A program designed around Universal Apostolic Preferences

Coordination workshops in which older students offered an introduction to the subject of their choice to younger students in a transmission posture; fresco for the climate around ecological issues; sporting and solidarity challenge… all activities explored the 4 Universal Apostolic Preferences . “Passion” workshops on 70 themes also allowed you to pass on your tastes (saxophone, jewelry creation, improvisation, etc.). “We couldn't wait to share our interests,”  says Sybille, aged 12, “our teachers helped us for months to prepare everything . ” Gabriel, 15, was waiting for the solidarity race in support of a school in Bolivia: “I like to tell myself that when I run for this school, I also take care of my health”.

Louis Tonneau testifies in 3T class

The week was an opportunity to get to know the Jesuits better through informal discussions. An agora was organized for the 600 primary school students in the Saint Jean Berchmans church. The children were able to question Jesuits about their missions abroad such as Etienne Degrez sj on his experience in Nepal and Jean-Baptiste Roy sj in Burundi but also scholastics from India and Vietnam. “The Jesuit week is a real discovery for me,” confides a new teacher. Classroom testimonies offered even more direct exchanges. Louis Tonneau sj spoke in several classes: “'Why you became a Jesuit' and 'why there are no women among the Jesuits' are the most frequent questions ,” he reports. Vocation, studies, family… among teenagers, the questions abound . “A week ago, I didn’t even know what a Jesuit was ,” admits Emilie, 14 years old. “He not only spoke to us about the Jesuits, he told us his own story,” notes his comrade, Mathieu. Rereading sessions allowed students to meditate and question themselves: what words or what encounter do I remember? For Clémence, 12 years old, “being more respectful is the most important thing” . For some teachers, what a surprise: they had never seen their students remain silent, with their eyes closed, for fifteen minutes!

The week was punctuated each evening with thematic conferences open to all, including Jesuits for Dummies . It closed with the show “Un peu d’audace,” a theatrical and musical creation on discernment , written, directed and performed by two Jesuits, Louis Lorieux sj and Benoît de Dimanche sj. A parable of life and the decisions that shape it, it is aimed at young people and the adults who accompany them. The play will be performed in Paris on June 1 and  2. See you in February 2025 in Verviers, Belgium, for the next Jesuit week!