NEWS

The 7th edition of the Ignatian Immersion Course of Manresa ends this week at the Cave of St Ignatius in Manresa. For 6 weeks, 35 people from 18 countries have deepened in Ignatian spirituality in a very significant space, where St. Ignatius lived a deep spiritual experience. The coordinators, fathers Josep Sugrañes and Joaqui Salord, highlighted the diversity of the people: 14 women and 21 men, 5 continents and 14 mother tongues. 50% are Jesuits and religious and lay people made the other half. "There are many different cultures sharing this experience, but everyone is part of the Ignatian family". Personal and community experience The motivation that has led them to Manresa is to do this immersion in the Ignatian experience and do it in community. The experience combines classes and study with an integrative dialogue of the different experiences. The final assessment is very positive. "One of the best experiences of my life". This initiative is jointly promoted by the Cave of St Ignatius in Manresa, the Ignatian Spirituality Group (GEI) and the Ignatian Spirituality Center (EIDES) in Cristianismo y Justicia. They offer two editions per year, in Spanish and English. The Ignatian immersion course has a great reception since its first edition. More info: www.covamanresa.cat

120 Delegates from Jesuit Parishes meet for three days. Over three days last week almost 120 delegates from our parishes came together to learn from each other and from a panel of experts, how to breathe new energy into parish life to make them  “ centres of constant missionary outreach” (Evangelii Gaudiam 28).   Delegates from Scotland to the south coast, ranging in age from 21 to 89, and representing cultures on all continents, spent time together considering the three key documents issued by Pope Francis: Evangelii Gaudiam – the first Apostolic Exhortation Laudato Sii- the Encyclical on the Environment Amoris Laetitia – the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation (following the Synods on marriage and the family in 2014 and 2015) Dr James Hanvey SJ gave delegates an overview of the pope’s key messages for the Church and her people. He stressed that the Church needs to move outwards, to the margins, if it is to be truly a Church of the poor.  Quoting Evangelii Gaudiam Dr Hanvey called the Church “a mother with an open heart, not an institution”. In relation to Laudato Sii, Dr Hanvey suggested that as God made the world for all, all have a right to a share in the goods of Creation.  But we should also treat Creation itself as “one of the poor”, one which requires our care and nurture.  On Amoris Laetitia Dr Hanvey reminded participants that the pope has called for a rebuilding of the family, as a response to the prevailing throwaway culture, believing that strong families will ensure strength and resilience in wider society. He finished by quoting paragraph 28 of Evangelii Gaudiam “The parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and community.” Three groups then spent the rest of the day learning more about and discussing the three documents. Key themes On Saturday parish groups met together to discuss how the key themes and ideas from the documents could be implemented  in their parish.  These ideas were shared in plenary and included: More active welcoming at each mass Having churches open for longer hours  Changing times for confession to make the sacrament of reconciliation more accessible  More ecumenical involvement  Environmental audits of the parishes, resulting in policies on recycling, energy suppliers etc Including environmental issues in homilies and newsletters or parish events Solar panels on church roofs Holding jumble sales to encourage re-use of second hand goods Offering more support for married couples Offering more activities for young people between the age of confirmation and becoming parents – many parishes acknowledge there had been a gap in provision for this age group. Bereavement support Visiting for elderly and disabled people, and dementia support groups Inspiration Perhaps the most important outcome was the way in which participants took inspiration from each other, with parishes sharing ideas, experience, success and failure. As one participant put it “I came away feeling valued, affirmed and energised”.  Another commented “I really welcomed the opportunity to worship together, the liturgies were very enriching.  It is so refreshing to meet and learn from those in other parishes which share our values and Jesuit ethos.” “We are all busy people but making time for an event like this really reminds us how Christ is at work in the lives of each and every one of us, and how we can make a difference even just in small everyday things.  I feel very blessed by this companionship” observed another participant. A follow-up progress meeting is planned in twelve months’ time.

