The Jesuit Collaborative

The Jesuit Collaborative is a professional association of Jesuits, laypersons, clergy, and religious who share in common the spiritual tradition of St. Ignatius.

The Collaborative promotes networking, reflection, scholarship, and learning while coordinating the diverse ministries that derive from the Spiritual Exercises. The Collaborative is pledged to serve the Church by providing for the spiritual development and care of persons, forming leaders, and nurturing a faith that does justice.

Conference Draws Over 400 Enthusiastic Participants
Published on 06/24/2009

More than 400 lay women and men, Jesuits, and other religious from across the east coast and beyond attended The Principle and Foundation: Who We Are Before God Conference on Ignatian Spirituality at Fordham University in New York, June 19-21. The conference attracted people from near and far, from parish groups in North Carolina and Massachusetts to New Yorkers who took the subway to attend, as well as a number of international participants. Ignatian spirituality practitioners working in schools, colleges, parishes, retreat houses, and a variety of other apostolates gathered together for training in the ministry of the Spiritual Exercises and networking with partners in ministry.


The conference featured six keynote presentations (three in English and three in Spanish) and thirty-five workshops. Keynoters and workshop presenters, who themselves came from as far as Canada and Puerto Rico, addressed a wide variety of engaging topics within the three subject tracks: the content of the Spiritual Exercises and its theological underpinning, professional skills development for practitioners, and integrating the Exercises into diverse ministries.

Young adults and organizers learned about opportunities to participate in the expanding Contemplative Leaders in Action program. A growing and enthusiastic Hispanic Jesuit Collaborative community took part in the Spanish-language track. Mass and prayer services were celebrated in both Spanish and English. The Ignatian Schola and Pedro Luna y el grupo hispano served as music ministers and also provided lively entertainment at the reception on Saturday evening. The announcement of James Conroy, S.J., as the new executive director of The Jesuit Collaborative added an extra level of excitement to the gathering as participants looked forward to sharing what they learned and building The Jesuit Collaborative community (see story on homepage). The closing session brought everyone together for discussion, feedback, and reflection on the future of Ignatian spiritual ministry.

Our conference this weekend was a wonderful collaboration involving many generous and talented people.See conference photo gallery: http://www.jesuit-collaborative.org/conference-photo-gallery

See related story on Fordham University website: http://www.fordham.edu/Campus_Resources/eNewsroom/topstories_1588.asp

More than 400 attendees pack the first-floor auditorium

in Keating Hall to open "The Principle and the Foundation."

Photo by Joseph McLaughlin