From July 8 to 10, the Educsi Educational Meeting was held at the University of Deusto (Bilbao). EDUCSI is the apostolic Sector of the Province of Spain for primary and secondary education. EDUCSI is composed of different educational foundations gathering the different schools of the province. This biennial meeting, in its 36th edition, brought together more than 300 leaders and educators from the network of Jesuit schools from the Province of Spain and Portugal (the schools from the Portuguese Province also participated in the meeting).

Under the theme “An identity that is re-created through dialogue,” this edition continued the theme of the network's recent meetings: a reflection on the identity of a Catholic school, a Jesuit school. This time, the approach was from the perspective of dialogue: “An invitation to reach out to others, to the other, to the Other,” in the words of the Jesuit Education Delegate, Jaime Badiola SJ.

A conference to create identity and build mission

Many questions were raised over those days: What did it mean to be a Catholic school in 2025? What did Ignatian education contribute to this historic moment? How could participants share their mission and collaborate across their differences?

However, the proposal for dialogue was not intended as a minimal consensus, but rather as a profound exercise in listening, openness, and joint recreation of identity and mission. Therefore, it was addressed over the course of those days from three perspectives: identity, evangelization, and governance.

Summary of the 3 days of EDUCSI Educational Conference 

• Day 1 – Educate is to look, understand, and commit
  María Luisa Berzosa FI inspired participants with the idea that truly educating means looking deeply, listening with empathy, and committing courageously. Jesuit leaders emphasized that education is relational and dialogical, not directive, stressing the need for Ignatian spirituality to engage with today’s cultural challenges rather than escape them.

• Day 2 – Sharing the gift in post-Christian times
  Fr. Daniel Huang, SJ reflected on faith in a secular and plural world—highlighting that while Christendom has ended, Christianity remains alive through humble witness. He invited educators to share faith not by wielding power, but as a gift, using Ignatian models of evangelization such as dialogue, accompaniment, and evangelizing through presence.

• Day 3 – An identity re-created through dialogue
  In the closing session, Fr. Francisco José Ruiz, SJ spoke about “discernment in common”—encouraging communities to prayerfully navigate change together, guided by the Spirit. A business leader then called for ethical and inclusive leadership in the AI era. The final message emphasized that dialogue fosters shared identity and mission rooted in Ignatian faith and adaptability.

Ultimately, those days were a meeting place and much more: they also sought to revitalize and strengthen shared identity, with the hope that this momentum would have a real impact in the classroom.