Jesuit Education

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
JESUIT EDUCATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE Nº
Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
The Characteristics of Jesuit Education------------------------------------------------------------ 5
Introductory Notes --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
1. Jesuit Education is world-affirming.---------------------------------------------------------- 7

radical goodness of the world
a sense of wonder and mystery
Jesuit Education assists in the total formation

of each individual within the human community.---------------------------------------- 7
the fullest development of all talents:
intellectual
imaginative, affective, and creative
effective communication skills
physical
the balanced person
within community
Jesuit Education includes a religious dimension

that permeates the entire education.-------------------------------------------------------- 8
religious education
development of a faith response which
resists secularism
worship of God and reverence for creation
2. Jesuit Education is an apostolic instrument.------------------------------------------------- 9

preparation for life
Jesuit Education promotes dialogue between faith and culture ---------------------------- 9

---------
Jesuit Education insists on individual care
and concern for each person.--------------------------------------------------------------- 10
developmental stages of growth
curriculum centered on the person
personal relationships (“cura personalis”)
responsibilities within the community
Jesuit Education emphasizes activity on the

part of the student in the learning process.----------------------------------------------- 11
personal study
opportunities for personal discovery
reflection
i
3. Jesuit Education encourages life-long openness to growth.-------------------------------- 11
joy in learning; desire to learn
adult members open to change
-------
4. Jesuit Education is value-oriented.----------------------------------------------------------- 12
knowledge joined to virtue
school regulations; system of discipline
self-discipline
Jesuit Education encourages a realistic knowledge,

love, and acceptance of self.---------------------------------------------------------------- 12
Christian humanism; sin and its effects
obstacles to growth
development of a critical faculty
Jesuit Education provides a realistic knowledge

of the world in which we live.------------------------------------------------------------- 13
awareness of the social effects of sin
realization that persons and structures can change
--------
Jesuit Education proposes Christ as the model
of humanlife.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14
inspiration from the life and teaching of Christ
for Christians, personal friendship with Jesus
5. Jesuit Education provides adequate pastoral care.------------------------------------------ 14

religious faith and religious commitment
the Spiritual Exercises
response to a personal call from God
Jesuit Education celebrates faith in personal

and community prayer, worship and service.---------------------------------------------- 15
progressive initiation to personal prayer
community worship
for Catholics, Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation
faith leads to commitment to follow Christ
---------------
6. Jesuit Education is preparation for active life commitment.------------------------------- 16
7. Jesuit Education serves the faith that does justice.------------------------------------------ 16

justice informed by charity
action for peace
a new type of person in a new kind of society
justice issues in the curriculum
school policies and programs witness to justice
works of justice
involvement in serious issues of our day
ii
1. Jesuit education seeks to form “men and women for others”.----------------------------- 17
talents: gifts to be developed for the community
stress on community values
witness of adults in the educational community
18. Jesuit education manifests a particular concern for the poor. ------------------------------
18
“preferential option” for the poor
Jesuit education available to everyone
free educational opportunity for all the poor:
the context of Jesuit education
opportunities for contact with the poor
reflection on the experience
-------
19. Jesuit Education is an apostolic instrument, in service of the church
as it serves human society.---------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
part of the apostolic mission of the church
Ignatian attitude of loyalty to and service of the church
faithful to the teachings of the church
reflect on culture in the light of church teachings
serve the local civil and religious community
cooperation with other apostolic works
active in the local community
collaboration in ecumenical activities
20. Jesuit education prepares students for active participation in the church
and the local community, for the service of others.-------------------------------------- 21
instruction in the basic truths of the faith
for Catholics, knowledge of and love for the church and the sacraments
concrete experiences of church life
promote Christian Life Communities
21. Jesuit education pursues excellence in its work of formation.----------------------------- 22

