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Bishop Tom Deenihan, the Bishop of Meath, announced on Thursday 27 October 2022 that he is to open the cause for the beatification and canonisation of Fr Willie Doyle SJ. Fr Doyle was renowned for his heroism as a military chaplain during World War I, and since his death on 16 August 1917, he has developed a reputation for sanctity and intercessory power. His cause will be formally opened at a ceremony in the cathedral of Christ the King on Sunday 20 November 2022 at 5 pm which the Irish Jesuit Provincial, Fr Leonard Moloney SJ, will attend. All are welcome. The Irish Province has been supporting a group (The Fr Willie Doyle SJ Association) led by Mr Pat Kenny who have dedicated themselves to promoting Fr Doyle’s cause. Willie Doyle SJ was born in Dublin in 1873 to an affluent Catholic family and entered the Society of Jesus in 1891. He taught in two Jesuit schools, Clongowes Wood College and Belvedere College and was ordained in 1908. He volunteered as a chaplain in WW1. Willie Doyle SJ has touched the lives of many people, especially those he ministered to in the hellish trenches of the First World War. He was renowned for his selfless care of the young soldiers in that war, for his heroism, and his deep penitential spirituality. Many draw attention to his sense of humour, positive attitude, and upbeat disposition which supported the soldiers to whom he was chaplain during dark and dangerous times in the trenches. He was also known as a practical joker who from an early age displayed tender care for all those he came in contact with, and from an early age. he continues to fascinate people today, one hundred years on from his death in the First World War. Willie Doyle was commemorated in an exhibition at a number of events in Dublin in 2017 to mark the centenary of his death in the Battle of Passchendaele, Flanders. He died attempting to save injured soldiers from the battlefield. The cause for his canonisation has become increasingly popular in recent times and it is hoped that this espousal of that cause by the Bishop of Meath will help hasten the day when he will be declared ‘blessed, and ‘saint.’ For more information on Fr Doyle’s life click here.

A "Brotherhood Sunday" takes place every month at the Jesuit Spiritual Centre of Penboc'h, in South Brittany. A day to meet and spend time with people from all walks of life. Every month, there are regulars of the centre, curious people who want to know it better as well as people who come alone and are looking to spend time with others and to bond. This day of interaction and sharing takes place in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Everyone participates according to their wishes and availability – going to Mass, sharing a meal, talking over coffee. “Talks and exchanges are always lively, open and kind. We often come back happy, peaceful or a little less lonely” say Bénédicte and Martin, who come regularly to Brotherhood Sunday. Various proposals are made according to the desires – some go for a walk, others play board games or watch a movie, etc. In November 2022, an Ukrainian couple, hosted in France for several months, shared their experience. Jésuites EOF

After 12 years of absence, Croatian Jesuits returned to North Macedonia in September this year. Fr. Vinko Maslać and Fr. Marijan Bešlić will be responsible for the Cathedral Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Skopje. On September 4, they were welcomed and presented to the community by the bishop and eparch Kiril Stojanov. This is the fourth time that Jesuits are in Macedonia. Italian Jesuits arrived for the first time in the second half of the 19th century as so-called “flying missionaries.” In 1917, the Jesuits of the Albanian mission of the Veneto Province took charge of the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Skopje, and in 1922, the Vice-Province of Yugoslavia took charge of the parish. The Jesuits left Skopje in 1935. Then, in 1963, Jesuits returned to Skopje. However, they had to leave again in 1970. More than thirty years later, Jesuits were again in Macedonia: they remained in Skopje from 2003 until 2010. In North Macedonia, Catholics make up less than 1% of the 2 million population. According to the statistics of the Diocese of Skopje, there are two parishes of the Roman Rite (Skopje and Bitola) with around 3700 Roman Catholics. In the Greek Catholic eparchy, founded in 2017, there are roughly 12 thousand Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in seven parishes. Luka Ilić SJ

