On the occasion of the official visit to the Congregation for Culture and Education, the Rector of the University of Deusto, Juan José Etxeberria SJ, accompanied by the Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Francisco José Ruiz Pérez SJ, had the opportunity to be received in private audience by Pope Francis on April 8. The purpose of this meeting was to inform the Pope about the current situation of the University, the challenges Deusto faces as a Church institution in the academic sphere, and the university community that constitutes our mission. When the Rector asked what message he would convey ..read more

Father Stanisław Majcher, a Jesuit from the Retreat House in Zakopane, serves as a chaplain at the penitentiary in Nowy Wiśnicz. As part of his ministry, he moderates formational meetings for prisoners. On April 20, another meeting took place, attended by several dozen inmates and a few volunteers from Krakow, Lodz, Rzeszow, Zywiec, Nowy Sacz, Lachowice, and Gdansk. The main topic of the meeting was loneliness and isolation in everyday life. It's worth noting that prisoners do not experience loneliness in the classical sense, as they are surrounded by fellow inmates. However, the question was ..read more

This summer, young adults can again discuss and reflect on ways to live sustainably at the "Eco Summer Camp". The one-week exchange focuses on socio-ecological transformation on a large scale and individual solutions on a small scale. The meeting will take place from August 18 to 25 at the Lassalle House in Switzerland and is under the motto "From wild consumption to responsible engagement" this year. "In concrete, personal terms, the revolution that the world needs often falls very hard for most people. Pure knowledge does not help to bring about great changes. That's the starting point of t ..read more

The traditional meeting of pilgrims to the Holy Land in recent years, promoted by the team of Jesuits and lay people who organise initiatives for young people and adults, took place at the end of March at the Schuster Sports Centre in Milan. “The aim of these meetings”, Fr Francesco Cavallini explains, “is to meet again the people with whom we have had such an important and profound experience, and at the same time to experience a moment of spiritual and biblical formation linked to current events, with particular reference to the situation in the Holy Land. The aim of this encounter is also ..read more

On April 12th, the VIII Ignatian Social Assembly took place at the Padre António Vieira University Center (CUPAV), where various Apostolic Works linked to the Society of Jesus or the Society itself with social and ecological activities gathered. The day began with a inspiring interpretation and recitation of poems by actress Lídia Franco. Mariana Rozeira, coordinator of the Social Apostolate Commission (CAS), then welcomed the entire assembly. Next, Sofia Marques, provincial coordinator of the Service for Protection and Care (SPC), guided the participants in an exercise of awareness of their ..read more

The Irish Jesuit Province intends Gardiner St Parish to become part of the neighbouring Pro-Cathedral Parish from 1 August 2024. The Church of St Francis Xavier would then cease to be a parish church and would revert to being a public church attached to the Jesuit religious community, as was the case before 1974. The Church of St Francis Xavier became a parish church only 50 years ago, in 1974, when Archbishop Dermot Ryan established Gardiner St Parish. Even without the status of being a parish church, St Francis Xavier’s will still provide public Masses, confessions, devotions, funerals, and ..read more

On April 10th, staff from the Jesuit European works in Brussels came together for their annual in-person gathering. The event brought together representatives from JESC (Jesuit European Social Centre), the JCEP (Jesuit Conference of European Provincials), JRS-Europe, Teachers of Religion at the European Schools and the Chapel for Europe.  Hosted by the Chapel for Europe, the meeting featured an introduction by Dalibor Renić SJ, President of JCEP, and a presentation by Bernd Günther SJ, Director of the Chapel for Europe. The topic of the presentation was the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises ..read more

The group of JCEP Provincial Eco-delegates had its first in-person meeting at the beautiful and welcoming Jesuit eco-spiritual centre Le Châtelard, near Lyon (France) on 11-14 April 2024. The group is formed by Eco-delegates appointed by the JCEP Provincials, in response to a request in early 2022 by Franck Janin sj (the then- President of JCEP), and started meeting online (once per trimester) in September 2022, under the coordination of the JCEP Social Delegate.  8 delegates were able to travel to Lyon, and 2 more joined the sessions online. The meeting counted also with the presences o ..read more

10 years ago, it was the war in Syria and Frans van der Lugt was killed in our old convent of Homs. A decade later, there are still a lot of traces both of the war and of Frans’ death. In the city, the impact of war is everywhere: a lot of buildings are unoccupied because residents has left (and continue to leave to avoid the crisis), entire parts of the city are only ruins, the old market nearby is still empty. But the traces of Frans’ death are the flowers on his tomb in our garden, the young people having a lot of activities in a place he founded, the groups doing hikes in the countryside ..read more

March 12 of each year, the anniversary of the canonization of Saint Francis Xavier, is the reference date for celebrating the Novena of Grace and for many pilgrims to come to the Sanctuary of Javier in what we know as Javieradas. And although the most numerous are those celebrated on weekends, the first on the Sunday after March 4 (beginning of the novena) and the second on the following Saturday, every day that the novena lasts there are groups of pilgrims who gather. come closer to participating in it. The first day, March 4, is the monastic Javierada, in which the monks of Leyre and La Oli ..read more