation. Fr Kyara Corbinian SJ and Fr Augostine Ekeno SJ gave a presentation about the emergency response in South Sudan, which has been made possible thanks in part to support from the Xavier Network.  Emer Kerrigan from the Irish Jesuit Missions helped the group assess our progress in implementing the CS commitments made in the previous meeting. Maria del Mar Magallón, director of Alboan and Pablo Funes, international programs coordinator of Entreculturas gave a summary of the XN common projects: the Panamazon Initiative and Fe y Alegria Africa. Fr Tom Smolich SJ, JRS International Director joined the meeting via Zoom for a Q&A session on the proposal to strengthen JRS country offices. Pablo Funes from Entreculturas gave an update about the XN emergency projects in Philippines, Nepal, Venezuela and Mozambique/Zimbabwe. The group also heard from  Fr Jorge Serrano SJ,  Assistant Treasurer for Development Resources,  who gave a update on the current state of development work following an international meeting held in Rome last May. Fr Peter Rozic SJ, Social Apostolate Delegate of the Conference of European Provincials,  shared information about the 50 Jubilee of the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat to be celebrated in Rome.  We also reviewed the progress of  the different XN working groups (programs, advocacy, volunteers and advocacy) and the XN involvement in other international groups such as GIAN Justice in Mining and FACSI. In a separate session, the directors, following a communal discernment process, they reflected through spiritual conversation on the common vision guiding the Xavier Network, the ways in which God is calling the network to walk with people who are excluded and how we can respond more to the needs we see. It was a rich exchange which affirmed the way in which this network has grown in depth and has become an important  space not only for common action, but for reflection and visioning on how to live  our shared mission of justice and solidarity.

The Second Cohort of the European Leadership Programme started on the last weekend of September. The eight new, young leaders were recruited from different European countries such as Italy, Hungary, France and Belgium, following the same personal ambition: To develop in their leadership skills, to get to know Brussels from an insider’s perspective and to practice the Jesuit principle of “Magis”, the wish to do more for others, to be a (wo)man for others. The five months long Programme is based on five segments, which all contribute to the formation of the Fellows. he aim is to prepare them for the serving type of leadership. Brussels, the European capital is the new home for our ELP Fellows, which allows them to be immersed in the corridors of the institutions of the European Union and be surrounded by the daily flux of lobbyists, eurocrats, Jesuits, diplomats and NGO representatives. Through a set of interdisciplinary methods, such as spiritual coaching, community life for self-development, informal talks with our high-level guest speakers and a variety of social events, as well as by practicing the everyday reflection, they will experience all aspects of the life of a leader. The ELP team firmly believes that only such a holistic approach is arming the Fellows for the unavoidable challenges and pitfalls that they will be facing during their professional career. This is the second edition of ELP, running from the 1st October 2019 to the 28th February 2020. The pilot edition was led by Fr. Peter Rožič SJ, Director of the Jesuit European Social Centre (JESC), who had to develop an institutional home for such a Programme inside JESC. The Inaugural Weekend was orchestrated by JESC European Leadership Programme Manager and Secretary for Leadership Botond Feledy,, ELP Assistant Zsófia Voda and JESC’s Director’s Executive Assistant Eleonora Vitale.  One of the highlights of the weekend was a city walk organised by the Cornerstone Network in downtown Brussels, where we recited the local history through the lense of social justice. The Fellows got acquainted with the place that will host their pathway of intellectual and personal growth for the following five months – to begin with. For the weekend closure, the ELP Fellows had the chance to listen to an introduction by Fr. Guy Martinot SJ at La Viale Europe. In line with the Community segment of ELP, they were offered some inspiration to do volunteering work by David Anderson, who spoke on behalf of Serve the City Brussels. Here, the Fellows will be involved in different projects once a week as part of their personal growth process. David highlighted the importance of helping people to make a city grow in the right direction, based on the premise that the essence of life is about people and creating bonds between us. Beginning this week, the Fellows will receive guidance from a personal coach and lectures from High Level speakers representing different organisations and institutions. If you want to receive more information on ELP events do not hesitate to follow our account on instagram @jesc-elp; our Facebook Page European Leadership Programme or subscribe to our Monthly ELP Newsletter.

Created in 1999, the "Messe qui prend son Temps" (MT) celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday, October 6, with 400 faithful from several generations. The provincial François Boëdec presided over this anniversary MT. What is "MT"? Every Sunday evening, about 200 students and young professionals flock to the Saint Ignatius Church for what they commonly call the "MT", the Mass that takes its time. Born in Paris in 1999, TM has since then extended far beyond the borders of Saint-Ignace: Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, Lyon... But also in England, Italy, Canada, Switzerland... The originality of this formula: instead of the usual 60 minutes, this mass is willingly extended by an additional half an hour, dedicated to listening to the Word, personal prayer and sharing in small groups. According to Ignatian spirituality, three points of meditation are proposed on the Gospel of the day, while leaving everyone free to "feel and taste things inwardly", to use Saint Ignatius' words. Objective: that young people practice contemplation and discernment. A time to meet God and others For Valerio Ciriello sj, coordinator of MT, "in an often frenetic world, young people have here the time and space to meet God, to deepen their knowledge of his Word and to put it into practice with the many other young people with whom they meet every Sunday. Here, we take time for God and for others, since there is no real encounter with God that does not also involve the encounter with our brothers and sisters. » Conviviality is thus clearly part of the MT's DNA: a shared drink (and sometimes a meal) systematically closes each Sunday evening celebration. To support this MT, several teams of students and young professionals are involved in different areas: music, readers, diakonia, etc. Beyond these groups of young people, Jesuits and religious also participate in the functioning of the celebration through opportunities for confession and a permanent listening. The origins of MT It was during a retreat for young people in Manresa (Jesuit spiritual centre in Clamart, 92) that the idea of a "School of the Word" was first experienced. Inspired by Cardinal Martini sj who had set this up in Milan since the early 1980s, and in the spirit of lectio divina, the School of the Word allows time to meditate in silence on the Word of God, one beside the other, in the same way of what is lived in Taizé. In 1999, at the request of the Provincial to renew youth ministry in Saint-Ignace and based on this experience in Manresa, "Masses listening to the Word" were launched. This way of praying Scripture inside a mass is then proposed every Sunday evening at 7pm. "The Mass listening to the Word" gradually becomes the "Mass that takes its time" according to the spontaneous expression of a participant.