Daniele, 35, is a chemist. Agnese, 32, is a teacher. They have been in Parma since 2017 and 2019 respectively. Here the Jesuits, until 2008, owned a house, where CLC groups met and where the experience of the Spiritual Exercises was offered. In 2007 the Jesuits decided to leave this house. A group of adults and families, who circled around the building, committed themselves to keeping it alive, and founded the San Rocco Association. "The house is in the centre, next to the rectory," Daniele explains.  Formerly, it was a Jesuit college. Before the Society left, it renovated the space, turning the small Jesuit rooms into flats so that some families could live there and keep the place open and welcoming. Several outsiders also supported the project. Fr Enrico Simoncini, who was almost always present even though he did not live there, directed this new reality. Relaunch through a process of discernment "From the stories we heard, so many people were assisted here," Agnes highlights. "Fr Simoncini was an extremely charismatic person, but when he passed away there was a great emptiness, and the people present were not able to carry on alone. One of the families that lived in the house left'. From 2016 to 2018, the community and the Association went through a period of crisis that led to a gradual decrease in activities until a real break took place, which lasted throughout the period of the Covid pandemic. The Society decided at that time to support the project by relaunching it through a process of discernment. First Fr. Davide Saporiti and then Fr. Stefano Bittasi supported and accompanied the group's journey with great willingness and competence in reviewing their own experience and rediscovering new desires and horizons. Daniele and Agnese arrived at this stage. "We met in Santiago de Compostela, and we discerned in prayer that we wanted to spend our lives for others, with a strong desire for community life. I was in the Pietre Vive as a volunteer and Daniele was a pilgrim. Fr Mariano Iacobellis, who was not yet a priest at the time, helped us on our journey as a couple, while Fr Jean-Paul Hernandez oriented us towards the reality of the Jesuits in Parma'. Welcoming people in difficulty In 2021, Julia was born. Activities started to take place again. These included online meetings with Fr Giulio Parnofiello for Advent, with Fr Jean-Luis Ska for Lent and Easter time, then with Fr Vincenzo Anselmo for a retreat in person. In March 2022, the desire to use the large flat on the fourth floor of the building to welcome people in difficulty became a reality: a collaboration with the association for refugees, CIAC, was established and two Afghan refugee families, eight people in all, were housed in the house. "During Easter we live in the space that used to belong to the Jesuits". "There are two things we desire: to journey with all the members of the association, to grow together and propose new initiatives, and to build a community with the other people living in the house. In building the community, we are now being guided on the way forward by a couple who have been living this community style in ‘The Tent of Abraham’ for about 25 years. We have been experimenting with this accompaniment for a year. Now it is a question of putting into practice what we have learnt. A rich calendar of planned activities Besides community building, which is currently in the running-in phase, there is a rich calendar of planned activities: Spirituality and Prayer with a biblical weekend from 25 to 27 November, the experience of the Spiritual Exercises during Advent and Biblical Meditations during Lent and Easter time. These activities also include biblical psychodrama with Fr Beppe Bertagna, the Enneagram and three meetings on "Fabrizio De Andrè, singer of the poor". "We also want to open the house for young people and interested adults". "Difficulties and profound intuitions alternate" they confide, "but there is something that pushes us forward". Jesuits EUM

On Sunday 30 October, in Rome, 27 young people and adults from Latin America graduated from IRFEYAL, the Institute of Fe y Alegria Roma, reaching an important milestone in attaining a qualification equivalent to an Italian high school diploma that will open the doors to education and the work force in Italy. For more than 21 years, Fe y Alegria Roma, in collaboration with Irfeyal Ecuador, the Pontifical Gregorian University and numerous volunteers, most of them from different religious orders, have been offering a semi-boarding education programme with lectures on Thursday afternoons and Sundays. “The students in this class come from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Honduras; more than 75 per cent of them are women, aged between 19 and 66. It is a great joy to be able to contribute to their further personal and professional education, so that they can have a better life,” says Magali Alfaro, director of Fe y Alegria Roma. Fe y Alegría is a global Movement of popular education and social promotion present in 22 countries. Its objective is to make effective and real people’s right to education for personal and community transformation. In Italy, the Fe y Alegria Italia network which is made up of the social cooperatives Fe y Alegria Roma, Fe y Alegria Milano and Fe y Alegria Genova, collaborates with the IRFEYAL Institute and other training courses. Fe y Alegria Italia is a member on an international level of the Fe y Alegria International Federation and the Jesuit Education Foundation (a network of Ignatian schools in Italy, Malta and Albania).  

