From 26 to 28 January, the COJESEDU, the organizing committee of the II Congress JESEDU-Montreal 2027, gathered in Montréal for a multi-day working meeting. Fr Jimmy Bartolo, SJ, Secretary for Secondary and Pre-Secondary Education, was present throughout the meeting, joining the committee in prayer, reflection, and focused collaboration aimed at advancing preparations for the Congress.

The II Congress JESEDU-Montreal 2027 represents the third phase of a global process of reflection and discernment focused on Walking as a Global Network in Service of the Mission. Created specifically for Jesuit Education Delegates, the gathering will bring together leaders from across the world to listen deeply, reflect together, and discern pathways for action that can be carried forward in local contexts. Faith formation and Jesuit identity will ground the experience, with prayer, Eucharist, and Ignatian discernment guiding all dialogue and decision-making.

Listening and dialogue will shape both the content and the process of the Congress. Input from global surveys, regional conversations, and discernment circles is helping to identify shared experiences and emerging priorities across the network. Initial thematic areas include forming communities of faith, walking together as colleagues on mission, honoring the dignity of every person, understanding the ethical impact of artificial intelligence, and building bridges of reconciliation and justice. These themes will be refined and explored through presentations, small-group dialogue, prayer, and shared reflection, fostering an environment of simplicity, connection, and mutual learning across cultures.

The II Congress JESEDU-Montreal 2027 will conclude with the development of a clear ten-year Action Statement expressing shared values and a common direction for JESEDU Schools worldwide. Prepared initially by ICAJE (International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education) and refined through communal discernment in Montréal, the Action Statement will belong to the delegates themselves, who will adapt and implement it within their own local contexts. The gathering will close with a liturgical commissioning by Father General Arturo Sosa, underscoring that this shared experience is not an end in itself, but a call to ongoing collaboration, leadership, and mission.

The COJESEDU meeting also marked the opening phase of Fr Bartolo’s visit to North America, hosted by the Jesuit Schools Network of North America (JSN). Following his time in Montréal, he met with the JSN team in Washington, DC, to listen to the experiences of Jesuit pre-secondary and secondary education across Belize, Canada, Micronesia, and the United States. His visit included conversations with education leaders and staff engaged in educational inquiry, mission formation, school leadership, global perspectives, and sponsorship and governance.

Fr Bartolo also spent time in school communities, encountering the diversity of Jesuit educational models present in North America. Through visits to Nativity, Cristo Rey, and traditional schools, he met with students, faculty, administrators, and Jesuit communities, listening to their experiences and reflecting together on mission, formation, safeguarding, and global collaboration. These encounters further strengthened relationships across the Jesuit Global Network of Schools and reinforced a shared commitment to walking together as a universal body with a universal mission.