The first Jesuit community college, Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago, is scheduled to open in August. The college will provide students with the same liberal arts core curriculum classes offered at the university, but at a more affordable cost, according to Fr Stephen Katsouros SJ, Arrupe College’s dean and executive director.
At our annual meeting with Fr General in Rome this month, the six Jesuit Conference presidents identified significant strategies that are bearing fruit for greater solidarity among Jesuits and our colleagues globally, and planned new cooperative measures. Since the primary goal of conferences concerns mission, we dealt with questions such as restructuring of governance arrangements, solidarity in sharing resources across the Society, cooperation in the formation of Jesuits and promotion of studies in Ignatian spirituality.
Pope Francis has appointed Fr Robert J Geisinger SJ Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this role, Fr Geisinger will serve as the Vatican’s chief prosecutor and is charged with investigating canon-law offences that are regarded as being the most serious, including crimes against the sanctity of the Eucharist, violations of the seal of confession and allegations of the abuse of minors by clergy.
Fr Geisinger takes over from Fr Robert W Oliver, who has been appointed Secretary to the Vatican Commission for the Safeguarding of Minors.
America magazine, a Jesuit publication in the United States, has launched The Living Word: Scripture in the Life of the Church, a two-year, multi-platform project in collaboration with the American Bible Society aimed at promoting deeper engagement with the Bible.
Fr Bob Gilroy SJ has led arts-based Ignatian retreats around the country ever since he discovered the connection between art and prayer while lying in a hospital bed awaiting a kidney transplant at age 24. Now 54 years old, Fr Gilroy works at Bread of Life Ministries in Sacramento, Calif., training spiritual directors to use art in their ministry.
In his recent visit to the United States, Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ, superior general of the Society of Jesus, met for the first time with all presidents and board of trustee chairs of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the country. During this historic meeting at Loyola University Chicago on October 11, Fr Nicolás shared his thoughts on how the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Society of Jesus) can inspire the presidents’ and chairs’ leadership of their institutions today.
Chances are, when Fr Thomas W Worcester SJ is not teaching or speaking about religious history, he’s writing about it. Fr Worcester, a professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, is editor of two best-sellers and currently at work on a comprehensive reference book The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the Jesuits.
Ignatian News Network provides a behind-the-scenes look at Hearts on Fire, an Ignatian retreat programme for young adults, which is offered by the Apostleship of Prayer in the United States. The day and a half retreat, for single or married people aged 18 to 39, is led by young Jesuit priests and scholastics. In this experience, the retreatants are led through the Spiritual Exercises and are given one-hour guided meditations.
Two American Jesuits recently discussed the genius of the Spiritual Exercises in an interview with America magazine. Fr Roger Haight SJ and Fr James Martin SJ recently published books on the Exercises. Fr Haight’s book, “Christian Spirituality for Seekers”, was published this summer, and Fr Martin’s “
The Jesuits of the New York Province have produced a six-part video series that recounts their history of service to the people of Micronesia and introduces some of the Jesuit works and apostolates there.
The Jesuits primarily serve in the parishes and schools in the states of Yap and Chuuk. Micronesia is part of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific.