Joseph Christie, a Jesuit from India, is currently the Secretary for Higher Education of the Society of Jesus and President of the International Association of Jesuit Universities.

He recently participated in the Indefugible podcast, an initiative of the IQS Chair of Ethics and Christian Thought, in which he spoke with professors Oriol Quintana and Llorenç Puig.

Throughout the interview, he spoke about the role of Jesuit universities and the challenges they are currently facing. We highlight here some of the reflections he wanted to share. The full conversation in English can be heard at this link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6TukvfQruFRuauQUvqnAFp

Why do Jesuits have universities?

To the extent that we prepare a handful of people to be better people, good can enter the world and transform it. We are in the world to participate with Jesus in the creation of God's kingdom.

Jesuit universities are renowned for their quality, but at the same time, they are branded as elitist. Do you think this is a legitimate accusation?

It's a half-truth. We have some very well-positioned institutions that can give the impression that we only work with the elite of society. We also have "first aid" institutions, to help the poor, those who are on the margins. The Society of Jesus has four "Universal Apostolic Preferences", one of which is precisely to walk with the poor. We are challenged to integrate these four apostolic preferences in all our ministries. Efforts have been made, but probably not enough to change this perception.

Today, Jesuit universities welcome people from all traditions and cultures. Is the Catholic or Jesuit identity of our institutions in danger? How can we continue this openness and, at the same time, maintain our identity?

The documents of our General Congregation call us to be interreligious by nature. We need to teach our young people to be interreligious, to respect other cultures, to respect the other: of gender, of ethnicity, of religion. Rooted in our Christian faith and culture, we will go from there to work with others, from respect. Our work is based on faith, I am here because of my faith in Christ and I have come to work. That is what we call apostolate, ministry. It is part of building the kingdom of God. I don't see a difficulty in working with and for others from different cultures, if we are strongly rooted in our Christian faith.

One of the apostolic preferences that the Society of Jesus has established is to accompany young people to create a future with hope. How do you think we can do this from our universities?

Once again, we have to go back to St. Ignatius. He was looking for the integral formation of individuals. We need to focus on that. We need to look at the present context and ask ourselves how we can help our students. They must be good citizens of tomorrow's world. As Ignatius said, those who can transform the world, who can be leaven in the world. Men and women dedicated to others. The criterion in education would be how to help them to become people who transform the world.

What are the challenges for Jesuit universities in the future?

On the one hand, the number of Jesuits is decreasing around the world. Another challenge is accessibility and that our universities are no longer perceived as elitist. Surely technology can help us here. Another is to respond to the demand for higher education in areas where we have not been present, such as Africa. We have a responsibility to help people where only a small number of people have access to higher education.  And finally, I think this can be our reflection, the discernment we need to make in order to shape the future of higher education: How do we transform education to make it truly Jesuit, relevant, a real help for our students to become whole people who are leaven in the world?

Source: IQS