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The Ignatian Year: To See All Things New in Christ

Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, invites us all to engage in the Ignatian Year by reflecting on those disruptive moments that cause us as individuals, organizations, nations, and as a global society to examine our lives and choose pathways that lead to wholeness, the promotion of human dignity, and harmonious existence with all of creation. 

What is the Ignatian Year?

On May 20, 2021, the Society of Jesus and the Ignatian family will begin the worldwide celebration of the Ignatian Year. On that day, 500 years ago, St Ignatius was wounded by a cannonball while defending Pamplona. For him, it was a major failure and a change of plans in what he envisioned for his future, full of riches and worldly exploits. However, this failure started a process of conversion, which led Ignatius to have bigger dreams, no longer centered on himself, but rather on God. It helped St. Ignatius to see all things new in Christ. 

As announced by Father General Arturo Sosa, SJ in a letter announcing the Ignatian Year, we celebrate this year to remind us of the daily opportunity to experience a new conversion and to live a transforming experience. It is a call to allow the Lord to reveal to us a new enthusiasm, interior and apostolic, a new life, new ways of following Christ: "To see all things new in Christ."

The Ignatian Year and the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAP)

The Ignatian Year invites deep reflections not only on our own cannonball moments, or disruptive setbacks, but also on the four Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus that help us navigate and, on which focused during Ignatian Heritage Week 2021:

  • To Show the pathway to God through the Spiritual Exercises and Discernment
  • To Walk with the Excluded
  • To Journey with Youth Toward a Hope-filled Future
  • To Care for Our Common Home

JCU Programs for the Ignatian Year:

Thursday, May 27 at Noon

Jcu Fit Launches Spiritual Fitness Program with Office of Mission & Identity

A different Spiritual Fitness Exercise each Third Thursday at Noon throughout the year.

Saturday, June 12, 2021 at TBD

Alumni Reunion Weekend

"St. Ignatius and Dealing with Disruption"

by Ed Hahnenberg, Ph.D.

Chair, Theology and Religious Studies and Breen Chair of Systematic Theology

Friday, June 30, Noon to 1:30 PM

Feast of St. Ignatius followed by Community Picnic

Thursday, August 5 at 7:30 PM on Zoom

"Cannonball Moment?: The Conversation of St. Ignatius of Loyola"

A lecture by Paul V. Murphy, Ph.D.

Green Chair in Catholic Studies and Director of the Institute of Catholic Studies

Offered as part of the JCU Alumni Continuing Education Series (A.C.E.S.)

Fall 2021

Fall book club

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by Jim Martin, SJ

Led by Sherri Crahen, Ph.D.

Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students

September 9, 2021 at Noon

Celebrate the Spirit: Engaging the Ignatian Year

Bishop Edward Malesic, Presider and Homilist

Followed by Community Picnic

October 2021

"The Spiritual Exercises as a Pathway to God"

Andrew Cera, SJ and Thomas Pipp, SJ

Sponsored by the Ignatian Spirituality Institute

November 4, 2021

National Black Catholic Month

"Walking with the Excluded and the Anti-Racist Examen"

Mary Wardell Ghirarduzzi, Ph.D.

Vice President for Diversity Equity, and Inclusion at University of the Pacific

Co-sponsored by the Offices of Mission & Identity and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Thursday, February 3, 2022 at 2 PM

Mission Week 2022

International Panel of Students Working for Justice and a Hope-filled Future

Co-sponsored with the IAJU

Friday, March 12, 2022 at Noon

Mass and Campus Luncheon

The 422nd Anniversary of the Canonization of Saints Ignatius and Francis Xavier

Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 7 PM

In honor of Earth Day 2022

"Caring for Our Common Home as a Laudato Si' Campus"

Nancy Tuchman, Ph.D.

Dean, School of Environmental Sustainability 

Loyola University Chicago

Co-sponsored by Office of Mission and Identity and The Institute of Catholic Studies

May 22 - June 4, 2022

Ignatian Camino Pilgrimage

JCU Campus Ministry students with Creighton University and Xavier University

July 28, 2022 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Lecture and Luncheon

Fr. Xavier Jeyaraj, SJ, the Secretary of the Social Justice and Ecological Secretariat of the Society of Jesus, will present, Mining, Indigenous Peoples, and the Environment in Light of the Universal Apostolic Preferences. We hope you can attend in person or virtually. 

