As the Society of Jesus continues to deepen collaboration across provincial and regional boundaries in Europe, a gathering of younger Jesuits in Drongen, Belgium, offered an important opportunity for shared discernment. The retreat brought together Jesuits from Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Flanders to reflect on how they might respond together to the needs and calls emerging across Western Europe.

The gathering was part of the wider Common Mission process, seeking to strengthen the bonds of friendship, collaboration and availability for mission among Jesuits across the region. We share below the account published by the Jesuits in Britain, which offers a closer look at the retreat, its discernment process and the priorities identified by participants for the future of Jesuit mission in Western Europe.

Sixty Jesuits from Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Flanders gathered at the Old Abbey of Drongen, Belgium, from 6–15 July to discern a common mission for Western Europe.

The retreat was part of a broader process to strengthen collaboration among provinces under the name Common Mission. It brought together the ten youngest Jesuits from the British and Irish Provinces and the European Low Countries Region, alongside the thirty youngest from the larger French-speaking Western European Province. The Provincial and Regional Superiors of all four participating provinces and regions also joined them.

The gathering was held in response to an invitation from Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, to explore how Jesuits might work more closely across provincial boundaries. At the heart of the retreat was the question: “What calls do we hear in Western Europe that would help us deepen our common service of Christ’s mission?”

Fr Phil Harrison SJ, one of the British Jesuits taking part, described the retreat as the latest step in a process of closer collaboration that has been developing over recent decades, including shared formation, deeper friendships and greater availability for mission across Western Europe.

Many of the younger Jesuits taking part already knew one another through shared formation, including time spent together as novices in Birmingham and undertaking their first studies at Facultés Loyola, the Jesuit college in Paris.

Each day combined individual prayer, spiritual conversation and plenary sessions around the core question: what are we called to do together? Reflecting on the process, Fr Phil said: “Just as the individual prayer of the Spiritual Exercises shapes a deep personal desire to serve Christ, so too can spiritual conversation form a common desire.”

The discussions identified several priorities for future collaboration, including strengthening Jesuit community life, developing closer relationships with partners in mission and building on successful work with young people. Participants also highlighted the need for a stronger response to the environmental crisis and to poverty across Europe.

The retreat builds on the international character of the Society of Jesus and a long tradition of Jesuits being available for mission beyond the boundaries of their own provinces. Participants explored how greater interprovincial collaboration could strengthen this existing way of working in Western Europe.

At the conclusion of the retreat, the Provincial and Regional Superiors committed to remaining attentive to the voices of younger Jesuits and to building on existing collaboration, including their call for greater mobility and closer cooperation between provinces and regions.