The Jesuit School in Gdynia has prepared several Ignatian activities for the Ignatianum Year, one of the initiatives being international meetings for parents of Jesuit school students from all over the world. 

Because at Jesuit schools we care for the whole person in their own context, our educational model involves the cooperation, personal development and spiritual growth of parents. Our school offers monthly lectures on various aspects of parenting education. In this particular year we have decided to go one step further, namely to invite parents to participate in international meetings with parents from other countries, where they can not only gain a basic knowledge of Ignatian spirituality, but also understand the context of the global aspects of our school. This is what our students learn during international projects and we want parents to try this experience too.

Schools from different countries were invited to our Ignatian Spirituality meetings for parents. Some schools could not join us due to time difference or language difficulties, but in the end we have participants from schools in Italy - Gonzaga Instutute in Palermo, Spain - Colegio San Estanislao in Malaga, Chile - Colegio San Ignacio in Santiago de Chile, Hungary - Fényi Gyula Jezsuita Gimnázium, Lithuania - Šiauliai Jesuit School, Guatemala and Poland - Zespół Szkół Jesuit w Gdyni. The project consists of 4 online meetings, where we first have the opportunity to meet and get to know each other, then we have a lecture - our lecturer is Rafał Huzarski SJ from Gdynia, who has prepared a series of 4 topics: 1) Ignatian spirituality and family life, 2) My life roles, 3) Is it worth making plans? 4. Examination of conscience and evaluation. During each meeting parents also have the opportunity to work in small groups where they can talk and share. 

We are happy that there are parents who not only want to support their children's development, but also want to develop themselves. We know they work and have many responsibilities so this is another time-consuming item on their calendar. Meeting other parents and talking in a foreign language also takes courage, but we see that these meetings bring joy to all of us, we are happy to be together, to get to know each other and to understand the idea of introducing Ignatian spirituality into our daily lives.

Damian Czerniak SJ