From 24 till 28 June 2024 more than 100 members of the Jesuit Global Network of Schools (JGNS), from 37 countries, gathered at the De Britto College, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to explore what Educating for Faith in the 21st Century means for contemporary Jesuit schools. They participated in the II Global Seminar JESEDU-Jogja2024, which is a part of the nine-year cycle of international gatherings for the ongoing discernment of our schools: “Walking as a Global Network at the Service of the Mission”.
14 members of the Jesuit European Committee for Primary and Secondary Education (JECSE) represented our Conference at the seminar. They were joined by colleagues from Jesuit and companion schools from around the world via social media networks and live streaming hosted by Educate Magis. A virtual pre-seminar, which took place from 1 April to 6 May 2024, preceded the face-to-face seminar and contributed to its preparation and progress.
“The seminar in Jogjakarta was a unique experience of the strong and rich global network of Jesuit schools in the Society of Jesus.
I felt the Lord calling us to go deeper in strengthening our Catholic identity by a mature dialogue with other religions and with our secular and post-Christian contexts. The hospitality of our Indonesian colleagues was special”.
Fr Jimmy Bartolo SJ, St Aloysius College Rector, Birkirkara, Malta
JECSE Board and Steering Committee member
The dynamics of the experiences
Each day, participants had the opportunity to engage in a series of activities that encouraged conversation and provided time for reflection to explore how they could deepen their effectiveness in faith formation in the local context. Each day began with prayer led by scholastics and ended with the Eucharist. The morning sessions included a meeting with prominent keynote speakers and a presentation of two experiences combined with a plenary discussion. The afternoons were devoted mainly to individual prayer and reflection and spiritual conversation in international groups.
On the third day of JESED, the main event was a pilgrimage – a spiritual journey to three well-known religious shrines in the Yogyakarta region. The aim was to give participants an experience of ‘education for inter-religious dialogue’. They were encouraged to spend time in prayer and reflection, guided by biblical texts. The day ended with a visit to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Ganjuran Temple, built in the Javanese style, which houses a Hindu statue of the Sacred Heart of Je