NEWS

The Communication Office has edited the following videos of the interview with Fr General during his last visit to the province of Spain (in Spanish): The task of the General:   His main task right now is to know the universal Society, something that he is living with joy, especially "knowing the Jesuits on their own land" in all its variety and creativity. Working for reconciliation: The program is very clear because GC 36 told us what to do. We have to continue with Faith, Justice, Dialogue and Culture, but with an emphasis on Reconciliation with humankind, the world and God. The two main rails on which the Society of Jesus must rely:  These are the spiritual depth supported by discernment and inner freedom, and the intellectual depth to understand better what happens in this world generating a theology that helps people. Creative fidelity: . For Spain, Fr. General proposes a model: creative fidelity. Loyalty to the history of the Society of Jesus but in the way of creativity that is generating in the universal Society the choice of their apostolic preferences. Collaboration between Jesuits and laity and with others. Fr. General asks the Jesuits to become collaborators of a mission greater than that of the Society, the mission of the Church. He suggest the lay people to help the Jesuits in this journey of collaboration, venture into the depth of the spirit and assume their role, knowing that they do not It's easy, it's a complex, long and difficult process  To a young man who wishes to become a Jesuit. Father General invites him not to be afraid and believe that the impossible is possible. The challenges in Education: He considers the interculturality and the formation of universal citizens key challenges of the educational task of the Jesuit schools. Communication: Fr. Arturo Sosa believes we need to rescue the importance that the first Jesuits gave to communication, for a better articulation of the Society of Jesus Finally, we asked about the situation in his homeland, Venezuela.

After months of negotiations, the Spirituality web and the Spanish Home Office have reached an agreement so that inmates can do Exercises with weekly online accompaniment. This program is a pioneer in Europe and will be launched as a pilot experience in a Madrid prison. This prison will provide space and access to the inmates so they can chat by Skype with their companions. The Home Office said this is a commitment to spirituality as a means of reintegrating inmates and improving their quality of life. A group of Jesuits and lay people, with experience in prisons ministry, will collaborate in this project.

Professors Cornelius Casey, Fáinche Ryan and Michael Kirwan presented a series of lectures based upon Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Exhortation on Love in the Family, Amoris Laetitia, The Joy of Love, in Loyola Institute on Saturday 9 June, each identifying what they perceived to be the positive and negative aspects of this magisterial document. Prof Michael Kirwan began by placing Amoris Laetitia within the context of Pope Francis’ ‘Year of Mercy’, a theme later picked up and developed in Prof Fáinche Ryan’s lecture. Michael pointed out that overly pious images of the family are divorced from the reality of most family’s experiences, which, for the most part, are, at the very least, messy, and often just plain chaotic. He proceeded to explain that Jesus, in fact, often adopted an ‘anti-family’ stance towards the Jewish ideal of family, insofar as he called people to a new way of belonging, a new way of ‘being family’. Michael also explained one of Pope Francis’ favourite phrases, ‘time is greater than space’, as an openness to difference, and a refusal to shut down dialogue due to prejudicial thinking. Furthermore, time incorporates waiting, a necessary requirement when seeking solutions to resolving problems. Michael also drew attention to Pope Francis’ concept of life as a pilgrimage, a journey towards holiness. The Church’s role is to show mercy and accompany ‘the weakness of her children’. Prof Cornelius Casey presented a thought provoking lecture beginning with a consideration of the intriguing sources Pope Francis refers to throughout his document, including references to many non-Catholics, for example, Martin Luther King, Buddhist and Hindu masters, Protestant theologians, poets, and even the film Babette’s Feast. Pope Francis also referred to points made at various bishop’s conferences across the world. Here Pope Francis is modelling the type of listening and discerning badly needed in the Church today if the authority of the Christian moral tradition is to be invigorated for contemporary times. Cornelius concluded his presentation by asking the audience to consider where Catholics might find the authority of the Catholic moral tradition after Amoris Laetitia. He suggested that the answer lies in re-imagining an alternative to the present, understood as connected with the Risen Christ, especially through the Eucharist, although, as Cornelius points out, the greatest challenge might be to imagine an alternative to consumerism. For him the most important message to take away from Amoris Laetitia is to keep the discussions open, and to keep praying for clarity. Prof Fáinche Ryan also emphasised Pope Francis’ message of mercy, focusing on his call for the Church to accompany the weak and suffering. Mercy should never be ‘obscured by the pursuit of a supposedly pure justice’ (Amoris Laetitia, Footnote 364). This means that when marriages break down, the Church does not turn [her] back on the couple, but instead holds out the hand of mercy and love. The controversial question on whether divorced and re-married Catholics should be allowed to receive communion is best contextualised in terms of Pope Francis’ reminder that communion ‘is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.’ Concluding with a discussion on the presentation of women in Amoris Laetitia, Fáinche applauded Pope Francis’ acknowledgement of patriarchal structures within society. However, those same structures within the Church itself also need to be addressed. While Amoris Laetitia made a number of positive statements regarding the importance of feminism, the image of motherhood presented could result in the confining of women to roles dictated by their biological structures. Phrases such as “feminine genius” diminish women’s wider experience and roles. In the final analysis, the over-riding message from this stimulating and inspiring seminar on Amoris Laetitia was Pope Francis’ emphasis on the need for open-ended dialogue and discernment, conscious always of human frailty and weakness, which seeks love and mercy, not judgement and condemnation, from the Church whose doors should always be open. “We are all left with a better understanding of Amoris Laetitia,” says Edith O Nualláin, candidate for the MPhil in Christian Theology, “and with far more questions than we had before the seminar began, which is possibly the highest form of accolade Pope Francis might have wished for.” From left to right in photo are Michael Kirwan SJ, Fáinche Ryan, Irish Jesuit Provincial Leonard Moloney, and Cornelius Casey.