This year's celebration of St. Andrew Bobola in his Sanctuary in Warsaw fell on the 360th anniversary of the death of the patron saint of Poland and the Warsaw Metropolis. Many of the worshippers of St. Andrzej Bobola including representatives of local and self-government authorities, flagship posts of organisations and fraternities and spiritual persons participated at the pilgramage. Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Metropolitan of Warsaw. In his homily he referred to the slogan of the current pastoral and liturgical year "Go and preach" and to the readings and the gospel of the day. The cardinal  stated that St. Andrzej Bobola was an apostle of his time, similar to those sent by Jesus. This Jesuit did not wait passively for the arrival of the faithful, but he himself went on missions, did not stay long in comfortable places, established catechists and sought out "lost sheep." He wandered in Mazovia, and preached in Lomza, Vilnius, Pinsk. He did so because he treated seriously the words of Jesus "Go and preach". "It is from the love of Christ, for the unity of the Church, that he suffered cruel death at the hands of men who hated the Catholic faith". The Warsaw Metropolitan stressed that St. Andrzej Bobola is the patron of difficult unity and is to be a model and example for Poles. Referring to the last celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Fatima, he recalled that St. Andrzej Bobola was also a co-founder of the Jasna Góra oath, which was then arranged by King Jan Kazimierz. Cardinal Nycz expressed his appreciation for the Jesuits and the parishioners of St. Andrzej Bobola. He described the parish as "outstanding" - thanks to the Jesuits, "Collegium Bobolanum" and pastoral proposals for the faithful and the pilgrims. At the end of the service, the metropolitan and the faithful prayed a litany to St. Andrzej Bobola at the foot of the altar, at the tomb of the patron saint. After the Mass, the faithful had the opportunity to venerate the relics of the martyred saint. Saint Andrzej Bobola - History of a devotion Saint Andrzej Bobola suffered a cruel death by the hands of Cossacks in Janow Poleski on May 16th, 1657.  After his death the body of the Saint had a long journey. It was placed in the basement of the church in Pinsk. After about 30 years, after the Cossacks invaded (the Jesuit college and the church in Pinsk suffered numerous attacks, such as plundering, arson, etc.), the body of Andrzej was found. The great surprise for the Jesuits was that the body was unharmed. But as the coffin and garments were crushed, the martyr was dressed in new clothes, placed into a new coffin and buried in a vault in a prominent place. The cult of the saint grew, and crowds came to the grave. In the first half of the eighteenth century. 300 graces and miracles took place. In 1714, the Polish Jesuits began efforts to beatify their confrere. Reports of miraculous healings prompted the laity, including dignitaries and King August II, to send requests to Rome for the beatification of Fr. Andrzej Bobola. A new Pope was chosen, and in 1773 Pope Clement XIV abolished the Jesuit Order. In 1808, a coffin with the corpse of St. Andrzej Bobola was transferred to Polotsk. In the meantime, Poland was annexed. Połock with the grave of Father Bobola was under Russian rule. It was not until Pope Pius VII officially restored the Jesuit order that the martyr's beatification was renewed. Father Andrzej Bobola, apostle and martyr, was beatified by Pope Pius IX in Rome. on October 30th, 1853. In 1920, efforts were made in Rome for the canonisation of St. Andrzej Bobola. Rome sent a petition to the Archbishop and the Polish authorities. Meanwhile, on June 23rd, 1922, the Bolsheviks took away the body of St. Andrzej Bobola from Polotsk to Moscow and after examination they put him on public display at the Museum of Hygiene. This insult outraged the Poles. In 1924, the papal mission to help the starving Russians regained the relics of the martyr and transported them to Rome. There the body of St. Andrzej was placed in the Jesuit church of the Gesù. Confirmed miracles contributed to the canonisation of St. Martyr and Apostle in Rome by Pope Pius XI at Easter, April 17th, 1938. After the canonisation efforts were made to bring the relics of St. Andrzej Bobola to Poland. On June 8th, 1938, the coffin in procession was transported through Slovenia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia to Poland. The Slovenes, Hungarians, Czechs and Slovaks paid tribute to the holy martyr. Everywhere the body of St. Andrzej Bobola was greeted with great joy and prayer. The relics arrived through Zebrzydowice, Dziedzice, Czechowice, Oświęcim, Cracow, Katowice, Kalisz, Poznań and Łódź to Warsaw. In Poland, tens of thousands of believers prayed at the relics of the saint and on the route of the passage of St. Andrzej Bobola. Millions of faithful paid homage to the holy martyr. Celebrations welcoming the patron saint of Poland took place in Warsaw. Church and state authorities, the clergy, the military, the crowds of the faithful came out to greet the relics. The processed relics were transported to the Warsaw Cathedral of St. John, where they were to rest for 3 days. On June 19th, 1938, after a solemn mass with the participation of the state authorities, the relics of St. Andrzej Bobola were brought to the chapel of the Jesuits at Rakowiecka. In 1939, on the eve of the surrender of Warsaw, the relics were transported to the Jesuits to the Old Town. In 1944, they were moved to St. Jack on ul. Freta In 1945, after the war, the relics returned to Rakowiecka and placed in the lower chapel. In 2002 the Bishops' Conference of Poland announced St. Andrzej Bobola to be the Patron Saint of Poland. In 2007, the Episcopate gave the church of St. Andrzej Bobola on Rakowiecka the Title of National Shrine.