Dani Villanueva appointed as next General Coordinator of the International Federation of Fe y Alegría Following the federation assembly held in São Paulo in the last week of October, Fr Roberto Jaramillo SJ, President of the Latin American Conference of Provincials, has appointed Daniel Villanueva SJ as the next General Coordinator of the International Federation of Fe y Alegría.  The change of leadership will take place on 1 April 2023, when Fr Carlos Fritzen, SJ, will leave office. The current General Coordinator has been at the helm of this International Federation for 7 years, with more than 2,000 educational centres and serving nearly one million people in 22 countries in America, Europe, Africa and Asia, focused on the promotion and development of the most disadvantaged populations through education. In April, Carlos Fritzen will culminate an important stage of work of consolidation and federative projection framed in the Global Plan of Federative Priorities 2021-2025 (PGPF 2021-2025) and its Implementation Plan 2021-2023 (PIM 2021-2023).  Dani Villanueva, a Spanish Jesuit, 49 years old, is a systems engineer with a degree in Social Moral Theology and an MBA in multinational management. He has postgraduate degrees in Humanitarian Aid and in Leadership, Innovation and Management of NGOs. His main areas of expertise are international cooperation, education, multinational management, institutional networks and global citizenship.  In the last 14 years Dani has been working in Entreculturas - Fe y Alegría Spain with different responsibilities: Africa Department Coordinator (2008-2011), Deputy Director (2012-2014), General Director (2015-2017). Since January 2018 he is Executive Vice-President of Entreculturas and Alboan and Head of International Cooperation of the Society of Jesus in Spain. Until last March, Dani has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Fe y Alegría. Since 2019, he has been coordinating the internationalisation process of the movement.  Jesuitas España 

In these days in which the World Climate Summit (COP 28) has been held, we have dived into our spirituality to find answers, support and light for making our decisions in reference to our apostolic preference for the Care of the Common Home.  With the help of the coordinator of this preference in the Province of Spain, José Ignacio García SJ, we reviewed elements that refer to it: the concept of being a creature, the mystery of the incarnation that contemplates this world as a place of encounter with God, the contemplation to attain love that recognises all reality as transcended by God.  In this video, José Ignacio García also recalls key moments and documents on this topic from the Society of Jesus in recent decades, so that the message is an approach to the ecological reality that draws from our sources.  Jesuitas España 

Opening up to the world and finding meaning.  The Marseille branch of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in France bases its action on personal encounter with refugees and asylum seekers. Timothée Pigé sj and Bernard Delanglade share their experience on French RCF radio.  Founded in 1980, the JRS is today present in 56 countries. In France, the association accompanies refugees and asylum seekers and organises accommodation for adult asylum seekers with local families as part of the "JRS Welcome" program, for an average of five weeks.  To Timothée Pigé sj, who is part of the JRS in Marseille, the most important is to get the refugees out of the urgency of life on the streets and offer them “a true encounter”. In addition to family hosting, the JRS offers French courses.  "To put human beings back on their feet", this is the goal of the JRS’s activities, according to Timothée. "Sometimes, everything is turned upside down, he says, the ones who thought they were giving find themselves receiving, and that is an extremely strong experience on the spiritual level".  Bernard Delanglade and his wife have hosted refugees in his home for five years. “The objective is not to save the entire world, nor to hit your targets, it is to meet with people who seek asylum and to spend time together". He adds that this experience has "contributed to consolidating his life as a couple" and to opening up more to the outside world and finding meaning.  Jésuites EOF 

Storytelling is part of the History of Humanity. Since before writing and books existed, human beings have gathered around a storyteller to share their stories, myths and traditions. This is the basis on which Baúl Magis works: storytelling, especially to the youngest, to bring them closer to the sacred texts and Ignatian stories.  Pastoral innovation, a deepening of the Mystery and the Word of God are the three key ingredients in this experience. Baúl Magis is a pastoral method that, taking elements of the 'Godly Play' methodology and combining them with Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy, aims to help children enter the Word of God through storytelling.  To learn how to implement this method in Educsi (SJ Schools in Spain), the heads of the network's Pastoral Ministry met in Madrid. In his welcome address, Toño Allende, SJ, the Province's delegate for Educsi, invited those present to go deeper into the message and not just the methodology, which, he said, will help many people if the Gospel message is at the centre.  Jonás Fernández, Educsi's North Zone Pastoral Coordinator, gave a practical demonstration of a Baúl Magis session. With the story of the life of Ignatius of Loyola in the background (the cannon fire, the conversion and the foundation of the Society of Jesus) and the help of visual elements, the narrator made the experience present and attractive to all. The following is a round of ordered comments: What did you like the most, what would you take away from the story, what would you take away from the story?  Little by little, Educsi aims to bring Christian and Ignatian spirituality to the youngest children. The stories began with the first human beings and today, in the 21st century, they are still relevant.  Jesuitas España 

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Eucharist Youth Movement.  From November 11 to 13, 350 leaders, supervisors and friends of the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM) from France, Belgium and Luxembourg gathered in Bordeaux to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Movement.   Many members of the Ignatian family were present – Magis Network, CLC, MCC, Jesuits, Ignatian nuns, etc.  The event called “Effata” and its theme was “Cheer up! On your feet!".  Songs with gestures, prayers, reunions and times of sharing filled the 3 days.  "As soon as we arrived in Bordeaux, my heart was burning. The joy I felt during the Effata gathering gave me a missionary impulse, a desire to share this around me." said Anne-Sophie Bonnel, who is a manager at the EYM.  On Saturday afternoon, an anniversary mass was celebrated, presided over by Msgr. Luc Ravel, and concelebrated by many Jesuits, including Fr. François Boëdec, Provincial of French-speaking Western Europe.  There have also been times of reflection on the guiding principles of the EYM; among the issues addressed, were summer camps, pedagogy-training and openness to the world for the mission. This time of exchange was based on co-development, a collective intelligence approach based on trust, listening and kindness. Participants were invited to receive each other’s opinions as gifts.  Jésuites EOF 

About 70 students from four Jesuit schools – Belvedere College, Clongowes Wood College, Coláiste Iognáid and Crescent College Comprehensive – participated in the first ever MAGIS Student Leadership Conference in Tullamore Court Hotel, Co. Offaly, on 26 October 2022. The event included an opening talk by John K. Guiney SJ, Director of Irish Jesuits International, as well as three workshops throughout the day and round-table discussions. Aifric Keogh, Olympic bronze medalist and Coláiste Iognáid graduate, also gave a talk on the importance of resilience and perseverance. Below, Belvedere College students reflect on their experience of the conference.  MAGIS Student Leadership Conference 2022  The event was well organized and was split into 45 minute workshops and seminars. The day contained many inspirational guest speakers and engaging group discussions allowing us to reflect on ourselves and then explore our views and attitudes with others.  One workshop that stood out was the topic of Change Theory. The main outcome was that a collaborative working together can put pressure on politicians to take action and therefore can achieve more significant results than individual actions. Through the far stronger efforts of a unified group, we can then incite “System Change” and help tackle injustices in the world.  Hidden World Problems  Another interesting seminar talked about forgotten crises still happening around the world. We learned that the invasion of Ukraine has drawn the full attention of the media resulting in other issues with human rights being overshadowed. Due to Ukraine’s higher political standing, their issues are getting broadcasted over smaller nations that don’t get the recognition they deserve. There are tragedies taking place at the moment in countries such as Tigray, Yemen and Darfur which are practically unheard of in today’s generation. These conflicts don’t attract any media attention and the people affected don’t receive much assistance. As Jesuit students it is our responsibility to shine light on these issues and to help those in need who are often forgotten about.  We also became aware that media outlets such as newspapers can be influenced by powerful shareholders causing reports to contain bias or exclude certain pieces of important information that the owner does not wish to be included. We were given two objective resources: Media Ownership Ireland » and  Irish Jesuits International »  Concepts of Leadership  The last seminar we attended was on leadership. Everyone in the room had differing views on what leadership is. Some believed that it means having power whilst others believed that it means to serve the masses and desires of the people. However, we arrived at the realisation that being a leader means making a difference and inspiring others to go far by setting a good example. In the words of Pope Francis: “Be men and women with others and for others: true champions at the service of others.”  These three workshops tied together nicely under the topic of leadership and helped us understand the meaning of attending a Jesuit school. It enabled us to conclude what attitude good leaders should have and what we can change to improve the Student Council in Belvedere.  

