On June 24-25, 2024, the Ignatianum University in Krakow hosted the International Seminar “Cultural Heritage: Spiritual and Material of the Jesuits of Krakow and Małopolska – Studies (Romania, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Israel, Ukraine, Germany, Poland)”. The event was organized as part of the “Regional Excellence Initiative” program.

During the Seminar, there was a presentation of the project Digitization of the Archives of the Society of Jesus in Krakow and other projects concerning the cultural heritage of the Jesuits and implemented by the Center for Research on the Cultural Heritage of the Jesuits of Krakow and Małopolska.

Prof. Marian Ciuca (Romania) gave a lecture on the origins of the Moldavian Jesuit Mission, outlining the context of the 17th and 18th centuries. He spoke about the reception of the mission by the local population and Moldavian officials, including Orthodox priests. In both presentations, he referred to sources in Italian and Latin.

During the symposium, the issue of the situation of foreign students and professors in the 19th and 20th centuries in the Jesuit schools of Małopolska was raised (dr Krzysztof Homa SJ). The travels of the Jesuits in Bukovina, Moldavia and Transylvania were discussed (prof. Marian Ciuca (Bucharest) continued; Henryk Urban SJ (Bucharest)). Irina Putrienko, Br. Damian Wojciechowski SJ, Fr. Remigiusz Kalski SJ focused on documents testifying to the activities of the Jesuits and found in the archives of Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia.