The International Symposium on the Spiritual Exercises (12-14 June) closed after an intense week of work in the Cave of Manresa, to reflect on the current relevance of the proposal of the Exercises and how to deploy all the possibilities they offer to respond to the challenges of today.
More than 80 people from 27 countries around the world, present at the Spirituality Centre of the Cave of St. Ignatius, and more than 200 who followed the presentations online, were able to learn about many and diverse initiatives that are already creatively exploring languages, formats, spaces... and that allow us to follow the path that Ignatius took 500 years ago with creative fidelity to his proposal.
Very Positive Balance
The Symposium has brought together speakers who have been able to convey their reflections and proposals from the testimony of experiences lived and well connected with reality, and at the same time formulated with depth and rigour. Experiences from contexts of social exclusion, migration, encounters with different cultures and spiritualities... which have allowed us to deepen our knowledge of different ways of proposing the Exercises and to welcome new possible horizons.
The last day, in fact, highlighted in particular the way of offering the Exercises in contemporary culture through audiovisual media and new communication technologies, in ecological sensitivity and in the incorporation of the body and movement through pilgrimage. The presentations on these issues served to highlight once again the risks and opportunities of technology. And to highlight, on the ecological question, that surely this must be an indispensable and central element in any form of the Exercises, and not just an adjective. The presentation on the Exercises on pilgrimage emphasized concepts such as movement, austerity and flexibility in adapting to different situations.
The Outcomes of the Week
The work in the plenary assembly made it possible to evaluate the week, to recognize that Manresa is home for the whole Ignatian family coming from so many places and to share the desire to be able to meet again with a certain frequency in order to continue deepening the themes initiated. The participants particularly appreciated the balanced combination of the prayerful and experiential rhythm with the depth and rigour of the week's approach. The fidelity to the founding experience of St. Ignatius came from the fact of being in Manresa and the creativity and multiple adaptations of the richness and diversity of the participants from all over the world.
The Symposium was closed with the celebration of the Eucharist presided over by the Jesuit Josep Rambla, initiator and inspirer of EIDES (Ignatian School of Spirituality), co-organiser of the Symposium together with the Cova Sant Ignasi Spirituality Centre. It should also be noted that throughout the days, the diversity of sensitivities and cultural expressions was experienced through the liturgical celebrations.
This meeting was therefore an opportunity to reflect on and experience in depth the challenge and the task set out in the first universal apostolic preference of the Society of Jesus, namely, "to offer the Spiritual Exercises in every possible way, giving many people, especially young people, the opportunity to make use of them to enter or advance in the following of Christ".
Jesuitas España
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