The integrated secondary school Pedro-Arrupe-branch (secondary level 1) for young people with a migration background at Canisius-Kolleg in Berlin is now state-recognised for grades 7 to 10. The college and school management received the certificate of recognition this week at the Berlin Senate Department for Education. This means that the first goal on the way to the recognition of the entire integrated secondary school has been achieved. In a small ceremony, the Rector of the College Fr Marco Mohr SJ thanked on behalf of the sponsor all those who had made this possible: the teachers and all those who had contributed with their pedagogical, counselling or pastoral profession to the accreditation process with great commitment, especially the Headmistress Gabriele Hüdepohl, the Head of Integrated Secondary School (Pedro Arrupe branch) Seán Alfken as well as the Commercial Director Petra Verholen.  The intention of this foundation at Canisius-Kolleg, which had initially met with reservations and resistance, is to provide children and young people with refugee and migration biographies with an undisturbed learning and living environment. As early as 2016, the college had set up its first welcome classes for refugee children and young people in response to the flight of many people from the civil war in Syria, although the pupils' school socialisation and ages were very different and still are today. In order to also enable the pupils to obtain school-leaving qualifications up to the Abitur at Canisius-Kolleg and that they do not have to uproot themselves again after two years, the "ISS-Pedro-Arrupe" was founded on the grounds of Canisius-Kolleg next to the Gymnasium. Years 7 and 8 of the Arrupe branch are welcome classes aimed at acquiring the German language. Years 9 and 10 are regular classes of the integrated secondary school. The already approved Secondary 2 (Grades 11 to 13) is currently in the state accreditation process. Only state recognition allows an independent school to award recognised school-leaving qualifications and to take the necessary examinations.  Jesuits ECE 

Crowdfunding campaign in Solidarity with Lebanese students.    Lebanon continues spiralling down the throes of a severe economic and social crisis compounded by the pandemic, the seismic Beirut Port explosion in 2020, and the collapse of our local currency. Since October 2019, the Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) has been operating in a prolonged state of emergency, with their students' living conditions dramatically deteriorating along with the country's conditions. 3 in 10 young people in Lebanon have stopped their education.  In the face of this tremendous crisis, in solidarity with Lebanese students are launching a crowdfunding campaign to fund scholarships for USJ's students. With the support of the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU), the Kircher Network is leading this global initiative to reach the 150.000 $ goal to help the USJ's students to continue their education and become competent and compassionate professionals committed to the reconstruction of Lebanon.    As we gather with friends and family to celebrate Christmas, we hope you can support the Lebanese students and ensure that USJ, as a Jesuit university, remains a pillar of the Lebanese education system. We invite you to donate to the campaign and share out social media posts to help us reach more people. You can make your donation beginning this December 5. https://kirchernetwork.org/  Kircher Network