“human excellence”
excellence depends on the needs of the region
fullest possible development of individual capacities
leaders in service
excellence in faith commitment: to do “more”
competition
22. Jesuit education witnesses to excellence.----------------------------------------------------- 23

excellence in school climate
adult members witness to excellence
cooperation with other schools and educational agencies
-------
23. Jesuit Education stresses lay-Jesuit collaboration.------------------------------------------ 24
a common mission
willingness to assume responsibilities
iii
the Jesuit attitude
24. Jesuit Education relies on a spirit of community among:
teaching staff and administrators;---------------------------------------------------------- 24
people chosen to join the educational community
common sense of purpose
the Jesuit community;---------------------------------------------------------------------- 25
life witness
life within the community
provide knowledge and appreciation of Ignatius
hospitality
priestly activities
relations with school director
governing boards;---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25
parents;---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
close cooperation with parents
understanding the school character
consistency between values promoted in the
school and those promoted in the home
students;--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
former students;----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
benefactors.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27
25. Jesuit Education takes place within a structure that promotes community.-------------- 27
shared responsibility
mission of the Director
role of the Director
directive team
Jesuit authority and control
structures guarantee rights
-------
26. Jesuit Education adapts means and methods in order to achieve
its purposes most effectively.---------------------------------------------------------------- 29
change on the basis of “discernment”
norms for change
adapted to fit the specific needs of the place
27. Jesuit Education is a “system” of schools with a common vision and

common goals.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29
sharing of ideas and experiences
exchange of teachers and students
experimentation in education for justice
28. Jesuit Education assists in providing the professional training and

ongoing formation that is needed, especially for teachers. -------------------------------
30
opportunities for continuing education
an understanding of Ignatian spirituality
an understanding of lay and Jesuit contributions to the church
and the Jesuit school
iv
---------
Some Characteristics of Jesuit Pedagogy:------------------------------------------------------- 31

From the experience of the Spiritual Exercises;
From the Constitutions and the Ratio Studiorum.
Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33
* * *
Appendix I: Ignatius, First Jesuit Schools, and the Ratio Studiorum.-------------------------- 34
A. The Spiritual Journey of Ignatius of Loyola --------------------------------------------- 34

B. The Society of Jesus Enters Education ----------------------------------------------------
37
C. The Ratio Studiorum and More Recent History------------------------------------------ 39
Appendix II: The World View of Ignatius compared with the

Basic Characteristics of Jesuit Education.------------------------------------ 42
Notes----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 46
v
Introduction
(1) In September of 1980 a small international group, Jesuit and lay, came together in
Rome to discuss several important issues concerning Jesuit secondary education.
In many parts of the world, serious questions had been raised about the present ef-
fectiveness of Jesuit schools: Could they be instrumental in accomplishing the
apostolic purposes of the Society of Jesus? Were they able to respond to the needs
of the men and women in today’s world? The meeting was called to examine these
questions and to suggest the kinds of renewal that would enable Jesuit secondary
education to continue to contribute to the creative and healing mission of the
church, today and in the future.
(2) During the days of discussion, it became evident that a renewed effectiveness
depended in part on a clearer and more explicit understanding of the distinctive
nature of Jesuit education. Without intending to minimize the problems, the group
asserted that Jesuit schools can face a challenging future with confidence if they
will be true to their particularly Jesuit heritage. The vision of Ignatius of Loyola,
founder of the Society of Jesus, had sustained these schools for four centuries. If
this spiritual vision could be sharpened and activated, and then applied to
education in ways adapted to the present day, it would provide the context within
which other problems could be faced.
(3) Father Pedro Arrupe, who was then Superior General of the Society of Jesus,
reaffirmed this conclusion when he spoke at the closing session of the meeting. He
said that a Jesuit school
“should be easily identifiable as such. There are many ways in which it

will resemble other schools.... But if it is an authentic Jesuit school - that is
to say if our operation of the school flows out of the strengths drawn from
our own specific charism, if we emphasize our essential characteristics and
our basic options - then the education which our students receive should
give them a certain “Ignacianidad”, if I can use such a term. I am not
talking about arrogance or snobbery, still less about a superiority complex.
I simply refer to the logical consequence of the fact that we live and operate
out of our own charism. Our responsibility is to provide, through our
schools, what we believe God and the church ask of us”.1
(4) The delegates at the Rome meeting recommended the establishment of a permanent
international group to consider questions related to secondary education, and urged
that one of the first responsibilities of this group be to clarify the ways in which the
vision of Ignatius continues to make Jesuit secondary education distinctive today.
(5) In response to the recommendation, the International Commission on the Apostolate