For some people Easter time is used to go home, to stay with the family. Others are going on holiday in some exotic place. But 13 young people from Cluj in Romania chose to go to a small poor village called Sai, with a traditional elderly Romanian, German and gypsy population. They were happy to see young and committed young people working, praying and adapting to the situation of the village. We found God in serving the poor and homeless From the first moment we could see the houses of the poor at the end of the village, they looked already as “wounds”, from outside. But inside we knew that there was life. There were many children who really longed to play with different toys than those like old clothes, homemade toys from founded objects. We were aware that is not easy to heal wounds, but we were also aware of our prayer which we said in the first days: “Lord teach me the wisdom of the small steps”. So we were there for them and that presence made changes and as some said: “we received more than we gave”. We realized that our presence in the village was very needed and that more than ever we needed to take care for two things: education and food. Many of the poor children have no food every day and that is not right, when so many Supermarkets throw away a lot of food. And many teachers do not like to work in the village because they are not that good paid. However we remember that joy of some children who learned to spell and write their names, the joy of some of us who were enabled to teach throughout the scouts games and the joy of letting people go from their problems and to look for practical solutions and to find their strength in God. There is a big difference between the poor of the village and the poor of the city. We saw that the homeless of the city try to survive from what they find on the street, from what they beg or from what ONG’s do. It seems organised, but somehow they like also a little bit of “andrenaline” and to not keep rules, but a kind of freedom of choice. and also from what. Many of them do not want to change their life of living, but they want to have someone next to them to not be alone. We found God in living a simple life In the fresh water from the well, homemade bread, cooking outside, sleeping on the floor, washing ourselves with cold water and having time with others in the beauty of the nature. It was also a fight against the need for internet, the need for mobile phone and the need to go out from our comfort zone. It was easier to imagine and fancy simple life dreams, but in reality is also a kind of struggle to adapt to a new way of living. It makes a better person to go out from the routine of daily life and to accept new challenges. Living a simple life is also working with those we usually do not look at, or those we almost think that we know their story, like that of the beggars, the gypsies or the insane. Simple life is also praying. Our prayers done in Church with the elderly people of the village made a difference through our adaptation to their way of praying and singing and sometimes bringing a good touch with musical instruments. One of the volunteers described the experience of Mission of Easter like this: “It is hard to find the proper words after such a nice experience. The words “too good, too like in the countryside”come to my mind. I have in my heart the laugh and the happy faces of children, which if you see them just a little you would understand the joy of which I’m talking about. I have also the emotion of watching Fr. Jani washing and kissing the feet of unprepared, unclean... Jesus didn’t do the same? The freedom with which we went together with Andrea and the wonder of finding the way back without looking for. The blossom tree, the hug of the old woman from the street, Mr. Janos from the hospital, noise from the city and the calmness we met, the lunch of some cents and the joy of sharing with others. I have in my heart the fire of the evening, eating together with the poor children and from now on I decided not to eat alone anymore. In my heart is still sounding the joy of the Holy Eucharist, especially of the Gloria in the night of Easter. I enjoyed a lot the way to Emmaus, in nature. I enjoyed sleeping in the sleeping bag, cleaning the Church, cleaning some bricks and the sign of the hammer which passed away much more faster than this memories. I enjoyed the washing of dishes even when it wasn’t my turn . In my memory is stamped the generosity of the village people, all what they gave us, the friendship and the joy of staying together in prayer. I loved and I will love always the human people”. Such experiences lift up to meet the risen Christ in those who are fragile and vulnerable. We just try to find Jesus in the place where we are and this experience makes a change.

Learning in and building up the social sector in Portugal Filipe Martins s.J. Strange are the paths of life and God. After having ventured deeper into an adult faith in the Jesuit's Centre for University Chaplaincy in Lisbon, and having spent a year volunteering in Mozambique following the completion of my engineering degree, I entered the Society excited by the opportunity to help others "discover" the same God that I myself had discovered. During the training in Portugal and abroad my apostolic work was always in chaplaincy. Thus it came as no surprise that, on my return to the Province following my ordination, I was tasked with continuing my work in the sector of university chaplaincy and vocation promotion. While in Ceuta, the Spanish city that borders Morocco, during my Tertianship, I came to know the actual faces and stories of the harsh reality of African immigration to Europe. These stories are at once so familiar, yet also so distant from our "normal" Western reality. When I returned to my country I was once again assigned to university chaplaincy. Additionally, I was made responsible, in a secondary role, for an immigrant reception centre in Oporto. Here was an opportunity to maintain contact with this new reality I had come to know. But little by little, as is often the case in the Society, the secondary role became the principal one, as the circumstances required. Today I find myself leading the coordination of the Province's social sector and I am very involved in many of its projects. Internal changes These external changes to my mission also require internal changes to my attitude. Someone once told me that we always approach social work thinking we know what's best for those facing exclusion, rather than listening to the people who are experiencing the situation themselves. Learning to be by their side and to truly listen to them, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with them rather than ahead of them, is a slow process and doesn't come naturally. In this social work I have discovered my longing to feel needed, or for people to thank me or at least acknowledge my efforts. But "to help" and "to enable" requires gratitude and discernment. An empowered person is a grateful person - not to me personally, but to life - and in this way they become builders of justice and peace. I'll say it again: The path is long and slow, requiring from me a discerned and at times pedagogical wisdom, reflecting how God treats us. Searching for this wisdom, which avoids simple solutions and even poorly discerned generosity, is another lifelong journey. Portugal's social sector has undergone a beautiful change in recent years. Until a few years ago we were a sector made up of decent and dedicated people, but each one of us working in an isolated fashion. Since 2014 we (directors and Jesuit project leaders, parishioners and voluntary groups, etc.) have embarked on a lovely journey of communal work and training, in part inspired by developments in other Provinces. We hold a "Social Assembly" once a year, where 80 people from the various projects come together. We have already held a number of training modules in Ignatian Identity for the teams. Quite recently we also held the first "social spiritual exercises", where many had the pleasure of experiencing the Spiritual Exercises for the first time. One of the fruits of this exercise is the experience of happiness and encouragement that comes from being part of a large and universal body like the Society, working with others to build a better world. I see this in me and in the other people in the sector. Where are we ging to? The question we often ask ourselves in the sector's coordination group is, "where are we going to?" It's difficult to know with certainty, but perhaps there's no need to. We continue to trust in the Lord who calls us to the frontiers, bringing ourselves close to situations of exclusion and pain. As the saying goes, "go alone if you wish to go fast; go with others if you wish to go far". We continue to walk, accompanied by God who gave up his life, and by the many others who share our dynamic energy. In this way, all will be well. Filipe Martins sj (POR) in SJES Headlines, June 2017

