JCEP

"In March 2022, the Russian military launched missile attacks on my city, forcing us to flee. I will never forget our terrible trip.

Jabhat alNusra, the same that ruined the church, and, most sadly, killed Father François in June 2013. Then FatherFrans in April 2014. Why? This same question stayed in my head for months after I heard about his assassination.

Working against Discrimination on the basis of work and decent has been the one thing I have been grappling with during the 37 years of my life as a Jesuit.

My work in development cooperation began more than 20 years ago. However, previously, I was involved in volunteer projects where I had the opportunity to experience what I call "encounters" with realities and people plagued by poverty and exclusion. I remember when I spent one summer in India,

“Try to engage our students in a social project!” says Father Axel Bödefeld SJ, the headmaster of Loyola gymnasium. He has this wish for the students of Loyola gymnasium, which is considered the best school in Kosovo. Ignatian pedagogy however aims at more than best results in comparative tests. He wants the elite students to receive an education for their hearts as well.

This is a short story of a relatively young and happy Jesuit scholar who did not plan to return to the social apostolate. After a period of joy and labor in the field of academia, education and coaching, I did not expect to receive the call to the coordination of social service and research in Europe and the Near East. The first response was a mix of interest and disquiet.

“Paradoxically, it is among those who most intimately know the power of death that we find the most stubborn faith in the power of life and, therefore, in the power of the God who is the source of life.”

Inspired by a meditation oft-revisited over the course of his life, this prayer by Jacques Couture SJ (GLC) adopts the point-of-view of Jesus, in the expression of his compassion before the crowds found in Chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel.

When studying to be an engineer, I was moved by the commitment of the staff of the ATD Fourth World movement, who lived alongside very poor families, struggling side-by-side to realise change for them in society.

“Progetto Scampia” was launched in the year 2001, in response to the requests of the Superiors of the Society, who greatly wanted an apostolic presence of the Jesuits in this district located in the North of Naples, renowned for its very high crime rate.