July 31, 2022 (Celebrated Friday, July 29, 2022)

Feast of St. Ignatius Mass and Community Picnic

All are welcome to join the JCU community as we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Ignatius Loyola (July 31st), on Friday, July 29, 2022.

Mass - 12:00pm - Saint Francis Chapel

Rev. Thomas Pipp, S.J., Presiding

Picnic Lunch - 12:45pm - Main Quad

(In case of rain: LSC Conference Room)

Sunday, January 26, 2020

9 P.M. "CELEBRATING STUDENTS LIVING THE MISSION" MASS 

Church of the Gesu

Presider: Rev. Tom Pipp, S.J.

Followed by a dessert reception in the church lobby. All are welcome. 

Monday, January 27, 2020

12 P.M. SPACE: CULTIVATING THE IMAGINATION (OPEN ALL WEEK!)

D.J. Lombardo Student Center - O'Dea Room

Students, staff, and faculty are invited to take time throughout the week to be creative and engage their imagination in light of social justice concerns of our day. 

3 P.M. IMAGINING YOURSELF AS A COMPANION IN MISSION

Dolan Center for Science and Technology - A202/A203

Faculty and staff hired in 2019 (and all who are interested) are encouraged to attend this interactive workshop to explore the many ways Ignatian spirituality and Jesuit mission can animate the work we do.

6 P.M. DINING AND DISCUSSION - DESTINATION IMAGINATION

D.J. Lombardo Student Center - LSC Conference Room 

Students are invited to dine together and explore creative responses to the pressing social needs of Cleveland and the world. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

11:45 A.M. - 1:15 P.M. IMAGINING A MORE JUST WORLD IN MUSIC AND WORD

Dolan Center for Science and Technology - O'Connell Reading Room

Lunch is included. Seating is limited.

4 P.M. CELEBRATION OF SERVICE AWARD CEREMONY

Dolan Center for Science and Technology - O'Connell Reading Room

Presentation of awards to faculty, staff, and students who contribute to a more just world through their service with and for others. 

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

2 P.M. INAUGURAL CERTIFICATION OF IGNATIAN COMPANIONS OF DISTINCTION

Dolan Center for Science and Technology - O'Connell Atrium

Come learn about a new program and honor staff and faculty colleagues who have earned this province-sponsored distinction in Ignatian formation.

3:30 P.M. IGNATIAN HERITAGE EXHIBIT SCAVENGER HUNT 

Dolan Center for Science and Technology - Muldoon Atirum

All are invited to participate in an interactive "scavenger hunt" focused on our campus-wide heritage display. Sponsored by Staff Council.

9:30 P.M. MURPHY MASS AND PIZZA

Christi Ignaut Chapel of St. Peter Faber, S.J. - Murphy Hall

Presider: Rev. Dan McDonald, S.J.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

12 P.M. LUNCH AND LECTURE: "IGNATIAN IMAGINATION AND THE CALL TO JUSTICE"

D.J. Lombardo Student Center - LSC Conference Room

Dr. Michael P. Murphy, Director, The Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University Chicago. All are invited. Lunch provided.

3:30 - 5 P.M. PANEL AND WORKSHOP: "IMAGINATION,  EMPATHY, AND JUSTICE EDUCATION"

D.J. Lombardo Student Center - LSC Conference Room

Featuring Dr. Michael P. Murphy, Director, The Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, Loyola University Chicago

7:00 - 8:30 P.M. IMAGINE: FOR STUDENTS

St. Francis Chapel

Students are invited to participate in a multimedia, reflective program on service for social justice followed by a taco bar. 

Friday, January 31, 2020

12:05 P.M. MASS

St. Francis Chapel

Presider: Rev. Don Serva, S.J.

2023 Mission Week Schedule

Ways to be involved all week

Attend daily Mass at 12:05 PM in St. Francis Chapel

Sunday, January 29th

9:00 PM Mission Week Mass

St. Francis Chapel

Presider: Rev. Joseph Hilinski, Delegate for Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs

Followed by Dessert Reception in Interfaith Commons

Monday, January 30th

7:00 PM "A Tale of Two Saffron Growers: Jewish & Christian Culture in Late Antiquity"

Dolan Center for Science and Technology - Donahue Auditorium

Speaker: Noah Bickart, Ph.D., Mandel Chair in Jewish Studies, Theology and Religious Studies. 

