In a recent episode of Private Passions on BBC Radio 3, Dame Rachel de Souza — the Children’s Commissioner for England — offers a powerful personal reflection on music, memory, and formation. In conversation with presenter Michael Berkeley, she traces the roots of her vocation back to her time studying philosophy and theology at Heythrop College, the Jesuit college in London.

Founded in 1614 in Louvain and later based in London, Heythrop College was run by the Society of Jesus until its closure in 2018. It was known for its rigorous academic tradition in philosophy and theology, as well as for offering a distinctive environment shaped by Jesuit values of intellectual inquiry and spiritual formation.

Dame Rachel speaks with warmth and humour about how an inspiring Sixth Form teacher first encouraged her to apply to university — a path no one in her family had taken before. When he mentioned that he had studied at Heythrop, she quietly resolved to follow in his footsteps: “I’m going there. I want to learn what he knows.”

She arrived at Heythrop “full of James Joyce and philosophy,” ready to study with the Jesuits. One day in the college library, she stumbled across none other than Robert De Niro, researching for his role in the 1986 film The Mission. For Dame Rachel, both the film and its soundtrack by Ennio Morricone came to symbolise that searching, formative period in her life: “My classmates were young Jesuits flying off to Chile, to all over the place. And we were all sitting there thinking: what is my life in service of? Who am I? What do I believe in?”

It was a time, she says, when the big questions of identity, faith and purpose came alive and stayed with her: “It just takes me right back. And I think I did find my mission — which, for me, was to go into the classroom and to teach. Many of the friends and the Jesuits are still with me now. And we’re still trying to live out that mission.”

The interview goes on to explore Dame Rachel’s work in education and her current role championing children’s rights. You can listen to the full programme on BBC Sounds here.

Jesuit education continues today

We continue to offer opportunities for formation and learning at the London Jesuit Centre, which offers courses, retreats and events in spirituality, theology, and social and environmental justice. The new 2025/2026 programme has just been released, and you can order a print copy here. Jesuit education also continues at Campion Hall, the Jesuit permanent private hall at the University of Oxford, where a community of scholars engages in academic work grounded in the Jesuit mission of faith, justice, and reconciliation.