The complete 22-episode case study series is now available on the Jesuits Global YouTube channel.

When nearly one hundred facilitators of discernment gathered in Salamanca in late 2025 – Jesuits, diocesan priests, religious women, and lay collaborators from all six Conferences of the Society of Jesus and the Jesuit Refugee Service – something more than a meeting took place. Convened at the desire of Fr Arturo Sosa, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, the Ignite the Way gathering set out to form facilitators for processes of communal discernment and, in doing so, to offer the Society’s contribution to the synodal journey of the whole Church.

One of the fruits of those intense days at the Centro de Espiritualidad San Ignacio was a conviction: the wisdom shared in Salamanca should not remain in Salamanca. Over the past months, that conviction has taken shape as “Ignite the Way: Case Studies”, a video series published week by week on the Jesuits Global YouTube channel and accompanied by articles on this website. With the release of the final episode, the series is now complete – twenty-two episodes offering a rich and remarkably practical school of discernment in common.

The strength of the series lies in its concreteness. These are not abstract lectures but real stories told by the people who lived them.

Peter McIsaac, SJ, recounted the fifteen-year discernment that led to the creation of the Caribbean Province. Françoise Uylenbroeck shared her experience accompanying two pastoral units in Belgium – one urban, one rural – as they sought a common path. Francis Pudhicherry, SJ, reflected on facilitating discernment in the multi-religious context of India, drawing on both the Ignatian tradition and classical Indian spiritual texts. Stephen Sundborg, SJ, brought discernment into the boardroom, showing how universities and schools can govern in a discerning key.

Alongside the case studies, the series explored the inner workings of the process itself: Kevin O’Brien, SJ, on dealing with resistance in groups; Elías López, SJ, on discerning conflict as a path to healing; Bart van Emmerik, SJ, on reading the spiritual movements of a group; David McCallum, SJ, on secular tools – action research, Theory U, polarity management – that can serve communal discernment; and Joseph Anthony de Mello, SJ, on cultivating discernment not as an occasional event but as a daily culture.

Taken together, the episodes trace a consistent thread: discernment in common is not a technique to be applied but a way of proceeding to be learned – patient, prayerful, attentive to consolation and desolation, and always oriented towards mission. It is demanding work, as many of the presenters honestly acknowledge, but it is also, in the words heard so often in Salamanca, a work in which the Holy Spirit is the true protagonist. The series’ name says as much: it is the Spirit who ignites the way.

The complete playlist is now available and will remain a lasting resource for Provinces, communities, dioceses, parish teams, school boards, and anyone called to help a group listen together for God’s voice. Whether watched in sequence as a formation course or consulted episode by episode as particular challenges arise, “Ignite the Way: Case Studies” is offered to the whole Church as a companion for the synodal road ahead.