Sponsored by: The Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Chair in Jewish Studies and the Office of Mission and Identity

Tuesday, January 31st

4:00 PM Celebration of Service Awards Ceremony

Dolan Center for Science and Technology - Muldoon Atrium

2023 Presentation of Edmund Campion Student Service Awards, and Curtis W. Miles Faculty Service Award.

This year we honor: Selena Alamir (Junior), Sydney Burger (Sophomore), and Malia McAndrew (Faculty).

Followed by Dessert Reception

Sponsored by: Center for Service-Learning and Social Action and the Office of Mission and Identity

Wednesday, February 1st

12:00 - 1:30 PM Faculty and Staff Luncheon and Lecture: Beyond Inclusion - Inclusive Education for Civic Participation

D.J. Lombardo Student Center - LSC Conference Room

Speaker: Bryan Dewsbury, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, Florida International University

Thursday, February 2nd

12:00 - 1:30 PM Faculty and Staff Luncheon and Discussion: Interreligious Understanding for Inspired Futures

D.J. Lombardo Student Center - LSC Conference Room

Presenters: Noah Bickart, Ph.D., Edward P. Hahnenberg, Ph.D., Zeki Saritoprak, Ph.D., V.P. for DEIB, Naomi Sigg

Friday, February 3rd

12:00 - 2:00 PM Breaking Bread: Bites of Interfaith Conversations for Students

D.J. Lombardo Students Center - Interfaith Commons

Sponsored by: Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion

May 20, 2021 to July 31, 2022

It is good to remind ourselves that the wound Ignatius suffered in Pamplona was not so much a happy ending, but rather a happy beginning. Conversion consists sometimes of great moments of change, but it is also a never-ending process. We need to put Christ in the centre every time, again and again. This process is a pilgrimage along winding roads, up and down, sometimes having to retrace our steps, sometimes feeling lost. But meeting people along the road who indicate the way and reach out their hands to us.

- Fr. General Arturo Sosa

All through his life St. Ignatius converted, [...] put Christ in the centre. And he did so through discernment. Discernment is not about always getting it right from the start, but rather about navigating, about having a compass to be able to set out on the road which has many twists and turns, but always letting oneself be guided by the Holy Spirit who leads us to an encounter with the Lord.

- Pope Francis

Announcing the Ignatian Year

Fr. General Arturo Sosa, SJ announces the Ignatian Year

Jesuit press release announcing the Ignatian Year of Renewal: "Putting Christ in the Center"

Global Events in the Ignatian Year

Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 12 PM Eastern

Official opening of the Ignatian Year in Pamplona (Spain), exactly 500 years after the cannonball hit Ignatius. A eucharist will be celebrated at the cathedral by Archbishop Francisco Pérez Gonzålez and Fr. General Arturo Sosa.

Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 8 PM Eastern

Pilgrims with Ignatius Online Live Prayer Broadcast

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Solemn Mass at the Gesú in Rome on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the canonisation of St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Teresa of Jesús, St. Isidore Labrador, and St. Philip Neri.

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Official closure of the Ignatian Year on the Feast Day of St. Ignatius.

Prayer and Reflecting in the Ignatian Year

Prayer for the Opening of the Ignatian Year from Jesuits.org

God of all people, You were there when the cannonball shattered the leg of St. Ignatius, shattered his dreams, and shattered what he assumed his life would be. Even in a moment of pain and uncertainty, doubt and darkness, you spoke to Ignatius a word of peace and light. You showed him the path to you and the person he might become.

We may not be soldiers, standing in the path of a literal cannonball. And yet, we've been hit all the same. Cannonballs shatter our own hopes and dreams and expectations. 

Like Ignatius, may we hear the compassionate voice of your Son in the aftermath of these cannonball blasts. May we seek the face of Christ even when our dreams are shattered. May we turn and follow Jesus with the courage it takes to change and grow. 

As we journey through this Ignatian Year, may we be shown the path to you, God of all people, and live out our vocation, becoming the person you have invited us to be. Give us the grace to work for reconciliation every day: with you, with others and with your creation. Open our eyes so we might see all things new in Christ. Amen.

