The International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education (ICAJE) met in Rome from May 17 to 20. This was the first in-person ICAJE meeting since the COVID pandemic started in 2020. The annual meeting is an opportunity for the six regional delegates, the Secretary for Education, and the assistants to the Secretariat to come together, share the state of Jesuit Education in the world, the projects of the secretariat and discuss initiatives that can support the construction of the Global Jesuit Network of Schools. For this meeting we have, for the first time, the full-time participation of Fr. Marco Tulio Gómez SJ, from the Executive Secretariat of Fe y Alegría as a member of the Jesuit Global Network of Schools.

Here are some of the topics discussed during the gathering.

The meeting started with the reports from every Regional Secretary on the state of Jesuit Education in his region. For this year, the reports focused (1) on the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic affecting the world; (2) the impact of the recent II Colloquium JESEDU-Global2021; and (3) how our schools and networks are integrating the recent documents on Jesuit Education. Then, the Secretary presented some highlights of his annual report to Father General and some areas in which the secretariat will be focusing in the next years.

Parts of the meeting were lived within the context of spiritual conversation: about the Catholic Identify of our Schools based on the new instruction of the Congregation for Education of the Vatican on the Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue. Fr. Benoît Malvaux, Procurator of the Society, joined us and offered his canonical reflections on the topic. Also the upcoming II Seminar JESEDU-Jogja2024 precisely on the topic of Catholic/Jesuit Identify and in-depth faith formation. The Secretary for the Service of Faith, Fr. John Hanvey, accompanied this discussion.

Other interesting topics to mention:

• The approval of the charter of the Jesuit Global Network of Schools (to be presented to Father General for final approval);

• The celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of Fr. Arrupe’s paradigmatic allocution Men and women for Others, as an occasion to go deeper into our contemporary understanding of Jesuit Education and the challenges of our era;

• The impact of some of Father General’s recent documents and decisions and the way to respond to his request to reflect on the creation of a culture of collaboration in our Jesuit schools;

• The situation of Educate Magis, including a full report of the online global community and its future projects;

• Even the use in our schools of a new Documentary titled Francesco, the value of a tool, Jesuit.media, offered by the Communications Office of the Curia, and the broad projects of the New Global Compact of Education and Planet Fraternity.

A highlight of the meeting was the Eucharist celebrated in the Camerette di Sant’Ignazio, the place where Ignatius lived the last years of his life.

The Secretary for Education, Fr. José Alberto Mesa, commented: “This year’s meeting has been very special not only because half of the delegates are new but for the positive spirit of collaboration and the desire to engage the amazing possibilities of our global network. We discussed and made decisions on important challenges and opportunities to Jesuit Education today and we look with optimism and enthusiasm as we navigate the difficult contexts in which our schools operate today.”

The participants to the ICAJE meeting (L-R): Johnny Go SJ (Asia Pacific), Marco Gómez SJ (Fe y Alegría), José Alberto Mesa SJ (Worldwide Education Secretary), Joe Arimoso SJ (Africa & Madagascar), Sunny Jacob SJ (Assistant for Faith Formation), Eamonn McGuinness (Educate Magis), John Ravi SJ (South Asia), Agnieszka Baran (Europe), Felipe Carrillo (FLACSI, Assistant for Special Projects), and Bob Reiser SJ (North America).