40 students of the School of Exercises in Salamanca have finished the last sessions about the Fourth Week of Exercises after three years of training. The Spirituality Institute of the Comillas University offers a specialisation degree in spiritual exercises, in collaboration with the San Ignacio Spirituality Center in Salamanca. The curriculum covers both theoretical and practical elements. The theoretical part corresponds to six sessions divided evenly over the course of three years. In these expert-led sessions, students study the entire Ignatian text, its interpretation and method of application. The practical part of the course consists in writing up reports on the corresponding sessions, tutor guidance, active participation in sessions and the creation of an eight-day project of Exercises. Info: http://www.comillas.edu/es/postgrado/teologia/especialista-en-ejercicios-espirituales

From the JCEP we are delighted to announce the HEST project website is now up and running. As many of you already know, the Higher Education for Social Transformation (HEST) is a programme promoted by the JCEP (the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials). It is envisioned as a fifteen-year, pan-continental, cross-disciplinary endeavor. The goal is to produce meaningful and quality research on 7 concrete topics that can be communicated to a range of audiences so as to promote progressive advocacy in each area. The objectives of the HEST website are: - To provide information on the general objectives of the programme, the 7 clusters, the people and the institutions participating. - To inform all interested parties about the activities of the different clusters through the news section. - To serve as a meeting point for researchers, who have at their service an intranet where they can share documents related to the research in each area. At the same time, the calendar of activities of the 7 networks is always accessible. We encourage all interested parties to enter the website and to participate: we will be happy to receive questions, advices, complaints,..., everything will be very well received! José Carlos Romero HEST Coordinator

Fr. Claus Pfuff is the new Country Director of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Germany. With a celebration on June 11 in Berlin, he succeeded Fr. Frido Pflüger (71) as JRS Director. Pfuff, who originally is from Weilheim (Bavaria), was a school chaplain at the Jesuit High School Canisius-Kolleg in Berlin. Frido Pflüger will head the JRS in Uganda. Before moving to Berlin in 2012, he was JRS Regional Director for East Africa. In Germany, JRS provides pastoral care and legal assistance for detainees pending deportation and immigrants without residence permit. Besides the office in Berlin staff members are working in accommodation centres in Munich and Essen. Like his predecessor, Pfuff represents the Archdiocese of Berlin in the hardship commission for the Berlin State and in the Forum Deportation Monitoring at the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. Before entering the Society in 2009, as priest with therapeutic training Pfuff helped to build up AIDS counselling in the diocese of Augsburg. As school chaplain at the Canisius-Kolleg he got to know their situation in „Welcome Classes“ for children of migrants and refugees. At the handover ceremony, Dominik Bartsch, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Germany, called for deportations to be carried out "in safety and dignity". So he turned against deportations, which take place early in the morning because of the "surprise effect". How a state treats those affected makes its value system clear. Deportation should only be the „ultima ratio“ of the Immigration Controlling Policies. Stefan Dybowski, responsible for religious institutes of the Archdiocese of Berlin, emphasized that Pflüger had always brought the individual destiny of people seeking help to the fore. The former JRS director and predecessor of Pflüger, Fr. Martin Stark, assured that in addition to the comprehensive educational work in schools and universities, the Jesuits will continue to have the greatest care for refugees and migrants. Picture: Fr. Claus Pfuff receives an Ethiopian cross from Fr. Frido Pflüger

“Why do Christians around the world prefer the narrative of populist nationalism and political exclusion to the message of the Gospel?” was the question posed by expert on the theology of migration, Dr Joshua Ralston, at a conference at Heythrop College to mark World Refugee Day. JRS UK and the Heythrop Institute for Religion and Society hosted Refugee Stories: Changing the Narrative - the fruits of a collaboration between academics working in theology and related disciplines, practitioners serving refugees, and – most importantly – refugees themselves. Dr Sophie Cartwright, JRS UK Policy Officer, explained that the aim was to put the voices of refugees at the centre of the current narratives about the “migrant crisis” and to re-shape the conversation: “we wanted to ground this project in the expertise of refugees [rather than just] gather raw data for academics to fashion into theology and ethics. While academe has something to bring, we learn more from refugees than they do from us.”  Dr Nick Austin SJ agreed: “the academic theoretician needs to think about people and to encounter them… not speak on behalf of refugees because they can speak for themselves.” Sarah Teather, Director of JRS UK, gave the first paper, in which she described the UK government’s hostile environment policy and how it actively works against the asylum seeker telling his or her story in a coherent way. She explained how Home Office caseworkers and legal aid lawyers do not have the time or training to listen to and understand how to interpret these stories. Tribunals tend to default to suspicion, disbelief, and rejection. The asylum system relentlessly pushes asylum seekers onto the wrong side of the law. Professor David Herd of Kent University, co-founder of Refugee Tales, went further, describing in his paper how talking and listening creates community – “storytelling is integral to human existence..by sharing [the story] it becomes the responsibility of the community who hears it and the detainee becomes a member of the community.”  He proposed that one purpose of the 2016 Immigration Act is to disrupt the telling of stories.  This, along with the well-established practice of dispersal and denial of the right to work or to study, keeps refugees outside the community, outside the law, and enables popular opinion to deny their human dignity. Dr Ralston’s answer is that narrative has been seized by men of power, and that the focus needs to move back to innate human dignity, as reiterated by Christ’s own storytelling: “Theologically, human value is not determined by law; we are claimed as brothers and sisters by Jesus of Nazareth who was himself tried and found guilty before the law.” Refugee voices were also heard during the day: JRS showed a video featuring the stories of  four people who attend their day centre. Cecile, a refugee friend of JRS, came to the conference to tell the story of her experience in the UK asylum system over many years.  It was a story rejection, disruption and isolation, “what is the point of asking for asylum if my story is not believed?” asked Cecile.  But Cecile has retained her courage and her dignity shone through as she awaits a sixth tribunal decision. In a short paper Dr Liam Hayes reminded us of Pope Francis’ efforts in Laudato Si to disrupt the prevailing narratives around refugees, to “challenge the globalisation of indifference… dwell together in our common home …and recover the narrative of inclusion and solidarity.” The conference concluded with Scorn not the Least - a Reflection with Words and Music at the Assumption Chapel.  Dr Michael Kirwan SJ read two reflections – on St Robert Southwell SJ, poet and martyr of sixteenth century England, and on Fr Friedrich Spee SJ a poet and professor who spoke out against torture in seventeenth century Germany.  Several of  Spee’s poems were sung by Heythrop’s Schola Cantorum, along with the Magnificat of Palestrina. Pictured top: the conference organisers and speakers, from left, Dr Gillian Paterson, Dr Joshua Ralston, Dr Sara Silvestri, Dr Liam Hayes, Sarah Teather, Professor David Herd, Cecile, Dr Nick Austin SJ, Dr Sophie Cartwright, Dr Theodora Hawksley CJ, Dr Michael Kirwan SJ

