At the end of EJIF 2024 in Denmark, we are grateful for everything that happened in these two weeks. It was, for all the delegates, a time of grace, getting to know a new social and ecclesial reality, as well as to know the presence of the Society of Jesus in the danish context. But for all of us, the great gift of this meeting was the opportunity to work, pray and be together between young jesuits of all around europe.

The first part of the meeting took place in Copenhagen. While we spent the nights in a hostel in the city center, during the day we met in the Jesuit community, where we were warmly welcomed by Fr. Wojciech Nowak and Fr. Daniel Noorgard. The president of JCEP, Dalibor Renić, accompanied the group during the first days of the meeting.

These first days were marked by three meetings. Daniel explained the reality of the Church and the Society of Jesus in the Danish context (including a guided tour of the city). Then it was time to meet the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Denmark, Rikke Jull. The focus of this meeting was, on the one hand, to get to know the Danish Lutheran Church and, on the other, to understand how collaboration between the two Churches takes place - with a special focus on the importance of Ignatian spirituality. Finally, we met the young adults from CAYAC (Catholic Association of Young Adults in Copenhagen), with whom we were able to informally share dinner. Throughout these days, there were also many moments to spend time, pray and share with each other.

 For the second part, we went to Maribo, where we made our Spiritual Exercises, guided by Fr. Roman Groszewski (PMA), with the help of Fr. János Lukács (HUN) and Fr. Andrea Bonavita (EUM). The retreat took place at Sankt Birgitta Kloster, a brigidine monastery. In the days following the retreat, there was a day of relaxation - riding a cayac around the lake of Maribo or visiting the local museum - and a day to evaluate the meeting, electing the new CoCo (Coordination Committee).

 Not just the preparation but also the EJIF (one of the oldest and maybe most successful networks in the JCEP) as a whole is a beautiful experience of the International Society, allowing the collaboration between jesuits of different Provinces and cultures.

Being a rather secularized culture, where it wasn't easy to find the normal conditions for an encounter of this kind, we were a little reticent, while trusting that the Lord would provide everything that was needed. And so we jokingly said that “it's all part of the experience”. The truth is that this phrase took on a spiritual tone when we realized that we were always very well received and that the meeting went very well - and that this positive surprise was also “part of the experience”.

As we had Saint Bridget of Sweden as our patron saint, we say one last time:

Saint Bridget, pray for us!

EJIF CoCO

Joseph Ashraf SJ,

Jakub Majchrzak SJ,

Vasco Lucas Pires SJ