Ignatian Pilgrimage App

Journey with Ignatius is an app that offers a virtual Ignatian pilgrimage, full of wisdom from St. Ignatius, with thoughtfully selected daily offerings to help participants make their own spiritual pilgrimage.

This newly released app provides a twelve-week program of meditations, scripture readings, and reflections, designed to help participants to grow in faith through the words of St. Ignatius himself. It is a great avenue for connecting more deeply to St. Ignatius during this Ignatian Year. The app is available for free on the App Store and Google Play: Journey with Ignatius!

International Student Panel Banner

John Carroll University is a Jesuit Catholic University in Cleveland, OH in the United States. As part of the University's celebration of the Ignatian Year, we are hosting a virtual international panel of students who will share their concerns and hopes about climate change and our individual and institutional responses to this ecological, social, and economic humanitarian crisis.

This event will take place on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022 AT 3 PM EST so that as many people from around the globe can attend as possible. It will be recorded and posted so people can view at more convenient times. 

Our panelists will consist of students and recent alumni from: Ecuador, India, Peru, South Africa, Spain, United States of America.

The panel is being sponsored by John Carroll's chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu (ASN), the Jesuit Honor Society, in partnership with the ASN central office, and the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU). We invite all students to join us for this interactive virtual experience. Share your own concerns and hopes as together we participate in the Ignatian Year, when we are invited to:

Care for Our Common Home

Journey toward a Hope-filled Future

Walk with the Excluded

Show the Ways to God Through the Spiritual Exercises and Discernment

Opening Prayer by Carla Macedo

Carla Macedo is a business engineering student at Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru. She is currently president of the Alpha Sigma Nu chapter at her university and at The Lions Club International, the world's largest volunteer organization. She is also a Real Estate Solutions intern at Interbank in Lima, Peru. 

Panelists

Allesandra Badajoz is an economics student at Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru. She is the president of Sustainable Action (ACSOS), a student organization that promotes environmental awareness. She is also and AIESEC volunteer promoting projects to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and a member of "Generation 10", program of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Juan Galera Calleja is in his fourth year of a double bilingual major in Business and International Relations, at Loyola University in Sevilla. He serves as the President of their Alpha Sigma Nu Chapter. He is passionate about history and politics, exercising, reading, and writing. Throughout his time at Loyola, he has been involved in multiple activist networks, the most recent being the drafting of 95 legislation proposals to be presented to the EU Commission, Council, and Parliament, of which more than half had to do with climate change and sustainability. He and his fellow officers are also actively committing their ANS chapter to collaborate with local farms and educate young people on just and sustainable farming. 

Maurice Condor is from Ecuador, a "small country with an amazing culture." He studies International Business in Quito at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. Last year, he participated in the Jesuit sponsored Magis Exchange program in Spain. He has a deep love of nature and a particular passion for water. He appreciates the different conceptions that water has in different cultures, not only for its beauty but also because it has an intrinsic value. Water quality is an important issue for him. 

Christine Dewyer Charlotte is from Villa Park, IL, outside of Chicago in the United States. She is a student in Loyola University Chicago's new School of Environmental Sustainability. She is an Environmental Studies major with a minor in Sustainability Management. She has been a member in the Student Environmental Alliance and has held two educational internships with The Romero Institute and Illinois Public Interest Research Group, which promote the environment and sustainability. She is very passionate about the future of our collective natural environment. 

Noluthando Honono is a student from South Africa.

Hiramoni Kalita is a student in India. 

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

Faculty Mission Liaison

As a part-time member of the Office of Mission and Identity, the new Faculty Mission Liaison is a tenured faculty member who will help support teaching, research, and service excellence among the faculty in light of the University's Jesuit, Catholic Mission. The position begins in the fall semester of 2023 and is renewable annually for up to three years.

The Liaison will assist the Vice President for Mission and Identity by recruiting faculty for existing local, regional, and national programs and by providing creative leadership for mission-related professional development opportunities for faculty. 

As the inaugural holder of this position, the first Liaison will also help develop the office in light of the needs and interests of faculty and the current strategic priorities of the University. The following are anticipated sets of responsibilities that may be adjusted as the position develops

Responsibilities:

- Assist with New Faculty Orientations and Seminar

- Recruit and support faculty for local, regional, and national programs such as faculty retreats, Collegium, Ignatian Colleagues Program, etc.