The Jesuit European Social Centre (JESC) participated in the first Laudato Si’ Reflection Day held in Brussels on 6 June with more than 70 representatives of the European Bishops’ Conferences, Catholic organisations and movements. Together they expressed their support for a sustainable financial system in Europe and the Church. Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, Archbishop of Luxembourg and President of COMECE, insisted on the timeliness of the event in the immediate aftermath of a recent legislative proposal by the European Commission and last week’s report of the European Parliament on sustainable finance. Molly Scott Cato, MEP and rapporteur of this report, also participated in the Reflection Day and insisted on a dynamic approach regarding the sustainability of financial products. Martin Spolc, from the EU Commission, presented the action plan for sustainable finance and the preparatory work on the taxonomy for a clear and common language across Europe that could help to avoid the “green-washing” of financial products for marketing reasons. Other speakers such as Lorna Gold, from the Irish Catholic Development organisation Trocaire, called for coherence in an era of climate change and discussed ethical investment as a challenge for the Church. Right after the Midday Prayer and lunch, best practices coming from a Catholic diocese, a Catholic bishops’ conference, a religious order and a Catholic bank were presented. Participants formulated a number of recommendations, which will be presented to the Laudato Si’ Anniversary Conference in the Vatican next July 2018.

Video for vocations. While the Football World Cup is going on in Russia, the Vocation Promoters of the Polish provinces have produced a video. Young Jesuits in Formation in Football outfit tell about their vocation, how the Lord has called then, to which mission. This version of the video has been provided with English subtitles. Click here to look at it.  

SACFest, the traditional three-day festival organized by St Aloysius College took place at the end of May in the college grounds at Birkirkara. This year’s program, created and organized by the school staff together with over 120 students included sports, exhibitions, a funfair, live music, dancing and a prayer tent. One of the innovative highlights was the 52-hour running marathon, the Gatorade Charity Running Challenge, organized on the initiative of Fr Patrick Magro SJ and open to the public: “It is a way of being connected to the many people running the marathons of life”, Fr Patrick explained. The festival also offered in-formation and science stands, martial arts exhibitions and interesting workshops in the grounds as well as workshops for parents on how to deal with addictions in young people and how to deal with family relationships

Based on the pilgrim story, a comic strip about Ignatius was created in the SJ workshop of the future. Dr. Tobias Andrea, a former student from Leipzig, drew him. An emotional approach to the person of Ignatius should be made possible, and Ignatius should be portrayed as the patron saint of seekers. The message is: "Despite crises and broken plans,  Your way can succeed with God!" Therefore, at the end of the comic you will find some hints on vocation and help for vocation clarification from Ignatian spirituality. 1st edition for the altar boy pilgrimage The first edition will be published for the international altar server pilgrimage to Rome, which will take place from 28. July to 04. August. 45,000 altar servers are expected from Germany who will have an audience with Pope Francis on 31 July. For travel reading we have offered the dioceses the comic as a gift. 35,000 orders were received for Germany and Austria. 2nd edition Now we have a second edition. Enclosed is a reading rehearsal. The Ignatius comic is suitable for young people, students, friends, family, employees, brothers... as a gift, teaching material... 72 pages, size B5, stapled.Per issue we ask for a donation of 50 cents. Delivery by the end of July If you would like to receive the comic, please send an e-mail with your name, address and quantity by 29 June to: zukunftswerkstatt@jesuiten.org. Of course you can also order later. First of all, it is a matter of planning the run length. Actually different Vocation promotors are preparing translations of this strip. So, the Comic will be published in 4-7 different languages (Portugiese, Tchec, French, English, Dutch,… perhaps Hungarian and Russian)

"The gift of creation" and "changing our lifestyle" were the themes which the students of St. Aloysius College tackled during the week entitled "What I do is important!". This week was organized in collaboration with the Eko-Skola team. Each class chose one of the 30 countries mostly affected by climate change, trying to understand what measures could affect the life of each country positively and negatively. This was an opportunity to discover other wonderful territories and understand the causes of poverty and environmental degradation. The last activity tackled the use of plastic and its effect on our planet.

