Youth anxiety induced by digital culture was the focus point of the meeting of the delegates for Young Adult Ministry and Vocation Promotion across the Jesuit provinces of Europe and the Near East, in Lužnica, near Zagreb, Croatia, from May 5 to 10. Together were 18 Jesuits from 16 countries, representing the diversity and shared mission of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials (JCEP). The topic of anxiety was introduced by Antun Volenik CRO, a practicing psychologist and a reflection sent by Nelson Faria POR. During the second day, YAM Delegates and Vocation Promoters worked in separated groups. YAM reflected on the short history of the network and ways of strengthening it, as well as the present and future possibilities for the Magis Europe Program. Promotors deepened the issues around anxiety through common reflection on cases and exchanged om the challenges of the mission of province vocation promoter. On Thursday, May 8, the group visited Zagreb’s city center, with a special stop at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, currently under reconstruction after the 2020 earthquake. Participants learned about the dynamic youth ministry taking place there, including moving testimonies from young people involved. A light-hearted moment followed with the surprise "election" of Pope Leo XIV, complete with white smoke, adding joy and humour to the day. That evening, all attended the weekly youth Mass at the city’s pastoral centre - a moment of communion and celebration. While these annual meetings are essential for strengthening interprovincial collaboration and fostering a common pastoral vision, their deepest fruit remains the fraternal encounter and spiritual companionship among Jesuits. Even in the face of linguistic and cultural differences, these connections nourish vocations and renew apostolic energy. The European Conference is grateful to the Croatian Province (especially to Mislav Skelin who was tireless with everything organisational), for their warm hospitality and inspiring witness.    

From May 20th-25th, sixteen Vocation Promoters and YAM (Young Adult Ministry) Coordinators from across Europe gathered in Gent, Belgium. Coordinated by the Conference of European Provincials (JCEP), the annual meeting is jointly organised by the Conference Steering Groups for Vocation Promotion and YAM. This year, the meeting was held at the historic and scenic Oude Abdij (“Old Abbey”), a retreat centre of the European Low Countries  Region (ELC) at Drongen, near Gent. The four days spent together were a time of spiritual conversation, mutual learning and enrichment, and deepening of the call of the Lord to the Society in Europe today. The keynote speaker was Sofi van Ussel, Director of Interdiocesane Jeugddienst (IJD), the inter-diocesan youth service of the Flemish bishops. Mrs van Ussel shared with the group recent learnings from the work of IJD with youth and young adults in Flanders. The group also took a day to reflect and pray on relevant sections from the De Statu Societatis Iesu 2023 (DSS), promulgated by Fr General last year. There was time for sharing of vocation promotion strategies from across the provinces, and planning for the future. Not all was work, however. The delegates took the opportunity to visit the historic city of Gent on Thursday afternoon, see the local sights and taste local delicacies. The highlight of the afternoon was the visit to St Bavo’s Cathedral and contemplation of the famous 15th-century ‘Gent Altarpiece’, the ‘Adoration of the Mystical Lamb’ by the van Eyck brothers. Past met future as the group had the privilege of a special Virtual Reality (VR) presentation of the history and meaning of the piece. In the closing mass to the meeting, Fr Dalibor Renic, President of the CEP, highlighted the tension faced by young people today between being at the margins of society, yet looking outwards, and being at the centre. This tension between being drawn outwards and being at the centre is a characteristic of the Jesuit vocation as well. As the vocations promoters and YAM coordinators returned to their respective provinces and ministries, there was a renewed sense of hope in the mission of the Society to young people and prospective Jesuits in Europe today.

