On February 3 – 5, Jesuits from the Czech Republic and Slovakia met at their historically first common meeting, at the pilgrimage site in Velehrad (Moravia, Czech Rep.). This meeting of seventy Jesuits from both countries was the first visible step in the process of convergence of the two provinces, which should join together in the future.
During the three days, the Czech and Slovak Jesuits had the opportunity to get to know each other and to deepen the consciousness of their common Jesuit identity, which unites them. On the afternoon of the first day, they presented the life and apostolic activity of their communities in both countries. They learned they each other more personally in twelve small groups.
The whole second day of their meeting was dedicated to a spiritual dynamic, accompanied by invited guests from the Jesuit Conference of European Provinces (JCEP) Fr. Franck Janin, current President of JCEP, and his socius Fr. José de Pablo. For this purpose, they chose a text from Matthew's Gospel, "You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world." The participants of the meeting had to think about this part of the Gospel both in relation to themselves and in relation to the future of both provinces – what God is calling them to do if they are to continue to be salt and light for others. Therefore, in the morning and afternoon, they devoted an entire hour to a personal meditation over the Gospel text, the next hour was intended to share the fruits of their prayer in small groups and then share it in plenary. This spiritual process, using elements of the Ignatian spirituality, was intended to help strengthening the unity of the hearts, which only could ensure real cooperation and greater convergence in the future.
The meeting culminated on the last day with the Eucharistic celebration in Czech, held in the Basilica of Velehrad, presided by the Czech Provincial Fr. Petr Pradka and in which Fr. Viliam Karla did the homily in Slovak. The scholastics of both provinces also renewed their religious vows at this Mass.
Currently, the Czech Jesuits have 47 members, the Slovak 86. The cooperation between the two provinces so far concerns mainly formation. Since 2002, a joint novitiate has been operating in Ruzomberok, Slovakia. Czech and Slovak Jesuits in formation (scholastics) meet regularly; usually they also study together at various places abroad. Superiors of local communities and members of provincial consult of both provinces meet annually. Czech and Slovak Jesuits also organize spiritual exercises for their members. Three Slovak Jesuits are working in the Czech Republic, one Czech in Slovakia.
Already in the past, there was a common Czechoslovak Jesuit province since 1919. It was divided in 1938, when the Czech province and the independent Slovak vice-province were established. It became a province in 1983. In these years of ongoing process of restructuring in the Society of Jesus, a voting poll was held in both the Czech and Slovak provinces in 2017, in which the majority of the members expressed their views in favor of the future joining of both provinces.
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