This Fall, 32 young men joined the Novitiates of the JCEP. Curiously, it is the exact same number of a year ago. For each of them, this is a first culmination of a long process of discernment, closely accompanied in each province by Vocation Promotors and other Jesuits.

After looking at Jesuit life from the outside for a while, they found it attractive enough and personally fitting to leave everything behind and enter a Novitiate. Now, from within, they will start experiencing what being a Jesuit actually implies and check how they gradually adjust to this new identity. At the same time, the formators will help them in the spiritual reading of their experiences and evaluate their integration in the Jesuit way of proceeding. The Novitiate is a time of exploration and confirmation of the calling. At its successful conclusion, each novice will make the vow of living the rest of his life in poverty, chastity and obedience in the Society of Jesus.

The Jesuit Novitiate is a two-year programme designed to establish the foundations for a happy and fruitful religious and apostolic life. To deepen the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to know oneself and the Society of Jesus better and to experience the joys and challenges of community life are the main aims of this initial phase of formation. There are some typical experiments that, since the beginning of the Society, mark these two years: the Spiritual Exercises in the form of a month-long retreat; a time of service to the sick and the poor; an experience of pilgrimage. 

If you would like to know more about how to become a Jesuit, check our page: https://jesuits.eu/join-the-mission/become-a-jesuit

There are now 8 Novitiates in the Conference. These 32 new novices will join 24 other companions who are beginning the second year of Novitiate. In total, there are at this moment 56 novices in the JCEP. The Birmingham Novitiate has no novices this year.

We invite you to pray for the journey of the Jesuit novices and also for all that may feel the vocation to become a Jesuit.

Here are the details for each of the Jesuit Novitiates in Europe and the Near East:

Bilbao (Spain)

1^st year: 5

2^nd year: 6

 

 

 

 

 

Cairo (Egypt)

1^st year: 2

2^nd year: 0

 

 

 

 

 

Coimbra (Portugal)

1^st year: 1

2^nd year: 1

 

 

 

 

 

Gdynia (Poland)

1^st year: 3

2^nd year: 5

 

 

 

 

 

Genoa (Italy)

1^st year: 10

2^nd year: 6

 

 

 

 

 

Innsbruck (Austria)

1^st year: 4

2^nd year: 1

 

 

 

 

 

Lyon (France)

1^st year: 3

2^nd year: 3

 

 

 

 

 

Split (Croatia)

1^st year: 4

2^nd year: 2