Society of Jesus

The recent gathering of the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) Board members at the General Curia in Rome, on March 25-26, 2024, marked a pivotal moment in the ongoing deliberations on the promotion of Jesuit Identity and Mission of Jesuit higher education institutions worldwide. With representatives from all regional networks, the meeting delved into crucial topics ranging from strategic planning to the promotion of Jesuit values in a rapidly changing world.

New conceptualizations such as "post-secularism" or "multiple secularities" have appeared in the academy, seeking to provide new approaches to understanding phenomena as diverse as the withdrawal of religion from the public sphere, the privatization of religion, the emergence of new forms of spirituality, fundamentalist violence, the emergence of more charismatic ways of experiencing religion, the decline in the communitarian and institutional practice or religious affiliation.

Last winter, students from Santa Clara University had the opportunity to visit the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE) as part of an immersion program from the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education that focused on Accompaniment and Intentional Communities in Quito, Ecuador.

We're excited to announce the "Making Hope Possible" conference, hosted by the Lassalle-Institut, Switzerland, from August 25-29, 2024. This event brings together engaged scholars and reflective practitioners to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and global injustice through transdisciplinary collaboration.

Faculty members from North American Universities are active participants in the task forces in the International Association of Jesuit Engineering Schools(IAJES). Four of the task forces are led by faculty from North America including Gail Baura from Loyola University Chicago, Allan Baez Morales from Santa Clara University, Aleksandar Zecevic from Santa Clara University and Bryan Ranger from Boston College who heads the Healthcare task force.

In a series of posts, we have shared with you some reflections on Jesuit university networks. In the first post, entitled “A vision on Jesuit University Networks,” we analyzed the context in which these networks have developed in recent decades and raised questions about their usefulness and the circumstances that make their creation desirable.

“From poetry to prose: Challenges to make networks work. The University Case” is the title of my talk that I had the honour of giving to the Jesuits of UNIJES during their annual meeting last March 2023.

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).