of Jesuit Education (ICAJE) was established; it held its first meeting in 1982. The
members are Daven Day, S.J. (Australia), Vincent Duminuco, S.J. (U.S.A.), Luiz
Fernando Klein, S.J. (Brazil, since 1983), Raimondo Kroth, S.J. (Brasil, until
1983), Guillermo Marshall, S.J. (Chile, until 1984), Jean-Claude Michel, S.J.
(Zaïre), Gregory Naik, S.J. (India), Vicente Parra, S.J. (Spain), Pablo Sada, S.J.
(Venezuela), Alberto Vasquez (Chile, since 1984), Gerard Zaat, S.J. (The
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Netherlands), and James Sauvé, S.J. (Rome).
(6) This present document, composed by ICAJE, is the fruit of four years of meetings and
worldwide consultations.
(7) Any attempt to speak about Jesuit education today must take account of the profound
changes which have influenced and affected this education - since the time of
Ignatius, but especially during the present century. Government regulations or the
influence of other outside agencies affect various aspects of school life, including
the course of study and the textbooks that are used; in some countries the policies
of the government or high costs threaten the very existence of private education.
Students and their parents seem, in many cases, to be concerned only with the
academic success that will gain entrance to university studies, or only with those
programs that will help to gain employment. Jesuit schools today are often
coeducational, and women have joined laymen and Jesuits as teachers and admini-
strators. There has been a significant increase in the size of the student body in
most Jesuit schools, and at the same time a decline in the number of Jesuits
working in those schools. In addition:
a. The course of studies has been altered by modern advances in science and
technology: the addition of scientific courses has resulted in less emphasis on,
in some cases a certain neglect of, the humanistic studies traditionally
emphasized in Jesuit education.
b. Developmental psychology and the social sciences, along with advances in

pedagogical theory and education itself, have shed new light on the way young
people learn and mature as individuals within a community; this has
influenced course content, teaching techniques, and school policies.
c. In recent years, a developed theology has explicitly recognized and