31 May 2017, Brussels – JRS Europe, today, releases key data analysis of 315 community building initiatives mapped as part of I Get You. The European Mapping Report shows that grassroots projects working on integration with refugees have a big impact combatting racism and xenophobia in the nine countries taking part. Across the 9 countries in Europe involved in I Get You, 315 community building initiatives (CBIs) were mapped. The CBIs that were mapped broken down by countries are: 62 in Italy, 55 in France, 50 in Germany, 37 in Belgium, 31 in Spain, 31 in Portugal, 20 in Malta, 15 in Romania and 14 in Croatia. “Despite anti-migrant political discourse influenced by populist parties, our mapping campaign has shown that the local movement to welcome, support and learn together with refugees is stronger than ever – and we have only scratched the surface of the huge array of social events and activities that are out there,” says I Get You coordinator Carola Jimenez Asenjo. ‘Integration not isolation’ is the motto of one of the initiatives mapped, located in Plauen, eastern Germany. By bringing local youth and families together with migrants for gardening, football matches and even speed-dating, stereotypes were broken down and new understanding and relations were built. The main findings have shown that most CBIs across Europe are small in scale and size but have impactful scopes in communities among the individuals that participate in them. Key results from our data analysis: 25-300 participants on average per initiative Participants are working age adults - forced migrants and local citizens Very few initiatives focus on children or the elderly 70 percent of the volunteers are host country nationals, while 20 percent are from other EU countries and 10 percent from third countries A variety of activities and services for people are covered such as skills training, leisure activities and intercultural activities On average initiatives operate on budgets of 25,000 Euros or less 41 percent are financed via grassroots fundraising; 34 percent receive private funding and 25 percent receive public funding National variations in funding include: Public funding was 53 percent in Romania, 39 percent in Portugal and 36 percent in Croatia Germany, France, Spain and Italy had over 50 percent grassroots funding From April to November 2016, quantitative data was gathered on initiatives bringing locals and refugees together via an online questionnaire. A European overview of the data collected is present in the I Get You Europe Mapping Report. More in-depth country mapping reports are also available in the national languages of the partners via the I Get You website. Partners are currently completing in-depth interviews with CBIs to collect qualitative data. Best practices will be analysed according to 12 criteria established by a committee of experts through the DELPHI methodology. These criteria are: Interaction & Encounter, Participation, Awareness Raising, Education, Support & Service Provision, Interculturalism, Dignity, Hospitality, Sustainability, Innovation. This project is co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union.

A number of students from the Manchester Universities’ Catholic Chaplaincy attended the vigil for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in Albert Square on Tuesday evening. Fr Michael Holman SJ reports “I was in a group that went along with Neil Jameson and Furqan Naeem from the Greater Manchester Citizens group based at the chaplaincy. We carried Citizens banners which attracted some attention from the media, hence the photograph  below taken by a reporter from the Independent. Also in the group was the Muslim chaplain to the University. The vigil, which lasted around 25 minutes, was a witness to the people of Manchester's determination to stand together in solidarity at this most difficult time. Those who spoke echoed in their different ways the words of the Bishop of Manchester that "Love is always stronger than hate". There was a minute's silence to remember those who had died and their grieving loved ones. One contribution which captured the imagination of everyone there was from Tony Walsh who read his poem about the city, "this is the place". It was an inspiration and a source of uplift to all as we left the square as was the sight of a group of Sikhs generously handing out free bottles of water and Coca Cola to anyone who wanted. A very sad and very moving event.” Fr William Pearsall SJ remained behind last evening to say mass at Holy Name. “It has been strangely quiet on Oxford Road,” he observed “many of the busses are on diversion so there is less traffic. Students are busy with exams, older people are staying at home, perhaps out of fear. It’s very subdued.”   The Holy Name Church was open all day yesterday and many candles were lit in a special place at the altar. 

Together with Father Christian Marte SJ (Director of the Kardinal König Haus in Vienna), this Holy Week (April 11th – 13th, 2017) I visited the Republic of Moldova. We wanted to get to know the country and the different CONCORDIA institutions. CONCORDIA is the biggest nongovernmental organization in the former Soviet Republic of Moldova. 300 employees take care of almost 6.000 children, adolescents and elder people. During those three days we visited two social centres for elderly people and a new family-like institution, where children and adolescents that used to live in the city of children „Pirita“ have found a new home. Close to the regional capital of Orhei we  had a look at a plot of  land of 350 hectares, where in 2017, CONCORDIA will start a model farm on which adolescents from CONCORDIA institutions will be able to find work. Catholic bishop On the second day of our visit we met with the catholic bishop Anton Cosa, who helped in establishing CONCORDIA Social Projects in 2004. He has stayed close to the project ever since and helps wherever he can. In the evening we were invited to the Austrian Embassy, recently opened in February 2017. In our talk with the ambassador we discussed the economic, political and social situation of the country. One great challenge is growing emigration. Every single day, 107 people leave Moldova to look for work in Europe or Russia. At the end of an interesting day, we celebrated mass in the chapel of the Casa CONDORDIA with some of the children and employees. After receiving the news of our planned visit, the country coordinator of CONCORDIA had asked us if we could offer some workshops for senior employees. So, for two mornings and one afternoon, Christian and I held workshops on the topics of spirituality and leadership, with an overall attendance of 60 educators, psychologists and administrators that work for CONCORDIA. The feedback we received was very positive. Holy Week Our experiences in those three days fit perfectly into the Holy Week. The German word for it, Karwoche, originates from the word Kara, which means „lamentation, sorrow, worry“, and is also related to the English word care. Throughout our visit we were able to meet people that live in great poverty, and on the other hand people that try to alleviate other's hardship. Both groups appreciate any sign letting them know that they are not forgotten and that their commitment is valued.

