From September 16 to 18, the first JCEP Consult of this apostolic year took place at the JCEP Office in rue des Trévires 3, Brussels. Presently, the members of the consult are Shane Daly SJ (HIB), Attila András SJ (HUN), Ronny Alessio SJ (EUM), and Gonzalo Villagrán SJ as JCEP Socius. Half the members were new in the office so there has been an important renewal in the Consult this year. The consultors met with the JCEP President, Dalibor Renić SJ, to address several issues regarding the present moment of the Conference. They were joined by Francisco José Ruiz SJ, President of the Deusto University Board of Trustees, who is facilitating the drawing of the new apostolic plan for the Conference.

During this meeting, the JCEP Consult addressed different issues like a new job description for the Conference Formation Delegate, the commission on the new guidelines for Superiors and Directors of Works, healthcare solidarity among provinces, personnel needs at the Conference, the schedule of the next General Assembly, and the 2027 JCEP budget. A significant amount of time was dedicated to planning the process for drafting the 2027–2032 Apostolic Plan, which will start at the next General Assembly in Dublin in October. This process is conceived as a time of spiritual conversation and discernment in common among provincials, as was the case with the last apostolic plan.

The Consult of the JCEP, like any provincial consult, is a space of discernment within a small human group where the main apostolic challenges and initiatives in the Conference are read together—seeking God’s will in them—in order to offer advice to the JCEP President. Many of these issues are then brought to the General Assembly of Provincials for confirmation and final approval. The Consult is composed of the provincials acting as moderators in each of the three Assistancies in the Conference (Western Europe, Central-Eastern Europe, and Southern Europe) plus the Socius of the JCEP, who are called and gathered by the JCEP President.