Frank Turner SJ

With hindsight I can trace this understanding of my Jesuit vocation to some experiences before my entering the Society aged 28.  In my first year as a Jesuit novice, the Thirty-Second General Congregation confirmed for me that my emerging understanding was not too idiosyncratic but was consonant with that of the whole Society.

This perspective has been refined and further explored since, bit not brought fundamentally into question. What has surprised me in Jesuit life is the diverse expressions of such a perspective:

  living in three British inner-cities, often in very basic council housing, trying to engage with the life of the neighbourhood;

  doing a doctorate in theology, exploring the significance for Christian theology of a political philosopher;

  part-time teaching in two universities;

  being given responsibility for the 'formation' of other Jesuits.