“Mapping” of the Province of France of the Society of Jesus and its Alumni/ae Associations
The Province of France
1. Yesterday:
One could almost say that the Society of Jesus was already in France, “in embryo” before its official birth, when “the first six companions” led by Ignace, then all students at the University in Paris, came on August 15, 1534, from the « Quartier Latin » where they studied, to the hill of Montmartre1: there, in a chapel dedicated to the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis2, they met and took upon themselves the solemn vows of their lifelong work, during a Mass celebrated by Pierre Favre, the only priest amongst them.
2. Today:
478 years after this event and after some political hurdles in the 18th century3 and in the early 20th century4, the Society of Jesus is still there. Back in France, in the realm of the “Sacred Union” of the First World War, 650 Jesuits returned from exile. Many enrolled in the Army and 163 lost their lives. The Province of France was legally recognized in 2001 by an official decree: today it includes the “Hexagon”, Greece, North Africa, Mauritius and Reunion. It is associated with other Western European provinces i.e. North & South Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Malta, as well as English & French Canada and the Middle East. It is also part of the Conference of European Provincials5. This “Apostolic space” is, in many respects, European “because, as stated by a former Provincial, to think and act as apostolic Europeans is not a choice that would more or less ensue from options or beliefs: it is a necessity if we want to meet, as European Jesuits, issues faced by a fragile and uncertain Europe, present in the world and in the Church, confronted with expectations and hopes commensurate to its history.” The Jesuits of the Province of France6 work in increasingly diversified apostolates.
Firstly, the educational apostolate: 15 schools (Amiens, Avignon, Bordeaux, Le Mans, Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Reims, Saint-Chamond, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse and Versailles) whose leaders joined, since 2008, in a national association, Association Ignatius LoyolaEducation. Reporting to a Jesuit national team, the manager, now a full-time secular employee is appointed by the Provincial. Training in Ignatian pedagogy (for the staff of these institutions) is, in turn, provided by a specialized organization, the Ignatian Centre for Educational Studies. The Jesuits are also present in higher education: in addition to St. Genevieve High School (Versailles), on 3 French sites (Lille, Nantes and Toulouse), at the Institut Catholique des Arts et Métiers (ICAM) for engineers and soon, after its international development in Africa, India and Poland, a fourth site will open in the Paris area (Paris-Sénart). The Jesuits are also present in the School of Engineering Purpan (Toulouse) for executives and managers. Finally, they are present as chaplains in a number of high schools (Ecole Centrale, Ecole Polytechnique, HEC, ESSEC, Institut d’Etudes Politiques …). A support centre for students of the University of Paris 8 – was created: it represents 27,000 students of which 27% are foreigners and 50% of are French nationals with a foreign origin the CISED.
The Province also organized another network, the Loyola Training network, that consolidates four vocational training centres, three schools, networks of associations supporting the education of underprivileged youth, Youth Education Associations and associations to support parents and young people. They are also present in various apostolic movements amongst young people, Eucharistic Youth Movement, the Ignatian Youth Network, that, amongst others, take part in Sunday liturgical celebrations mainly for young people, “the Mass takes its time “… Jesuits also work in centres to complement the human and spiritual training of students in medicine and / or pharmacy such as in the Centre Laennec Paris, the House of Catholic Students Lyon, the Medical Cultural
Centre Augustin Fabre (Marseille). Finally, the Province runs a volunteer service, Youth Volunteers International, that hosts students and young professionals from abroad for periods of 4 months to 2 years, under the auspices of the Catholic Delegation for Cooperation: their mission is to serve the poor in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Mid- dle East, mission during which they may receive spiritual guidance provided by Jesuits …
The Province is quite happy with this educational aposto- late focused on the youth, thanks to which it gained the reputation of “expert” in human and spiritual education! The Province now wishes to assume this mission and to share it with lay associates (including alumni) and with other congregations, male or female.
This ministry is not the only one to absorb the resources of the Province of France that does not renew itself fast enough, as is the case in other countries, in view of the high demand for educational services from the Society by the Church of France and other countries.
Number of Jesuits are also engaged in the intellectual apostolate. The dialogue with the society (Faith and Reason) takes place in a context of technological devel- opments, globalization, Internet and web applications. This apostolate covers various fields including culture, philosophy, ethics, society and of course, theology. It is implemented through magazines and publications such as Etudes / Studies (Culture), Christus (Ignatian spiritual- ity), Croire aujourd’hui / Believe Today (for the general public), all three published in partnership with Bayard Presse group
Following the decisions of the recent General Congrega- tions, the social apostolate has also developed through Ceras (Centre for Research and Social Action, in Saint Denis) and its publication, Project Magazine. A recent initiative of the Jesuit Service to the Refugees-France, is called Welcome. It aims at finding families or communi- ties that welcome refugees, providing an ecclesial pres- ence and mutual aid. This is increasingly necessary as more people from numerous countries seek asylum or protection or just work in our developed countries of Eu- rope and peace in Africa.
