The Kircher Network (the network of Higher Education Institutions in of the Society of Jesus in Europe and the Near East) was born with the aim of a new and deeper mutual exchange of gifts of the kind that St. Ignatius evokes at the end of his Spiritual Exercises. 


With this aim in mind, the Presidents and Rectors from the member Faculties and Universities will meet this year in Innsbruck, Austria, from the 7^th to the 9^th of July.

The meeting will focus on several different topics, all of which are relevant to our institutions, the wider Jesuit family, the Church, and the world. Having said this, the two main areas of the meeting will be:

• The official foundation of the network: institutions will freely commit to building this international and multicultural body by signing the statutes. By strengthening and stabilizing our union with special concern for each other we will be able to render our service more fruitful.
  
  
• The Universal Apostolic Preferences: with the official launching of the UAPs, institutions from the Kircher Network will discern how they can work together to respond to the call of the Spirit. There are many possible routes to take so having an honest and discerning conversation around the 4 final preferences will be useful to guide the activity of the network for the next 10 years.

The other topics that will receive attention during the meeting will be: the Higher Education for Social Transformation programme (HEST), the Pakistan Project, the correct functioning of the network, and several others.

If you are interested in learning more about the Kircher Network and its activity you are invited to regularly check the newly launched website of the network.

Concurrently, this year, the University of Innsbruck will be celebrating its 350^th anniversary. This feat should not to be understated for a few institutions of Higher Education have only been able to attain it.