Insights from the joint meeting of Vocation Promoters and Young Adult Ministry delegates European Jesuit vocation promoters and young adult ministry co-ordinators met in Rome last week for our annual meeting. Like all good Jesuit meetings, it started with prayer and what followed was a fruitful blend of business and pleasure.  Small groups and plenary sessions allowed for good sharing of best practices, i.e. “we tried this and it worked!” Charlie and Fonfo presented the fruits of several years of investment by the Spanish Province in vocation promotion. Their vocations website www.serjesuita.es is an exemplar of how to communicate with young men who have vocational questions. The three sections, Know, Discern and Choose provide the information and resources that enquirers need at every step of the journey, and the website also makes communication with the vocation promoters easy. The website is already serving as a template that other Provinces are following. The dynamic Iberian duo are also certain that having two Jesuits working together as a team multiplies their creativity and fruitfulness.  We had an excellent sharing on the ministry of the Spiritual Exercises with young people. Jesuits are being very creative in this ministry, packaging the Spiritual Exercises in various ways that also meet other pastoral needs such as catechesis, personal development, and contact with nature. Some Provinces want to make the Exercises available to more young people while others, like St. Ignatius, are trying to be more discerning and selective about who they give the Exercises to and for what reason.  We all agreed that it makes sense for vocation promoters and young adult ministers to meet together. Many of us are actively involved in both fields and there is a lot of overlap in our work. During the meeting it became apparent that we also benefit from talking about the shared context of our work. Young people are simultaneously living in two realities: the physical world and the digital world. For them, growing up in the eras of liquid modernity or liquid post-modernity, has meant growing up in societies which are increasingly unmoored from the natural world, from dependable family and social ties, and from faith communities. Understandably, many young people now experience significant personal insecurities and doubts. We Jesuits want to help them find the human, spiritual and religious foundations and points of reference which, for the longest time, most people have taken for granted.  UAP 2 has set the Society of Jesus on a course of creating a hope-filled future for young people. I sensed a lot of hope in this group – a generative and energetic hope which keeps us moving outward and forward. Let us continue to have great hopes for our young people and great Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.    Niall Leahy 

From 16 to 21 May, a new type of Combined Meeting took place in Piestany Slovakia. Together, the Network of Vocation Promoters and the new Commission that will take care of the coordinated work of the Youth Apostolate, short YAM, met.   We had representatives from all over Europe. Some of us were so-called hybrid members, representing both groups at the same time. Both, the president of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials Fr. Franck Janin and his Assistant, Fr. Herminio Rico who oversaw and helped steering the process and the discernment in the group were both there. The purpose of this meeting was to form a common vision and approach in our work with young people.   The meeting was both educational and practical. For two days we heard from two non-Jesuit speakers who offered their expertise in the areas of youth psychology and strategic planning of pastoral care with young people. The first area was presented by a Slovak speaker, Dr Jana Vindiseva.  The second area and model of work was presented by Dr. Danny Curtin from Great Britain. Both presentations either refreshed our knowledge or contributed for new possible perspectives and spaces to our work. The third day was devoted to prayer, reflection and sharing in the light of what we had heard. In small groups we had the opportunity to talk, not only about the content of the lectures, but also about personal experiences and challenges. This added a new dimension to our gathering, namely the search for possibilities of cooperation and networking in the future.  In the afternoon of the third day, we went to visit the Red Stone Castle of Trnava, for a short city tour and dinner. In the final day we made an evaluation of the meeting and saw which good things we were taking with us. We also looked at initiatives that were presented to us, MAG+S Croatia 2022 and MAG+S Portugal 2023. We also looked at a development of the new Global Youth Network that will connect our worldwide experiences and establish new connections and collaboration. From the meeting an initiative arose for a more coordinated work with Erasmus students as much as searching for the way of mutual support, both on a personal and institutional level. The group has looked into a possibility of an eventual new common meeting, and the majority of the participants saw this a good and useful idea. The next meeting will make it possible for both groups to meet separately at the same location which will allow also for a common meeting. There was a strong shred feeling of gratefulness for the possibility of a real meeting rather then Zoom. Stronger bonds can be connected in a time spent together, learning, working, sharing, planning and socializing.  A great thank goes to our hosts, the Slovak province, for the hard work of preparation, service and dedication which made this meeting possible.    

In the JCEP there are already networks that gather people who work pastorally with youth, but each dealing with one area or aspect of that work. There was a need for looking at, reflecting, and promoting, at a higher level, all apostolate directed to young adults. It is a demand that comes directly from the Universal Apostolic Preferences. Not just from the third one – accompanying young people – but from each of the other, too: the care for our common home is something of particular interest to young people, they are the ones who are going live in it; poverty and exclusion affects in the direst ways the young; as they search for meaning in their lives they need to be shown the way to God. After a decision by the Major Superior of the Conference, on February 10th, in a meeting online, a new network formally started. It gathers the Coordinators/Delegates for Young Adult Ministry from each Province. It is not so much a group to do things, but a forum to share information about and evaluate all that is going on, to support each other in this common mission, to think and discern together in a space of mutual inspiration, to develop greater coordination and maybe to plan some joint actions. The mission and identity of the group will be deepened and clarified progressively, as it will look for a clearer definition of what a Jesuit Young Adult Ministry should look like today. A Steering Committee is in the process of being formed to assume the responsibility of moving forward this new JCEP Network. Herminio Rico sj. – JCEP Socius