When the first Jesuits came to Lucerne in 1574, they founded a college. This school is considered the origin of the theological faculty and thus of the University of Lucerne. Today, the imposing Jesuit Church of St. Francis Xavier in the heart of the city testifies to the importance of the Jesuits for Lucerne. A conversation with the current rector of the Jesuit Church, Father Hansruedi Kleiber SJ.

450 years of Jesuits in Lucerne – this anniversary is anything but a given. The living conditions in Lucerne were so miserable for the first Jesuit priests after their arrival that they almost left the city again. But history took a different course and this year the Jesuits can look back on their 450-year history in Lucerne.

The Provincial of the Jesuits in Central Europe, Father Thomas Hollweck SJ, also travelled from Munich for the occasion. Together with Father Hansruedi Kleiber SJ, Prefect of the Jesuit Church of St. Francis Xavier in the heart of Lucerne, and Father Christian Rutishauser SJ, newly appointed Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Lucerne, Father Hollweck celebrated a festive mass.

In keeping with the high value placed on church music at the Jesuit Church in Lucerne, this special service was accompanied by Giacomo Puccini's "Messa di Gloria". Pascal Mayer conducted the Collegium Musicum Lucerne and its choir. After 14 years of service at the Jesuit Church, he is retiring and was bid farewell during the celebratory service. The churchgoers, an audience of lovers of religious music and friends of the Jesuits, gave Pascal Mayer a standing ovation.