Pedro Arrupe’s Centre for the Education of Leaders and Educators in Warsaw Falenica is carrying out a project to support Catholic schools in the countries of the former Soviet bloc. As part of the activities undertaken, the Arrupe trainers conducted a training course in April in Drohobych, Ukraine, to prepare a team of educators to open a Catholic school in Drohobych, Ukraine. It will primarily serve children whose parents work outside the country, families of refugees from eastern Ukraine, and children finishing education in a Catholic pre-school. Participants learned about various forms of fundraising and methods of promoting the future school. There is already a building (pictured below) which will be refurbished in the coming months. It will be expanded and then a boarding school will be built. The fact that more Catholic schools in Ukraine will spring like mushrooms after rain is a joy. This year, the Arrupe trainers will train the pedagogical groups of four schools which want to become Catholic schools.

The “European Youth Assemblies” school-sessions aim to promote the enriching of the schools and personal curricula, allowing students to develop transversal skills in a wide range of nowadays political and social issues, attaining goals traditional educational forms cannot fully reach. This year’s third European Youth Assembly (EYA) session was held from 4-7th May 2017, counting with the participation of all Portuguese Jesuit schools – Instituto Nun’Alvres (organizing school, Caldas de Saúde), Colégio de S. João de Brito (Lisbon) and Colégio da Imaculada Conceição (Cernache-Coimbra). EYA’s sessions have been solidly organized by INA due to the committed participation of students to this project. During these four days, all participants, divided into committees, discussed the challenges that the European Union is now facing in all its dimensions – political and social. Problems as the environmental sustainability with the use of nuclear energy, the rise of far right parties, and the rights of transgender minorities were all issues raised during General Assembly, having all committees proposed solutions through the writing and proper debate of motions to resolve the problems in debate. But not all was confined to hard work; this was balanced with entertaining moments, at the end of each the day, such as EYA’s GOT TALENT, where participants had the chance to share their talents with others, or the Theme Party, in which participants were invited to dress themselves according to a decade from the 20th century. All being said, EYA’s growing success proves that the youth have a stronger voice and a growing awareness of what surrounds them, being fully and actively committed to their role in shaping our political society. Through this project, organized by students for students, our youngsters are building a more tolerant and contentious society concerning the 21st century’s cultural pluralism.

“Because of the magnitude and interconnectedness of the challenges we face, it is important to support and encourage the growing collaboration among Jesuits and Jesuit apostolates through networks.” GC36 D1, #35 Trying to deepen on the insights from the General Congregation 36, the Jesuit Networking Project is launching a global survey to understand attitudes and behaviors regarding Jesuit Networking and Collaboration. The idea is to reach out to Jesuits, collaborators and the wider community of Jesuit friends and alumni, for a better understanding of the meaning and possibilities of collaboration globally. At the end of June, the results will be presented at the World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA) meeting, in Cleveland. GO TO JESUIT NETWORKING & COLLABORATION SURVEY The Jesuit Networking project (www.jesuitnetworking.org) has been working on the promotion of networking within the Society of Jesus under the umbrella of the Secretariat of Collaboration. Since 2012 there have been colloquiums, workshops, tools, publications and a blog with continuous communication around the topic of Networking. The survey is part of a new attempt of checking how the global Jesuit apostolic body really understands collaboration, and to identify potential areas to improve in order to foster this dimension that has been identified as important perspective in our contemporary way of proceeding in the last General Congregation. The questionnaire is made of 43 questions that can be answered in about 8 minutes covering a range of topics from experiences of collaboration, personal insights from experience, use of technology and tools, identifying current networks, or select topics and procedures that could be of interest to the user. The survey is intended for all the Jesuits and people involved with Jesuit-related organizations or ministries, including alumni from the extensive network of Jesuit educational institutions. This is a first step in generating feedback from those potentially served by networking efforts, and is an effort to co-create the most valuable experience for all stakeholders. The research will serve as a foundation for future research and the design of specific collaborative proposals. The results will be released at www.jesuitnetworking.org after the official presentation by Fr. Dani Villanueva, SJ and Dr. Facca Miess at the World Union of Jesuit Alumni at the end of June. If you have any issues, suggestions, comments on the survey tool, please send us a note and we will update the survey for future distribution. If you have a larger network of contacts that may benefit from our research on Jesuit networking and collaboration, please let us know at tfacca@jcu.edu and we will make it available for them. Here is the link to the survey: Jesuit Networking and Collaboration Survey.

