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 100th 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

Spirituality delegates from twelve of the sixteen European Provinces held their 2025 annual meeting at the Lassalle-Haus at Bad Schoenbrunn near Zug in Switzerland between 20th and 24th January. They were joined by Dalibor Renic, President of JCEP, and James Hanvey, Secretary for the Service of Faith at the Curia in Rome. The meeting was organized by the steering committee (José de Pablo SJ, ESP, Robert Bujak SJ, PMA, and Bruno Brantschen SJ, ECE). The main purpose of this meeting was to consider how the first Universal Apostolic Preference, “Showing the Way to God”, could be of service to, and help further develop, the other three. As a prelude to this, the delegates shared their impressions of how the thirst for God was currently expressing itself in the hearts of our contemporaries in Europe. It was clear that over the last two decades the effects of secularisation and consumerism were being widely felt across the continent. Although this made the context of our ministries challenging, it also meant that we European Jesuits had more in common than was the case at the end of the twentieth century. Our discussion of the influence of spirituality in work related to each of the other preferences was introduced with presentations, by Jesuits and the partners in mission with whom they collaborate, of relevant apostolic projects of the Central European Province. For the second UAP, “Walking with the Excluded”, we looked at the Ukama Centre in Nuremburg and its offer of “church asylum” to refugees. For the third, “Journeying with Youth”, with its focus on fostering the creation of a hope-filled future, at the Vocation Campus and “Zukunftswerkstatt” in Frankfurt, deepening the faith of young people and those who work with them; and for the fourth, “Caring for our Common Home”, at an eco-summer-camp held at the Lassalle-Haus itself, which brings together students and older activists. Each of these projects draws deeply on the resources of Ignatian spirituality and, as the meeting’s discussions made clear, each approach also has something to offer those involved in the more specialised spirituality ministries of the Society. As well as the shared prayer and socialising common in these gatherings, the delegates were introduced to the “spiritual architecture” of the Lassalle-Haus, and the place that Zen mindfulness plays in its programme. Dalibor Renic offered an outline of some of the developments taking place in Europe, and the current concerns of the other JCEP networks, and James Hanvey posed, as a thought experiment, the question of how our work would be different in a world without Christ. On the final evening we met with other members of the resident Jesuit community, and were treated to a meal of “raclette”, a cheese-based Swiss speciality.   In offering the UAPs as a contemporary expression of the Jesuit mission, Pope Francis had spoken of the first of them as fundamental, giving shape to the others. At the closing session, it was felt that this had been clearly demonstrated. The delegates returned to their own Provinces keen to collaborate more fully with those Jesuits and our partners in mission whose work focuses more on the other UAPs, convinced that such collaboration had much to offer our single universal mission.   Paul Nicholson SJ (BRI)