Raising awareness among older Jesuits of what their age entails
By Pedro García Vera, SJ
From 23 – 31 May, the Delegation for the Elderly of the Spanish Province organised the third edition of the formation course for elderly Jesuits at the Jesuit House in Salamanca. The program brought together 24 Jesuits aged between 70 and 85, with one or two participants in their 90s. On this occasion, the program took the form of a condensed 8-day programme.
The mornings began with a time of personal prayer, followed by seminars addressing key aspects of aging and spiritual life. Topics included psychological perspectives, active ageing, medical considerations, care communities, the situation of the Province (presented by the Provincial), psychological-spiritual perspectives, human and spiritual accompaniment, and more contemporary issues such as artificial intelligence.
The afternoons offered a more relaxed pace. There was time set aside for reading, for watching an interesting film together, for interactive games and other social activities. Each day of the program ended with the celebration of the Eucharist – a time of thanksgiving, listening and renewing our openness to God.
One high point of the program was a day set aside for rest and excursion, during which participants visited a cooperative-run winery (complete with a wine tasting) in Valladolid, where the group was hosted by the community at the School of Agricultural Engineering (INEA). The Jesuits there welcome immigrants into their home during the legalisation process and offer retired people the opportunity to cultivate organic vegetable gardens and to foster an extraordinarily fruitful community life for personal development.
The program aimed to help participants confront the inevitable changes that accompany aging, helping them make sense of this distinctive stage of their biological and spiritual lives.
According to Fr Cipriano Díaz Marcos, the first Delegate for the Elderly in the Spanish Province, aging opens windows to dimensions of life sometimes overlooked and we should not hold back from opening these windows: the window onto prayerful silence, solidarity, small daily tasks, reading, frequent walks, conversation, beauty, contact with other ‘frontier’ realities that we can glimpse, peace and everyday stories. All of these must be experienced from a place of gratitude “for so much good received”.
Related Posts:
In April 2026, Pope Leo XIV made the first-ever papal visit to Algeria. Two weeks later, Father Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, travelled to Algeria to visit the small Jesuit community there for the first time since his election in 2016. The land of St Augustine, bishop of Hippo...
Father General Arturo Sosa has appointed Father Bart van Emmerik, as the Regional Superior of the Independent Region of the European Low Countries (ELC). Fr van Emmerik currently serves as the socius of the ELC Region and as delegate for spirituality...
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr Arturo Sosa, has appointed Fr Marek Cieślik as the new Provincial of the Near East and Maghreb Province (PRO). The Province comprises Algeria, Egypt, the Holy Land, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Turkey...
Father General Arturo Sosa has appointed Fr Mateusz Janyga as the new Provincial of the Province of Southern Poland of the Society of Jesus. Born in 1978 inWodzisław Śląski, Fr Janyga completed his secondary education in Rybnik before pursuing studies at...
The following article was written with information provided by Fr Michael Zammit Mangion, SJ – the Provincial of the Near East and Maghreb Province since 2020. He provided an on-the-ground testimony of Jesuit relief efforts in Lebanon.
Father Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, has appointed Father António Valério, SJ, as Provincial of Portugal. He will take up the role in June 2026. Fr Valério currently serves as General Director of Colégio das Caldinhas, a Jesuit secondary school...
