Although St Ignatius of Loyola is considered the founder of the Jesuits, he was not alone. The Society of Jesus was established by a group of men – St Ignatius and six of his friends, known as the First Companions.
This was the premise behind the social media campaign called “Primi Patres” launched by young Indonesian scholastics to introduce the first Jesuit fathers to their followers on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Scholastics Agustinus Lanang Panji Cahyo SJ and Albertus Alfian Ferry Setiawan SJ, first year philosophy students in Jakarta, spent a week researching the information to be included in the campaign. Another scholastic, Teilhard Aurobindo Soesilo SJ, translated the materials into English for wider circulation.
“The biggest challenge for me was how to transform or translate the materials from boring written information into attractive and eye-catching graphics,” shared Scholastic Tomas Becket SJ, who initiated the campaign and is part of the Indonesian Province’s vocation promotions team. The graphic design underwent four revisions by the team before they were finally released.
To maximise its impact, “Primi Patres” was launched alongside two other projects, “One-Minute Jesuit” done by the province’s communication team, and a reflection series made by young Jesuits, which were posted on the province’s social media channels thrice a week throughout Lent.
“By working on these materials, we hope our social media platforms can be a source of information on Jesuit history that may not be known by many of our followers. We know that history can sometimes be forgotten if it is not retold. By adapting the information into infographics, we hope our followers will be encouraged to read the full text from the printed sources,” shared Scholastic Becket, who said that working on the campaign has also helped him get to know the first Jesuits better.
“We hope this campaign will reach those who want to know deeper the Society of Jesus, especially the youth. As indicated by our Universal Apostolic Preferences, we have to accompany young people in understanding the history of our Society. It doesn’t mean that we understand better than them, but we can walk together to absorb the wisdom of the Jesuits’ founding fathers,” he added.
“Primi Patres” features 10 of the earliest Jesuits, namely Ignatius Loyola, Diego Laynes, Nicholas Bobadilla, Paschasë Broët, Jean Codure, Francis Xavier, Peter Faber, Claude de Jay, Alfonso Salmerón, and Simão Rodrigues.
The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific will be releasing the English version of “Primi Patres” in its social media channels in the run up to the launching of Ignatian Year next month.
As we commemorate 500 years since St Ignatius’ conversion, we hope that young people today can draw inspiration from the diverse backgrounds, strengths, and weaknesses of the first Jesuits, who aspired to share the love of Christ, help others, and seek God in all things.