From the JCEP we are delighted to announce the HEST project website is now up and running. As many of you already know, the Higher Education for Social Transformation (HEST) is a programme promoted by the JCEP (the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials). It is envisioned as a fifteen-year, pan-continental, cross-disciplinary endeavor. The goal is to produce meaningful and quality research on 7 concrete topics that can be communicated to a range of audiences so as to promote progressive advocacy in each area. The objectives of the HEST website are: - To provide information on the general objectives of the programme, the 7 clusters, the people and the institutions participating. - To inform all interested parties about the activities of the different clusters through the news section. - To serve as a meeting point for researchers, who have at their service an intranet where they can share documents related to the research in each area. At the same time, the calendar of activities of the 7 networks is always accessible. We encourage all interested parties to enter the website and to participate: we will be happy to receive questions, advices, complaints,..., everything will be very well received! José Carlos Romero HEST Coordinator

The annual meeting of the European Cultural Reviews edited by the Society of Jesus took place this year in Budapest, Hungary, between the 16th and 20th of May. This year there were eleven editors  and the President of the Conference of the European Jesuit Provincials, Franck Janin SJ. At this meetings, each of the participants has the time to share about the new developments in his/her editorial house. This time the main issue was the question "What could be our contribution to support dialogue and to open our societies in a world, where there are quite clear tendencies to undemocratic developments. We invited Botond Feledy, an expert in political sciences, professor of the Catholic University Pázmány Péter in Budapest. He spoke about the so called Visegrad Countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary), comparing these countries with each other and comparing this group of countries to the rest of Europe. We also visited Tihany, a Benedictine monastery at the Balaton lake, where the newly elected very young prior, Jeromos Mihályi (32 years old), introduced us in the situation of the Church in Hungary. The Benedictine prior tod us: "there are very clear tendencies of renewal in the church of Hungary, and this was in putting new priorities in many dioceses, according to which it is not so much the hard pastoral work that counts, but the spiritual and mental integrity of people who are in charge of the faithful. Many bishops try to keep their priest from too much work, which leads to burning out." On the picture: Arpad Horvath SJ, A Szív, Hungary, Stefan Kiechle SJ, Stimmen der Zeit, Germany, Tadija Milikić SJ, Obnovljeni Život, Croatia, François Euvé SJ, Etude, France, Antonio Júlio Trigueiros SJ, Revista Brotéria, Portugal, Antonio Spadaro SJ, La Civiltá Cattolica, Italy, Jan Koenot SJ, Streven, Belgium, Lucienne Bittar, Choisir, Switzerland, Ulf Johnson SJ, Signum, Sweden, Jaime Tatay SJ, Razón y Fe, Spain, Theodoros Kodidis SJ, Anoichtoi Orizontes, Greece, and Franck Janin SJ, President of the European Jesuit Provincials Conference, Brussels

Kuangchi Press of Taipei, Taiwan, has just published the Chinese translation of Norman Tanner SJ, The Councils of the Church: A Short History (2001).  For sales information, contact Kuangchi directly or the translator Dr Julia Chang. The book is available in six other languages: Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Italian, French and Spanish. Earlier this year appeared the translation into Urdu of his New Short History of the Catholic Church (Bloomsbury, 2011), published in Pakistan by CatholicBooks.  To obtain copies please contact the publisher Fr Arthur Charles or the co-editor Fr Robert McCulloch. This book is available in five other languages: Italian, Spanish, Slovenian, Polish and Japanese.   In the picture Fr Gulshan Barkat OMI, principal translator, stands in the middle at the book-launch in Karachi, with Fr McCulloch to the left and the bishop of Multan to the right - Norman's Visa had not arrived in time for him to be present. Both Julia and Gulshan are alumni of the Gregorian University. 