encouraged the apostolic role of lay people in the church; this was ratified by
the Second Vatican Council, especially in its decree “On The Apostolate of
the Laity”.2 Echoing this theology, recent General Congregations of the
Society of Jesus have insisted on lay-Jesuit collaboration, through a shared
sense of purpose and a genuine sharing of responsibility, in schools once
exclusively controlled and staffed by Jesuits.
d. The Society of Jesus is committed to “the service of faith, of which the promotion
of justice is an absolute requirement”;3 it has called for a “reassessment of our
traditional apostolic methods, attitudes and institutions with a view to adapting
them to the needs of the times, to a world in process of rapid change”.4 In
response to this commitment, the purposes and possibilities of education are
being examined, with renewed concern for the poor and disadvantaged. The goal
of Jesuit education today is described in terms of the formation of “multiplying
agents” and “men and women for others”.5
e. Students and teachers in Jesuit schools today come from a variety of distinct
social groups, cultures and religions; some are without religious faith. Many
Jesuit schools have been deeply affected by the rich but challenging
complexity of their educational communities.
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(8) These and many other developments have affected concrete details of school life and
have altered fundamental school policies. But they do not alter the conviction that
a distinctive spirit still marks any school which can truly be called Jesuit. This
distinctive spirit can be discovered through reflection on the lived experience of
Ignatius, on the ways in which that lived experience was shared with others, on the
ways in which Ignatius himself applied his vision to education in the Constitutions
and in letters, and on the ways in which this vision has been developed and been
applied to education in the course of history, including our present times. A
common spirit lies behind pedagogy, curriculum and school life, even though these
may differ greatly from those of previous centuries, and the more concrete details
of school life may differ greatly from country to country.
(9) “Distinctive” is not intended to suggest “unique” either in spirit or in method. The
purpose is rather to describe “our way of proceeding”6: the inspiration, values,
attitudes and style which have traditionally characterized Jesuit education, which
must be characteristic of any truly Jesuit school today wherever it is to be found,
and which will remain essential as we move into the future.
(10) To speak of an inspiration that has come into Jesuit schools through the Society of
Jesus is in no sense an exclusion of those who are not members of this Society.
Though the school is normally called “Jesuit”, the vision is more properly called
“Ignatian” and has never been limited to Jesuits. Ignatius was himself a layman
when he experienced the call of God which he later described in the Spiritual
Exercises, and he directed many other lay people through the same experience;
throughout the last four centuries, countless lay people and members of other
religious congregations have shared in and been influenced by his inspiration.
Moreover, lay people have their own contribution to make, based on their
experience of God in family and in society, and on their distinctive role in the
church or in their religious culture. This contribution will enrich the spirit and
enhance the effectiveness of the Jesuit school.
(11) The description that follows is for Jesuits, lay people and other Religious working in
Jesuit schools; it is for teachers, administrators, parents and governing boards in
these schools. All are invited to join together in making the Ignatian tradition,
adapted to the present day, more effectively present in the policies and practices
that determine the life of the school.
* * *
viii
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF JESUIT EDUCATION
Introductory Notes
(12) Though many of the characteristics on the following pages describe all Jesuit
education, the specific focus is the basic education of the Jesuit high school, or
colegio or collège. (Depending on the assists in the total formation of each
individual within the human community, includes a religious dimension that
permeates the entire education, is an apostolic instrument country, this may be
only secondary education, or it may include both primary and secondary levels.)
Those in other Jesuit institutions, especially universities and university
colleges, are urged to adapt these characteristics to their own situations.
(13) A short historical summary of the life of Ignatius and the growth of Jesuit education
appears in Appendix I. Reading this summary will give those less familiar with
Ignatius and early Jesuit history a better understanding of the spiritual vision on
which the characteristics of Jesuit education are based.
(14) In order to highlight the relationship between the characteristics of Jesuit education
and the spiritual vision of Ignatius the twenty-eight basic characteristics listed on
the following pages are divided into nine sections. Each section begins with a
statement from the Ignatian vision, and is followed by those characteristics that are
applications of the statement to education; the individual characteristics are then
described in more detail. A tenth section suggests, by way of example, some
characteristics of Jesuit pedagogy.
(15) The introductory statements come directly from the world-vision of Ignatius. The
characteristics of Jesuit education come from reflection on that vision, applying it
to education in the light of the needs of men and women today. (The Ignatian
world-vision and the characteristics of Jesuit education are listed in parallel
columns in Appendix II. The notes to that Appendix suggest sources for each of
the statements summarizing the Ignatian vision.)
(16) Some characteristics apply to specific groups: students, former students, teachers or
parents. Others apply to the educational community as a whole; still others,
concerning the policies and practices of the institution as such, apply primarily to
the school administrators or the governing board.
(17) These pages do not speak about the very real difficulties in the lives of all those
involved in education: the resistance of students and their discipline problems, the
struggle to meet a host of conflicting demands from school officials, students,
parents and others, the lack of time for reflection, the discouragement and
disillusions that seem to be inherent in the work of education. Nor do they speak
of the difficulties of modern life in general. This is not To ignore or minimize these
problems. On the contrary, it would not be possible to speak of Jesuit education at
all if it were not for the dedication of all those people, Jesuit and lay, who continue
to give themselves to education in spite of frustration and failure. This document