The Abidjan based Cerap (Centre for Research and Ac- tion for Peace) added to its two existing departments (a documentation center and a social welfare service in ur- ban areas) two new departments: Cerap publishing who publishes monthly Débats-Courrier d’Afrique de l’Ouest and the Institute for the dignity and human rights, rec- ognized private institution of higher education that has also trained postgraduate students, meeting “the needs of education and research, while maintaining strong Ig- natian values. ”
The spiritual apostolate is also a major priority amongst the activities of the Jesuits in France: between 500 and 600 people, men and women, lay and religious, are en- gaged alongside the Jesuits, in 14 Spiritual centres. The Apostleship of Prayer is a mission entrusted to the Society of Jesus by the Pope. It has been recognized by the Church since 1849 and it now operates in 71 coun- tries, in support of the so-called “new evangelization”. It encompasses the services to parishes (as priests), the Jesuit presence in popular environment (where they par- ticipate to local community life), or with prisoners. Let us also mention spiritual movements such as the Christian Life Community (CLC), the Movement of Christian lead- ers and managers (MCC).
The list of “missions” is far from being comprehensive. There are also amongst the Jesuits of the Province indi- vidual personalities and talents as artists, poets, scien- tists, researchers, jurists, writers, specialists in liturgy or even seafaring.
The above list continues to expand over the years in places where the Jesuit presence is required and de- sired. The last General Congregation confirmed the orientation towards these new “borders”, including the inter-religious dialogue, the presence amongst young or vulnerable people caught by poverty, lack of parental support or integration problems.
The dialogue is sometimes difficult in the new global so- ciety shaped by images transmitted in real time and by free and instant communication enabled by the Internet and its various applications. The province quickly adapt- ed to these new and continuously developing tools, so essential today: the Province has a site (www.jesuites. com), a Facebook page, a tweeter account, the site “Our Lady of the Web”, first French Ignatian spiritual centre on the internet, as well as applications for the new phones that “look more and more like computers,”. It is “a whole new world that emerges before our eyes and develops, while no one can predict whether it is taking sustainable course.”
The Alumni
The alumni have their own associative structures: at local level, Jesuit schools have their Alumni Associations7, to which one should add the alumni associations of institu- tions that are no longer managed by the Province or that were closed8 and the High Schools9. They are all gath- ered in a National Federation, the French Federation of Alumni and Friends of Jesuit schools that has, since its inception, been an active member of the European Con- federation and the World Union of Jesuit Alumni. It also hosts the Association of Alumni of Our Lady of Jamhour (Beirut Lebanon) living in France and in Europe. It is also a member of the French Confederation of Alumni and Friends of Catholic Education. The French Federation is currently seeking to connect these local associations with each other and through them, their members, using for this purpose the communication of today, Internet, to maintain the ties of friendship, to communicate about its activities or those of the various member associations, to exchange ideas and best practices about associative governance, to share plans, common concerns, to pool resources, to collaborate on initiatives, to provide infor- mation on the European congress and the world (includ- ing the Congress)
At the same time it contributes to serving the various above-mentioned ministries of the Province of France and, of course, that of the educational apostolate of the province, thereby participating to the implementation of the educational Ignatian project, updated in 2010 in the Association Ignatius Education Loyola. The President of the Federation is a member of the Law Association and has explicitly been invited by the Province of France, to be part of the “Ignatian Family” that is gradually shaping up in France and in the Church. National gatherings at Lourdes in particular have contributed to making it more visible, in recent years.
They share the same mission and cooperate to the above ministries, in their diversity and in their own way, “for the greater glory of God “(AMDG).
1 north of Paris
2 martyred by the Roman occupiers in the 3rd century AD
3 the ban of the Jesuits from France in 1764 and the suppression of the Society of Jesus by Pope Clement XIV in 1773
4 almost forced out of France following the anti-congregational laws of 1901 and 1904, in particular to control the influence of religious teachers on the French youth
5 One of the six Regional Conferences of Major Superiors in the Society
6 now 485 in addition to 74 French Jesuits serving in other provinces and 69 foreign students in France
7 north Amiens, Avignon, Bordeaux, Le Mans, Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Reims, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Versailles
8 Nantes, Lille, Metz, Sarlat, Vannes
9 Icam Engineers Association, Association of Engineers Purpan