Working frequently with the youth makes us aware that the languages we use need to be constantly reinvented so as to keep the vitality of what they’re meant to witness. Music is one of those languages. We often hear people complaining and saying '' we're always singing the same song''  or «this is too old». With this is mind, the National Department for Liturgical Music has been promoting courses on music and has published an important number of songbooks. However, there is still much work to do. A group of Jesuits and lay friends have thus come up with the idea of collaborating in church music ministry by organising a one-week seminar where Catholic music lovers, aged 16 to 35, could find time to pray, get some musical and liturgical training, and finally to produce new music for the liturgy. The group is offering three different programmes: one for singers (LABsing); one for instrument players (LABplay); and one for composers (LABcreate). Every day is made up of 3 moments of a Taizé-like prayer followed by different workshops. Some workshops are meant to provide participants with a general approach to music and liturgy, with topics like Mass and Music, Listening to different examples of Liturgical Music, Understanding Contemporary Music or A Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem Reader. Others are more hands-on, with vocal and instrument classes. Rather than confining liturgical music to a single style, we want to provide composers with criteria based on understanding the meaning of the liturgy and its dynamics. This way, we hope to encourage a diverse but informed way of doing music. Simply put, we are aiming at developing different styles that reflect the purpose of music during the liturgy. Our composers will have time to write music alone, but they will also be encouraged to work together: to share, discuss and try out their new songs. All the new songs (partitions and recordings) will be available free of charge on: https://laboratorio-rezarcriar.com. In doing so, we are not just proposing a new repertoire, but hope that this work can be tested and criticized by others. We don’t believe we have "the" solution, hence dialogue and discussion are crucial to consider and come up with new languages. We need to ask ourselves: Does this help community and personal prayer? Reflection and practice are important tools as we discern and try to do more and better. From 22 to 29 July, we will be 60 (45 participants, 15 staff members) to enroll for this music experiment in one of our Jesuit Schools in Portugal, the Colégio das Caldinhas.

‘Comparte’ Network and HEST working together From May 15 to 17th, delegations from nine Latin American countries and from different Spanish collaborating organizations gathered in the Basque Country at the 4th meeting of the COMPARTE network with the motto "Encounter, exchange and collaboration for the construction of alternative economies.” The COMPARTE network of CPAL (Conference of Provincials of the Society of Jesus in Latin America) is a learning and action community that promotes alternative development. Fifteen Latin American organizations together with ALBOAN and several universities of Latin America and Spain are the members of the network. The organizations of COMPARTE accompany impoverished people in their social and political articulation so that they regain control over their local economy and improve their living conditions. They support initiatives in rural areas to produce coffee, cocoa, bananas, honey, dairy products and oleaginous products, among others. Some also promote textile, footwear, handicraft, etc. The network is aimed at generating sustainable initiatives, what entails great challenges both at local and global levels. During the three days meeting, which was held at the Sanctuary of Loyola, the delegates representing the different institutions involved, together with some hosts (the HEST coordinator, José Carlos Romero, was one of them) analysed the present and the future of the Network. The role of universities and how they can cooperate with social centres to improve the quality and sustainability of the local initiatives promoted by the network, was a key debate during the meeting. In this sense, the CEP presented its HEST program, that proposes a practical cooperation among Higher Education Institutions and Social Centres in a common research project aimed at a real social transformation. Good synergies and possibilities for future cooperation between ‘Comparte’ and HEST came up during the debate. As ALBOAN, the organizer of the meeting, pointed out: each context is different, but the urgency - and hope - are the same. We hope this shared dream of moving towards alternative economies becomes true in their Latin Americas societies but also in ours.

People from Jesuit works (Deusto university, several schools, the NGO Alboan, Loyola Communication Group, Ellacuria Center and Loyola Sanctuary) have participated during 3 years in a training plan in Ignatian Mission and Identity. This plan had two elements: Knowledge and intersectoriality (making the road together, linking friends and colleagues). There were five working blocks: 1) Personal knowledge; 2) Ignatian spirituality; 3) Analysis of reality; 4) Knowledge of the Society of Jesus and 5) Theology. The methodological options have been very interesting: experiential approach, processing and discerning the experience. Plenty of time and space, fostering relationships and spiritual conversation. We saw the fruits of this plan in the last celebration in the Chapel of the Conversion of Loyola, where the participants presented a notebook in which they had examined each day of the formation. The most repeated words: “Thanks!”. Thank you for so much life and shared mission!

The Jesuit centre Cristianisme I Justicia has celebrated its 35th anniversary and the publication of the 200th issue of CiJ Booklets collection. With a distribution of over 50.000 copies, the Booklets are the most important result of the reflection of the Centre d'Estudis Cristianisme i Justícia. In a clear and easy-reading format, the Booklets treat those key issues currently affecting the dialogue between faith and justice. These publications have served for a better understanding of the complex global power and economy; to denounce the war that is present today in many countries; to make poverty and exclusion more visible; to remember those who have given their lives for justice. CiJ is always analysing the present of the reality of the poor, those who suffer the consequences of injustice in our world. CiJ presents these 35 years in an exhibition, with a vision of the very diverse themes they have worked in and the desire of a mystique of open eyes, attentive to the challenges of our world and committed to justice. The exhibition takes a look at the main issues that have marked the last 35 years in social, political and religious topics, through some of the Booklets that have been dedicated to these issues. Poverty and inequality, the crisis of Africa, the ecological crisis, feminism, interreligious dialogue or the tragedy of refugees. The exhibition was to see in May at the headquarters of IQS in Barcelona. And its contents can still be found here.

The Jesuits in Britain held their annual Province Meeting this week.  The meeting of all Jesuits in the British Province got underway on Tuesday evening at the Christian Conference Trust centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire.150 delegates include Jesuits of the British province and Jesuit observers from the provinces of the North West  European  Assistancy, and speakers from the United States and Rome.Twenty two lay co-workers also attended including, for the first time, several head teachers of Jesuit schools and colleges.   After input from the guest speakers in the morning sessions, delegates had time for personal reflection, and then guided sharing and further reflection in small groups followed by a further plenary sharing.  This is a new methodology for discernment which was introduced as a process during the recent General Congregation in Rome (GC36).  Fr Provincial Dermot Preston explained the thinking:"We as Jesuits are practised at individual discernment; but we are less good at group discernment – listening attentively to each other and distilling a range of responses and opinions. So we all pray and reflect for half an hour on what we have heard from our Speaker.  Then we come together in small groups for three cycles of listening and thinking. First cycle is the sharing of feelings, experiences and thoughts provoked by the talk. The second round is to make observations on what others have just shared.  The third round is for each person to attempt to bring together, as if you were “the one giving the Exercises” (i.e. a spiritual director), and the group were “the one doing the Spiritual Exercises” (i.e. receiving spiritual direction), the essence of all the thoughts and themes and influences, and intuit where that is leading. Then discussion can start."Thursday’s speaker was Fr Michael Garanzini SJ, Chancellor of Loyola University Chicago and Fr General’s delegate for higher education. He first shared his experience of listening to Pope Francis at the recent General Congregation. He described how, after his talk, the pope spent over an hour answering questions from Jesuits, and  "I noticed that his Holiness never answered direct questions which began “Holy Father, what should we do about..? or what should be the strategy for…?”   In his talk the pope explained that we ourselves as Jesuits have the tools of discernment.  If you use the discernment correctly you will be thinking with the Church and for the Church and will be able to determine what is the best route to take.  The Holy Father exhorted us to help the Church identify where to go and what to do.” Fr Garanzini described how, since GC34 and GC35, the Jesuit university sector had noticed that social justice is a popular message with faculties and lay colleagues.  “They like working at Jesuit institutions because they have a social justice mission”.  He suggested that academics in all types of institutions have a crucial role to play, not just in researching, publishing and advocating for social justice, but also in providing the safe and trusted space where bridges can be built between perpetrators of injustice and their victims.“We won’t solve the issues just by attacking and accusing. We need to bring conflicted parties to the table to be part of the solution….Reconciliation is a necessary refinement to the social justice agenda.  So a Jesuit University should be the one place where all sides can come together.”Fr Garanzini then turned his focus to Heythrop College and the future of the intellectual apostolate in Britain, the future of which is under discussion.  “This is not an in-house project” he observed, “ it must involve those we work with, they are fellow decision makers not just stakeholders in the impact of the decision. We must rethink all our higher education in terms of reconciliation.  There has never been a more obvious need for this than now.  There are issues in your country or your city demanding attention, things that cause political parties to divide and give rise to reactionary movements.  These are the issues we must ask of God “what do you want us to do now?””He pointed out that in many places across the world secular governments are withdrawing support from theologates and seminaries:  "This is not unique to the UK or even Europe.  Furthermore, scholarship itself has changed.  It is no longer a solitary pursuit. Now it is more collaborative, and has to result in practical projects, to secure funding. The Society of Jesus has always cultivated experts in all fields including humanities and sciences, not just theology and philosophy.  This is our special charism."The group reflections which followed the talk fed back in plenary with an emphasis on the need for bridge-building, collaboration, compassion, and freedom to move forward. A gallery of photographs from the meeting is available on our Flickr page

JCEP President’s Consult in Milan The story unfolds the following way. A church in Germany collapsed during a war and in the remains they found the cross that once stood in it. This cross was of great devotion for the people in the area so they were delighted to find it. However, it was severely damaged after the collapse, concretely, the Jesus in it had lost its arms. The parishioners after much discernment decided to keep this cross with the “un-armed” Jesus instead of getting a new one or restoring it. They put the following sentence at the bottom of the cross: "Ich habe keine anderen Hände als die euren." [I have no other hands but yours.] We come across a similar cross in the San Fedele Community in Milan, where the JCEP President’s Consult met from the 22nd to the 24th of June. The Consult is formed by: 3 provincials (chosen by their assistancies), the socius, and two independent Jesuits chosen by the President himself. During these days, this team of Jesuits got together to look into the current development of the works at European and Near East level. There were many important topics to be discussed like the succession of the new JESC director or the development of programmes like the ILP or HEST. This Consult was special for two reasons: first it was the last consult of the current President of the JCEP (Fr. John Dardis) and secondly it was the hand-over of the role to the incoming new President (Fr. Franck Janin). The meeting was a success. Many decisions were reached and there was a feeling of peace amongst the consult with these decisions. The cherry on top of the cake was the Jesuit Community in San Fedele. This extremely welcoming Jesuit Community made everything very easy for these guests from all around Europe. "They even showed the group all the activities they are involved in like the Centro Culturale San Fedele, Aggiornamenti Sociali, or the Assistenza Sanitaria San Fedele. Jesuits in Milan have created a brilliant space for reflection, spirituality, social apostolate, arts, and cultural development." Coming back to our story. The Catholic Community has always felt the call to be Jesus’s hands in the world. The Jesuits help in this endeavour through a great variety of activities and services like spiritual accompaniment, parish work, refugee service, schools, etc. The Consult is another piece of the puzzle that forms our reality. It is also a clear reminder that we cannot do this alone, that we need to put all of our hands together for the service of faith and promotion of justice or we will not succeed! This is our mission, the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ.