Co-organized by the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College and the Departamento de Humanidades y Filosofía de la Universidad Loyola Andalucía. Researchers from Chile, Argentina, USA and Europe attended the symposium. This symposium is part of the Project 'Jesuit Thinking and Tradition and its Influence on Modernity from the Perspectives of History, Translation and Legal, Moral and Political Philosophy' led by the Department of Humanities and Philosophy and the Vice-Rectorate of Research from the Loyola University of Andalusia. The project tries to discover the influence of the Jesuit thinking in the early times of the Society as to the present at all levels (juridical, theological, philosophical and political). Francisco Suárez, S.J. (1548–1617) is recognized as a philosopher, theologian, and jurist who had a significant cultural impact in the development of modernity. Commemorating the 400th anniversary of his death, this symposium has studied the work of Suárez and other Jesuits of his time in the context of diverse traditions that came together in Europe between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance and early modernity.

Four Jesuits from four countries in Lebanon Impressive celebration in the Church of our Lady of Deliverance, in Bikfaya, Lebanon on Sunday, 24th June. Frs. Alexis Doucet from France and working in Ankara, Turkey, Ghassan Sahoui, from Syria, finishing his doctoral thesis at the Oriental Pontifical Institute in Rome, and taking care of the our Marian sanctuary in Taanayel, in Lebanon, Ronney Gemayel, from Lebanon, rector of our scholasticate and director of the CERPOC in our university in Beirut, and Zeljko Pasha, from Croatia, who teaches at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, made their solemn profession in front of the Provincial, Fr. Danny Younes. Most of the Jesuits in Lebanon were present, together with some Jesuits from Egypt and Syria, and the Provincial of Croatia and the rector of the Oriental Institute in Rome. The ceremony, which took place at 4 pm was followed by a cocktail for all those present, and later in the evening by a festive supper on the terrace of our Jesuit residence in Bikfaya, for all the Jesuits and members of the family of Alexis Doucet, who had arrived from France for the occasion, and Ronney Gemayel. The supper on the terrace allowed us to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful panorama from the mountain, plus a splendid sunset over the sea. From left to right you have Fr. Ronney Gemayel, Fr. Ghassan Sahoui, Fr. Dany Younes (Provincial), Fr. Alexis Doucet and Fr. Zeljko Pasha   Three French fellow Jesuits in the St.Ignace Church in Paris On May 21, Pentecost Monday, the Saint-Ignace church in Paris was once again celebrating! It is not one, but three companions who took their last vows together.   Guilhem Causse (Paris-Blomet) is professor of philosophy at the Centre Sèvres. L’Arbre du Pèlerin (The Pilgrim Tree) is the title of the novel that Guilhem has just published. Jacques Enjalbert (Paris-Assas) is chaplain of Political Sciences and of the Christian network of the “Grandes Ecoles” in Ile de France. Xavier Roger (Vanves) is currently national chaplain of the “Mouvement Eucharistique des Jeunes” in France.    Coming back from Amazonian Guyana to Britain Please remember in your prayers Fr James Conway SJ who professed his Final Vows at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm St, on Friday 8th June - feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Final vows are traditionally made on a feast of particular significance to Jesuits. Devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus was originally championed by the Jesuit Saint Claude La Colombiere. In his homily, principal celebrant Fr Provincial Damian Howard SJ focused on the call to transformation invoked by the Sacred Heart: “the Divine Heart astonishes us by not only calling us to join Him in the outreach of His loving but enabling us to do so. To bear the embrace of mercy to others. To host His love in our freshly humbled hearts, now made supple and real and strong. In all humility, we set out at last as active participants in the love that changed our lives.” Fr Damian reminded the congregation that Christ’s Passion and the agony in the garden of Gethsemene is central to the original call to the Sacred Heart and commented on the fitness of the feast for Fr James’s final vows of dedication: “It is entirely suitable that we are surrounded by a spiritual impulse which welled up in the groves of Gethsemane as we celebrate an act of definitive self-offering to Christ and His People. Jim has done his fair share of wrestling with God’s will over the last twenty-four years…. But in a few minutes’ time, he will kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and pronounce his final “yes” to the Lord. And it’s good that we are all here to celebrate that because it is a real victory, and just as we are called to share in the Lord’s agony, so we are invited to participate in His glory, in a modest way, even in the here and now” Read more

