Dear Friends,

Happy Feast of Saint Ignatius.

Recent weeks have been a time of joy and thanksgiving for the British Jesuits. A few days ago, Geoff te Braake took his Final Vows in Farm Street Church, surrounded by his family, friends, many members of the Society of Jesus and those who work with us. Some weeks earlier, Christopher Brolly was ordained to the priesthood in a wonderful celebration in the cathedral in Newcastle. That too was an occasion of joy for family and friends, and a great gathering of Jesuits and partners in mission.

In between these two events, the youngest Jesuits in the British Province joined their peers from neighbouring provinces (Belgium, France, Ireland and the Netherlands) to make a retreat in Drongen, Belgium. Like any experience of the spiritual exercises, this was above all a time of silence, prayer, and discernment. There was an opportunity for serious discussion about the future: how God may be calling us to cooperate more closely in the years ahead.

Many of these young Jesuits already know each other well, having been together as novices in Birmingham and having completed their first studies at the same formation centre in Paris. That fraternal closeness, more than any structure, will be the foundation of any shared apostolic purpose going forward. There may also be apostolates which could be done in a unified way. A distinctive mark of Ignatian life across all four provinces is working together and sharing a common vision with others who are not Jesuits but who, in different ways, participate in and support the mission inspired by Saint Ignatius.

On this great day, let us all be encouraged by these recent developments and united in our gratitude to our founder, Ignatius of Loyola. May he continue to pray for us, our families and for the world in which there is so much suffering, and which has such a great need of God’s help.

Yours fraternally,

Fr Peter Gallagher SJ

Provincial Superior

Jesuits in Britain