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s2smodern

The landscape of Jesuit formation in the JCEP has changed significantly in the past few years. The number of local formation centres has diminished significantly. The overwhelming majority of Jesuits studying philosophy or theology is now concentrated in one of four formation centres: Kraków, Madrid, Paris, and Rome.

The cultural, intellectual, and interpersonal richness of this new reality is obvious to both Jesuits in formation and to formators alike. Challenges, however, also abound - challenges such as:

  • How to remain rooted in one's province and local culture while doing (almost) all stages of Jesuit formation abroad.
  • How to accompany a young man in his growth as a Jesuit when he might have to move house, place, and even countries every two or three years.
  • How to avoid getting marginalised while living within a dominant culture when poor languages skills, combined with the pressure to perform in an unfamiliar academic system, tends to strain young Jesuits far beyond their comfort zones.
  • How to avoid escaping from community life into the seemingly more rewarding places of the “virtual world.”

These were some of the questions JCEP formation delegates addressed at their recent meeting in Rome. These topics emerged through listening to each other, to representatives of formation centers, and to scholastics at the various stages of formation. The venue of Rome offered us a great opportunity to meet formators of the Roman Houses, as well as Mark Ravizza, formation delegate of Fr. General. There, also, we were exposed to some of Rome’s less-known treasures: the Centro Alletti where several scholastics serve the poor, the Church of Gesù on which we contemplated through the eyes of a volunteer of Pietre vive, and the lively Jesuit community of the Vatican observatory in Castelgandolfo.

The first in-person meeting of formation delegates in two and a half years and the many opportunities it provided for weaving personal relationships has hopefully provided a good foundation for closer collaboration in the years to come in the service of Jesuits in formation.

János Lukács SJ
JCEP Delegate for Formation

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s2smodern