Fourteen Jesuits gathered from the various provinces of the European Conference for the annual meeting of Spirituality Delegates which, this year, took place in the beautiful city of Gydnia on the Baltic Sea, in the Ignacjanskie Centrum Formacji Duchowej. Under the guidance of Robert Bujak, Bruno Brantschen, and Arnaud de Rolland, the topic to be addressed at the meeting was What difference does Christ make in today’s context (different spiritualities, secularisation, war)? For the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials, the network of spirituality delegates plays a vital role in strengthening shared reflection, collaboration and discernment across provinces. By connecting local experiences to a wider European horizon, it helps the Society respond more deeply and coherently to contemporary challenges.

To start Day 1 the question was posed, what is the meaning of Christ in my life and spirituality as a Jesuit?  In response, our personal prayer, spiritual conversation, and plenary session provided us with the foundation and platform on which our subsequent engagement rested.  Later on Day 1, Aaron Pidel SJ (Gesu, Rome) spoke to us online, addressing the question, what difference does Christ make in the context of the “three P’s” (populism, polarisation, postfactualism), introducing and situating the disturbances of today’s world context onto the setting of our foundations.

On Day 2 we focused on the local Polish context.  August 15, 2026 marks the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the dividing of Poland into two Jesuit provinces. So it was fitting that Robert Danieluk SJ, archivist (Warsaw), spoke to us on the Polish historical context - Jesuits in Poland: the missing link of the Society’s history.  Focusing on 1773-1814 - the period of the Suppression of the Society, - Robert outlined to us a “missing link” in the Suppression’s story where the enactment of the Suppression (by proclamation in each house of the Society), well-known not to have occurred in Russia, also did not take place in Gydnia or in various other Jesuit houses elsewhere in Poland. Later on Day 2, Mr Zbigniew Nosowski, sociologist and theologian, spoke on the the context of society and the church in Poland in recent years.  With the setting now firmly set, Frederic Fornos SJ then addressed us on the topic: How does today’s context affect the way of giving the Spiritual Exercises? which provided us with the opportunity to share together on the concrete initiatives devised and tried in each province in adapting the SpExs to each province’s own contextual challenges.

On Day 3 we drew together the various threads and the “music of the Spirit” we had gleaned over the previous days, which drawing together was palpable for the unity that we individually felt in Christ, and as his companion brothers in His Society, the difficulties of the present cultural circumstances notwithstanding. 

Dalibor Renic SJ, President of the European Conference, spoke to us on The Mission of the Society in Europe and he briefed us on other matters that are current on his desk. James Hanvey SJ, Secretary for Faith, encouraged us to continue creating ‘spaces of encounter’ – with Christ, with self – in a world marked by nihilism, saying,  “Don’t look back but go forward in the Spirit, not by power but by (the power of) holiness, by refusing to engage with the enemy on the enemy’s terms.”

Terry Howard, Bruno Brantschen, and Janez Poljansek were appointed as organising committee for the next meeting of the delegates which will take place in Ireland from Monday January 18 (6pm) to Friday January 22 (9am) 2026 at the Manresa Retreat House, Dublin. The topic is yet to be decided.

Finally, we extend a word of deep gratitude to Robert Bujak who was a wonderful host to us, to the SJ’s of Gdynia who looked after us so well over the days of our meeting, and to the staff of the Ignacjanskie Centrum Formacji Duchowej.

Thank you for your care of us!

Terry Howard SJ HIB