After spending ten weeks out on our experiments, tertians all returned to Dublin, safe and sound. We were in Armenia, Iraq, Malta, Scotland, Hungary, Wales, Belgium, Albania, Italy, Kosovo, and even just down the road in Dublin. We brought back many experiences and the stories to go with them, so naturally the first days back were spent sharing lessons learned and graces received. Still feeling the metabolism boost from working in the apostolate, we returned to lectures as usual on topics like the virtues of a good Jesuit, lay collaboration, recent history of the Society of Jesus, psychology and spiritual development, spiritual direction, and more on the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. As has been the pattern, the presenters were from various backgrounds: lay and religious, local and imported. They all did a wonderful job. These last weeks of the tertianship looked a lot like the first, at least from the outside. We continued with our regular diet of Masses, classes, and jovial repasses over our lives as Jesuits thus far. Conscious that this is the end of the latest chapter in our Jesuit formation and the last formal one, the spirit of gratefulness was palpable, but so was a readiness to tackle our next assignments with the grace of God. We finished up our eight days of silent retreat and closed out the final lectures. Fr. John Dardis made his final visit to us as the European Tertianship for 2016-2017 drew to a close. The overwhelming feeling was  of gratitude for the program and the opportunity to be pupils in this “school of the heart” while feeling the pull of our missions that await us. We are indebted to all who have made this possible, especially our benefactors, Frs. Paul Pace and Jan van de Poll, and the Jesuits in Dublin. Saint Ignatius envisioned the Companions of Jesus as a body with diverse members, spread out to bring the Name of the Lord to the whole world. Please pray for the tertians of 2016-107, that we may stay true to this vision.

European Jesuits in Formation (EJIF) is a group that gathers together all European Jesuits who are in formation, from scholastics in their philosophy to brothers and young priests who haven't yet taken their final vows. Every year, the young Jesuits are invited to participate in an EJIF meeting that is held in one of the European Jesuit provinces. Usually this meeting includes a group experiment or meeting (pilgrimage, social work, conferences around formation topics), an individual guided retreat of eight days and finally a formation session. Many young Jesuits live in international formation houses. Still these meetings aim to foster broader knowledge of the Society of Jesus, by giving the Jesuits the opportunity to get to know others in formation and to learn more about our Jesuit life and spirituality. One or two scholastics from each province – depending on the size of the province – are invited to participate, thus getting the chance of gaining a unique experience of what it´s like to be a member of a Society of Jesus that goes beyond the borders of his own province. It is also a means to connect the scholastics more closely to the level of the “Conference of European Provincials” (CEP), thus fostering interprovincial collaboration as an important element of “noster modus procedendi” (our way of proceeding) as it was again stressed by GC 36. Prepared by the so called “Coordination Committee”, EJIF is characterized each year by some topic as it was closely linked to MAGIS and World Youth Day in Poland last year, for example. The next meeting will be from 1st to 24th of August 2017 in Lebanon. It is titled by the letter of GC 36 ‘Witnesses to Friendship and Reconciliation’ (GC36). The central idea of EJIF 2017 is for the European scholastics to respond to the request of GC36 as well as the letter addressed to the Society by Fr Nicolás of the 27th July 2016 (2016/10) exhorting Jesuits to a greater solidarity with their companions missioned to the Middle East. In response to this letter, the European scholastics at EJIF 2016 felt called to hold EJIF 2017 in Lebanon. We believe that this call has been confirmed by GC36 (Decree 1) and the letter addressed to Jesuits and collaborators living in zones of war and conflict. Previous EJIF meetings show that the best way of getting to know each other comes from common experiences, a shared mission. In concrete terms, this implies an engagement and immersion with the activities of the Jesuit Refugee Service and other NGOs in Lebanon. We hope as young Jesuits to encounter those who bear ‘witness to friendship and reconciliation’ in a country which has itself suffered conflict and which still bears the signs of ongoing tensions in neighbouring Syria, including Oriental Christians and Muslims. Important parts of the program include an introduction to work of JRS in the Middle East by Fr. José Ignacio García Jimenéz (new director of JRS Europe), an immersion part for ten days (Working with refugees in groups of 4-5 scholastics, accompanied by Fr. García Jimenéz), encounters with Islam and Oriental Churches, 8 days at the Jesuit Retreat House in Taanael in the Bekaa valley and finally concluding days, evaluation and departures. EJIF 2017 will give delegates the possibility to have contact with fellow Jesuits from Europe and around the world. We are working closely with the Jesuits of the Near East Province in all the preparations for this year’s EJIF.

The spaces of the Curia of the Province of Italy recently have been totally renewed. This renovation is part of a more general wide restructuring of the big building next to the Church of the Gesù in Rome. A  first reason of these works lies on the reduced number of the two Jesuit communities residing in the building. in fact, many spaces were left empty, were not used, which is really a pity taking into account that a square meter in the centre of Rome is very valuable. Actually in the building two communities are present: a community of the Province of Italy (25 members) and the community of the International formation house were 49 scholastics attend the first cycle of theology, accompanied by a team of formators. Numbers used to be higher. The second reason is that the building needed since time a deep restoration. The heating, electrical and informatic systems have been replaced. Some vaults in the long corridors have been consolidated and the roof that was damaged in some places has been repaired. So, in the future, the building will not only give hospitality to the two Jesuit communities, but also to a structure were 35 refugees of the Italian JRS office (Centro Astalli) will sleep and to another space that will host pilgrims and partly tourists. During the last year noise and dust were abundant but now a sense of consolation came down while we are using spaces in more attentive and rational way. The rooms of the Curia are awaiting the new team that will help the Provincial of the Euro-Mediterranean Province starting the 1st of July 2017