- Recruit and support faculty to utilize faculty development funds and course development grants for mission

- Help design, coordinate, and deliver faculty seminars on inclusive teaching and learning in the Ignatian tradition

- Foster a sense of community and belonging among faculty

- Collaborate with other offices to facilitate faculty and program development

Qualifications:

- Tenured faculty member

- Demonstrated commitment to JCU's Jesuit Catholic mission

- Familiarity with Ignatian pedagogy/teaching and learning in the Ignatian tradition and a willingness to do faculty development in this area

- Sensivitity toward -- and comfort with -- teaching in a religiously pluralistic campus community

- Innovative leadership and effective communication skills

- Interest in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, preferred

Compensation and Support

- $3000 per semester with an optional summer stipend

- Support to attend professional development opportunities related to the mission and Ignatian pedagogy

- Administrative support for programming and recruiting efforts

- Financial support to fund a student intern (optional)

- Program materials

Application Process

Please submit the following via email to Edward Peck (epeck@jcu.edu) by April 28, 2023. Include "Faculty Mission Liaison" as the subject line:

- A current CV

- A 1-2 page letter outlining your interest, qualifications, and possible areas of focus for the work

- Applicants are encouraged to have a preliminary conversation with their department chair. Finalists will need to secure a brief letter of support from their chair.

Applications will be reviewed by a faculty panel. The panel and VP for Mission will interview finalists by the end of May to appoint the Liaison by May 31. 

John Carroll University Joins the Journey

John Carroll University joins hundreds of other universities and organizations around the world answering Pope Francis' call to "lean and grow together as we journey towards full sustainability in the holistic spirit of integral ecology." (LS 14)

In October 2021, Dr. Al Miciak, President of John Carroll University, signed a pledge on behalf of the University to join the first cohort of colleges and universities to answer Pope Francis' call to join the Vatican's Seven Year Journey to Become a Laudato Si' Campus. Click here to watch the video of President Miciak Announcing John Carroll University joining the Journey to become a Laudato Si' Campus during Mission Week 2022. 

President Miciak explains that Laudato Si' "is the Pope's 2015 encyclical on Integral Ecology. Over the next 7 years, we will be one of over a hundred universities to take concrete steps to promote ecological education and simplified lifestyles, reduce our carbon footprint, invest and spend responsibly, and listen carefully to the voices of those who are poor and most adversely affected by climate change."

To begin the journey, JCU will establish a university-wide committee that will develop a John Carroll Laudato Si' Action Plan to advance each of the seven Laudato Si' goals, which are mapped to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

  • To respond to the cry of the Earth,
  • To respond to the cry of those who are poor and vulnerable,
  • To foster ecological economics,
  • To adopt sustainable lifestyles,
  • To develop and offer ecological education,
  • To promote an ecological spirituality; and
  • To support local communities and to promote community resilience and empowerment

Between now and May 2023, the official end of the last year of the Journey, the Committee will complete a baseline assessment and plot a proposed pathway for the University. Each year, the University will complete and share a progress report. 

John Carroll University's Catholic and Jesuit Mission and Identity is Affirmed by the Provincial

In his letter dated September 22, 2016, Fr. Brian Paulson, S.J., Provincial of the Chicago-Detroit Province, explained that Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, then Superior General of the Society of Jesus confidently affirmed the Catholic and Jesuit identity of John Carroll University. This affirmation is the result of a year-long Mission Priority Examen process of self-study and priority setting, peer review, and approval by the Provincial. John Carroll was one of only three schools identified to undergo the first round of this process. 

Fr. Paulson explained that the Father General gave a "positive evaluation" of John Carroll's Mission Examen and "indicated that the catalog of ways you already embody the Characteristics of Jesuit Higher Education, is impressive." Fr. Nicolás was also "very encouraged by the [peer] evaluation and noted that the visitors 'confidently affirm the strong, lived commitment of the University to its Jesuit, Catholic mission values and endorse the University community's vision and priorities for strengthening this commitment in the future.'" 

John Carroll University is scheduled for another peer review in 2024-2025.