At the end of October, the exhibition "Ignatius Experience" was inaugurated at the Diocesan Museum of Barcelona and can be visited until 5 February.  It is an innovative exhibition that invites visitors to interpret from their own experience what the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola would be like in the 21st century. The opening ceremony was attended by the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona, Archbishop Juan José Omella and the Provincial Superior of the Jesuits, Fr Antonio España SJ, as well as the Mayor of Manresa, Marc Aloy, and the Director General of Religious Affairs, Carles Armengol, among other institutional representatives. The exhibition is visited individually and generates a constant dialogue between the life of Ignatius of Loyola, 500 years ago, and that of the visitor himself, who feels challenged throughout the itinerary. And on this route there is also a creative dialogue between historical pieces representing the life of the saint and contemporary works by artists such as Picasso. The curator of the exhibition, the architect Josep M. Riera, believes that Ignatian spirituality makes perfect sense today and traces the thread of the exhibition in the changes that occur when someone suffers a wound. For this reason, more than an exhibition, it is an experience, which is also lived through the changes in lighting that accompany us in each room. For the Jesuit Francesc Riera, who has advised the exhibition, "Ignatius Experience, the transforming power of a wound" is a small test of the Spiritual Exercises: if he is willing, the visitor will listen to his own uncomfortable silences as well as his own liberating silence. And, at the end, they will ask themselves what impact the visit has had on them. The exhibition is an initiative of the Society of Jesus and the Diocesan Museum, with the advice of the Jesuits Francesc Riera and Xavier Melloni. (Image: Archbishopric of Barcelona-R.Ripoll) Jesuitas España

The Association of Friends of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in Portugal is organising the Teilhard de Chardin Open Course, which addresses the thought of the famous French Jesuit, and will be held online under the direction of Fr. Vasco Pinto de Magalhães SJ. It is a series of fortnightly talks by various specialists, through the Zoom platform, over two "academic" years. It will comprise two modules: the first, from November 2022 to June 2023, and the second, from September 2023 to June 2024. The course will be based on the work recently published in Portuguese by the theology professor Gérard Donnadieu (Centre Sèvres and Collège des Bernardins, Paris), entitled "Teilhard de Chardin revisited, a Christianity reborn for the 3rd millennium".  It is a great initiative which is intended to be as wide-ranging as possible to widen the knowledge of Teilhard de Chardin's thought and to promote the living of the Christian faith from a perspective aligned with the innovative and liberating vision which he proposes to us. The participants receive in advance the materials for each session and the timely indication of the access link. Each talk will deal with a specific theme included in the work. Participation in the course is free of charge and is open to any interested person, whether a member of the Association or not. The course schedule includes the dates for each session, the subject that will be treated and the respective pages of the book, as well as the name of the lecturer. Between each two theoretical sessions, there will be a practical session in which the participants will have the opportunity to present their reflections and doubts on the subject previously discussed, thus being able to generate an enriching exchange of points of view. These practical sessions will be moderated by a director of the Association. All the sessions of the course will be recorded, and the respective videos sent immediately to the participants. Jesuitas Portugal

Fr Gaetano Piccolo SJ on YouTube. This is a journey to help one " grow in discernment", featuring one video a month to explore "that which concerns our affective life and some rules for discernment". The first one is about "Descending into the heart". Fr Gaetano Piccolo, who leads this journey, suggests how to become aware of one's affective life and the necessary relationship between this affectivity and the spiritual life. The 7-minute video is full of references: from the Gospel of Mark to the Rational-Emotional Therapy developed by contemporary psychology, and from the Stoic philosopher Epictetus to the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio. "Discovering the attitude and the thought behind each feeling will help us grow considerably in our relationship with God", Fr.  Piccolo ensures. Fr. Piccolo, 49, a Jesuit who is currently a philosophy lecturer at the Gregorian, has been the author for ten years of a blog, "Rigantur mentes", which as the title itself suggests explains how we can be "a fertile land, where the rain that descends from heaven can be put into circulation". Under the section 'meditations' one regularly finds texts on the scripture readings of feast days that are among the most original in the vast digital contributions covering this subject, which always conclude with a couple of questions. Even the titles of the column that he has been writing every other week for three years on 'Believing' are in question form: asking questions is an 'art' that he has not stopped practicing since adolescence he declares.

