Kircher Network

Jesuit university leaders from across the globe to gather in Bogotá to discern the future of Jesuit higher education in response to the world’s greatest challenges

Loyola University hosted a working session at its Seville campus with rectors and senior leaders from the institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Africa and Madagascar (AJCU-AM). These sessions built on prior meetings held throughout 2024 in the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo, Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Zimbabwe, which gradually shaped a group of institutions aroundan initial proposal of collaboration. The program provided a space to exchange ideas about the structure of the group,identify priority areas for collaboration, and explore funding opportunities for joint international projects.

A year ago, two very close universities, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, and Universidad Loyola, España, accepted a stimulating challenge to compare the best practices of their partnerships’ offices. Later, a more interesting approach got the best of us and we decided that we should also ask other partners to share their best practices with us. Thus, we contacted 25 universities and gathered the answers of 15 of them. Indeed, this is by no means an exhaustive analysis, however, this exercise was very insightful and most definitely strengthened our relationship between us and with them. Let us share with you the data and our conclusions.

In July, Universidad Loyola Andalucía's Faculty of Theology, in collaboration with the Kircher Network, organized a study week on Christian-Muslim relations in Granada. Personal reflections from participants and professor Jaime Flaquer, SJ, highlighted how the week deepened their understanding of history, enriched their appreciation for religious diversity, and fostered meaningful intercultural exchange.

Since 2018, international relations administrators of the Mexican Jesuit Universities (SUJ, in Spanish) have hosted a Pre-NAFSA get-together, and last year, based on the success of the SUJ reception and building on this strength of experience, they came up with a proposal to extend an invitation to all the international relations administrators of the IAJU universities attending NAFSA

Last month, from June 12 to 23, the University of San Francisco, Loyola Andalucía University and the Baraka Center carried out the faculty led program "Crossing Borders, Changing Lives: Migrants at the Spain Morocco Border", held in Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Nador (Morocco).