On June 26-27, 2018, the European Task force on Discernment in Common and Apostolic Planning (DICAP) led by Franck Janin, president of the JCEP held a meeting in Brussels. The meeting was a follow up to the February workshop organized in Rome by Fr. John Dardis (see link - https://jesuits.eu/news/602-the-art-of-discernment-a-precious-tool). Six members from the European conference gathered for two days to push the reflection forward on how to promote and implement common discernment and apostolic planning as requested by the General Congregation and Father General. The meeting was an opportunity to elaborate a concrete plan for the coming period. Among the exciting projects planned for 2018-2020: initiating reflections with superiors, elaborating supporting resources, offering formations for jesuits and lay collaborators, facilitating processes across the conference,... The meeting left participants energized and consoled. As one participant shared, the gathering was a chance to strengthen the group’s cohesiveness and practice an attitude of discernment and integrate it in the task force’s planning. From Right to left: Patxi Álvarez de los Mozos, Sandra Chaoul, Franck Janin, Milan Bizant, Michel Bacq, and Bart van Emmerik

“Au revoir, Peter Knauer” On 28 June 2018, after 15 happy and fruitful years in the Saint Benedict Community in Brussels, Fr Peter Knauer, a German Jesuit, moved to the house of elderly Jesuits in Berlin Kladow, after having recently suffered a minor brain stroke. Some days before leaving, he celebrated his festive goodbye mass together with “his” Spanish-speaking community of the Foyer Catholique Européen, where he had been working in a pastoral role for many years. The mass was presided by Fr Jose de Pablo, representing the President of the Conference of European Provincials, Fr Franck Janin. It was not only because of his reputation as an excellent theologian and a highly appreciated chaplain and companion that Peter was famous in Brussels. All his different activities reflected very well the Ignatian adage “en todo amar y servir”: the pastoral work in his Spanish community, where he has left a big part of his heart; the Eucharists and spiritual accompaniment in many languages (including Esperanto) in the Foyer Catholique, the Chapel for Europe and the German-speaking community; the retreats he used to lead; books and articles he was still writing, and, last but not least, his care for the community and the famous “Peter Pan” – the bread he baked every day.    Peter, thank you for everything and may God bless you in your new home! As Berlin is not extremely far away from Brussels, this is not “farewell” – but “au revoir”. And, in the meantime, Skype will certainly help to reduce the distance.

Last June, Zagreb became the epicentre of the European Conference's discernment. The Curia of the Croatian Province hosted for the first time the consultation of the President of the JCEP and the Committee of Formation Centres of the Conference. Both meetings were aimed at advancing discernment on two issues: How to help the sustainability of our formation centres for Jesuits in Europe; and which are the Universal Apostolic Preferences from the territory of our provinces and regions. The consultation for the Formation Centres brought together a committee of eight Jesuits. Among them were provincials, formation delegates and JCEP officers. According to the last General Assembly, this year was the time to collect data and study the sustainability of the Centres. These centres are the ones were the Jesuits in formation studied the first cycles of Philosophy and Theology. All the provincials reported their views in different fields: financial support, academic level, community life, spiritual direction and apostolic opportunities. The results of this study will be presented at the next JCEP General Assembly, to be held in September in Barcelona. The committee also received a warm welcome in the Institute for Philosophical and Theological Studies and the Formation Community Ante Gabrič, SJ in Zagreb. The agenda of the Consult, in the midst of other important topics, dealt with the process of discernment of the Universal Apostolic Preferences for the Society of Jesus throughout the world. The President, Franck Janin, received the fruit of the discernment of the European provinces and regions. Just after the consult he flew to Rome to share this information with Father General in the "Enlarged Council". The European Conference of Provincials will also continue with the discernment of the Apostolic Preferences in Barcelona. The end of the process will be in 2019 when Pope Francis receives and approves these preferences. Pictures: 1. Formation Centres Committee visiting the grounds of the Croatian Formation House and Infirmary Members of the Committee: Franck Janin, Alessandro Manaresi, Jakub kolacz, Martin Maier, Pablo Alonso, Damian Howard, Christoph Soyer and José de Pablo   2. Consult in Zagreb: Members of the Consult: Franck Janin, Dalibor Renič, José Frazão Correia, Damian Howard, Martin Maier, and José de Pablo.