Working in vocation promotion brings you closer to the innermost core of the person you accompany and allows you to see that God is at work in the depths of that person. It involves discernment work among the 150 people who express a desire to enter the Society every year, which then translates into 5 or 8 entries into the novitiate. Among them all, there are anecdotes that invite humour because of the lack of knowledge with which some of them arrive, and others sadness, because of the desire to flee from their own life that many others express. There is no single pattern for all new vocations, although there are some common characteristics. Alfonso Alonso-Lasheras SJ (Fonfo), coordinator of the province's vocation promotion team since the summer of 2020, talks to us about all this as the new Vocation Promotion Plan, which will be in force until 2026 and is aimed not only at Jesuits, but also at lay people and all Jesuit institutions, begins to be disseminated at the start of the academic year. Access to the interview (in Spanish) Jesuitas España

Bienvenue a Paris! Welcome. These were words echoed throughout our stay in Paris as the delegates for formation gathered from the 9th - 13th November.  A hospitality which was very palpable in every community we stayed in or visited.   The theme which was discussed in detail was that of integral formation in general but most especially within the context of Centre Sèvres (the theology faculty of the French-speaking province in Paris). Overall, the group was motivated and much taken by this theme as we were all very impressed at the way Centre Sèvres truly strive to integrate the four dimensions (spiritual, community, academic, and apostolic) which make up this integral formation. There was surely much gratitude for the formation offered in Paris.  During our days together, we also had time to share our diverse situations and challenges we face which resonated within the themes discussed throughout our Parisian days. These discussions were very fruitful and much needed for all of us present.  In a special way we were very grateful to the inputs given us by Fr Franck Janin sj and Fr Mark Ravizza sj. Insights into the realities the Society is living and facing today and which we as formators are called to reflect upon. Their presence amongst us was very enriching and appreciated.  We also took the opportunity to thank Fr Janin sj for his dedication to the conference over these years of service as he now nears the end of his mandate.  The last afternoon was spent walking around Paris on the Ignatian way which was much appreciated by al of us and this then was concluded with an Eucharist in the crypt of the martyrium of Saint Denis in Montmartre followed by a lovely sumptuous dinner offered by the provincial of the EOF province.   At the end of our meeting, it was decided that next year we will hold our meeting in Portugal. Once again thank you to all the organizing team who really went out of their way to make us feel at home.  Au revoir. A bientôt! Michael Bugeja sj EUM Delegate for Formation

"To tune up, first of all as an orchestra whose conductor is the Provincial - it cannot play without, nor can it do without the conductor- then as individual instruments, in order to be able to play together". These, explains Fr Roberto Del Riccio, were the main objectives of the Assembly of the Jesuits of the EUM Province, which commenced in Sacrofano on 19 October. About 100 Jesuits were present from the 4 territories: Italy, Albania, Malta and Romania, with online connections of the plenary sessions for the approximately 200 brethren who remained in the communities and works. "Besides these, there are also other smaller objectives," he adds: "what score to play, what tone, how to distribute the parts... That is to say, what commitments should we engage in to offer apostolic service, to what should we give priority, where should we commit ourselves given the reduction in numbers, in which works should we invest. These preferences require the ability to work together, to carry out the mission, to be in agreement'. During the three days with the running theme "Get up, take up your bed and walk", three talks were given. At the opening, the Provincial gave a report on "The fragilities and opportunities of the present situation in the Province, reflections starting from the letter of Fr. Provincial on this year's destinations". This was followed by a reflection on "a spiritual or managerial process?" by Fr Giacomo Costa. Finally, Dr Sergio Carettone and Fr Fabrizio Carletti from the Emmaus Mission Study Centre spoke about the reorganisation process relevant to the Province. "The extensive discernment process that in 2018 led to the shaping of the Province Apostolic Project," Fr. Paul Pace, Socius to the Provincial highlights, "confirmed by the Universal Apostolic Preferences in 2019, remains a genuine and shared road map. The post-Covid situation that emerged at the last Province Congregation in August 2021 and the current situation in Europe, affected by conflict, led to the need to redefine the form of governance to better respond to perceived needs. Deepening our discernment process together was essential in view of delicate and fruitful choices".

First vows, last vows, diaconal ordinations and priestly ordinations.