ix
will not try to offer facile solutions to intractable problems, but it will try to
provide a vision or an inspiration that can make the day-to-day struggle have
greater meaning and bear greater fruit.
(18) The description of Jesuit Education lies in the document as a whole. A partial reading
can give a distorted image that seems to ignore essential traits. A commitment to
the faith that does justice, to take one example, must permeate the whole of Jesuit
education—even though it is not described in this document until section five.
(19) Because they apply to Jesuit secondary schools throughout the world, the
characteristics of Jesuit education are described in a form that is somewhat general
and schematic. They need amplification and concrete application to local situa-
tions. This document, therefore, is a resource for reflection and study rather than a
finished work.
(20) Not all of the characteristics of Jesuit education will be present in the same measure in
each individual school; in some situations a statement may represent an ideal rather
than a present reality. “Circumstances of times, places, persons and other such
factors”7 must be taken into account: the same basic spirit will be made concrete in
different ways in different situations. To avoid making distinctions which depend
on local circumstances and to avoid a constant repetition of the idealistic “wishes
to be” or the judgmental “should be”, the characteristics are written in the categoric
indicative: “Jesuit education is....”
* * *
x
(21) 1. For Ignatius, God is Creator and Lord, Supreme Goodness, the one Reality that
is absolute; all other reality comes from God and has value only insofar as it leads us
to God.8 This God is present in our lives, “laboring for us” 9 in all things; He can be
discovered, through faith, in all natural and human events, in history as a whole, and
most especially within the lived experience of each individual person.
(22)
Jesuit education: is world-affirming.
assists in the total formation of each
individual within the human community.
includes a religious dimension that permeates the entire
education.
is an apostolic instrument.
promotes dialogue between faith and culture.
1.1 World-affirming.
(23) Jesuit education acknowledges God as the Author of all reality, all truth and all
knowledge. God is present and working in all of creation: in nature, in history and in
persons. Jesuit education, therefore, affirms the radical goodness of the world “charged
with the grandeur of God”,10 and it regards every element of creation as worthy of study
and contemplation, capable of endless exploration.
(24) The education in a Jesuit school tries to create a sense of wonder and mystery in
learning about God’s creation. A more complete knowledge of creation can lead to
a greater knowledge of God and a greater willingness to work with God in His
ongoing creation. Courses are taught in such a way that students, in humble
recognition of God’s presence, find joy in learning and thirst for greater and deeper
knowledge.
1.2 The total formation of each individual within community.
(25) God is especially revealed in the mystery of the human person, “created in the image
and likeness of God”;11 Jesuit education, therefore, probes the meaning of human
life and is concerned with the total formation of each student as an individual
personally loved by God. The objective of Jesuit education is to assist in the fullest
possible development of all of the God-given talents of each individual person as a
member of the human community.
(26) A thorough and sound intellectual formation includes mastery of basic humanistic and
scientific disciplines through careful and sustained study that is based on
competent and well-motivated teaching. This intellectual formation includes a
growing ability to reason reflectively, logically and critically.
(27) While it continues to give emphasis to the traditional humanistic studies that are
essential for an understanding of the human person, Jesuit education also includes
a careful and critical study of technology together with the physical and social
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sciences.
(28) In Jesuit education, particular care is given to the development of the imaginative, the
affective, and the creative dimensions of each student in all courses of study.
These dimensions enrich learning and prevent it from being merely intellectual.
They are essential in the formation of the whole person and are a way to discover
God as He reveals Himself through beauty. For these same reasons, Jesuit edu-
cation includes opportunities -through course work and through extracurricular
activities - for all students to come to an appreciation of literature, aesthetics,
music and the fine arts.
(29) Jesuit schools of the 17th Century were noted for their development of communication
skills or “eloquence”, achieved through an emphasis on essays, drama, speeches,
debates, etc. In today’s world so dominated by communications media, the
development of effective communication skills is more necessary than ever before.
Jesuit education, therefore, develops traditional skills in speaking and writing and
also helps students to attain facility with modern instruments of communication
such as film and video.
(30) An awareness of the pervasive influence of mass media on the attitudes and
perceptions of peoples and cultures is also important in the world of today.
Therefore Jesuit education includes programs which enable students to understand
and critically evaluate the influence of mass media. Through proper education,
these instruments of modern life can help men and women to become more, rather
than less, human.
(31) Education of the whole person implies physical development in harmony with other
aspects of the educational process. Jesuit education, therefore, includes a well-
developed program of sports and physical education. In addition to strengthening
the body, sports programs help young men and women learn to accept both success
and failure graciously; they become aware of the need to cooperate with others,
using the best qualities of each individual to contribute to the greater advantage of
the whole group.
(32) All of these distinct aspects of the educational process have one common purpose:
the formation of the balanced person with a personally developed philosophy of
life that includes ongoing habits of reflection. To assist in this formation,
individual courses are related to one another within a well-planned educational
program; every aspect of school life contributes to the total development of each
individual person.12
(33) Since the truly human is found only in relationships with others that include attitudes
of respect, love, and service, Jesuit education stresses - and assists in developing -
the role of each individual as a member of the human community. Students,
teachers, and all members of the educational community are encouraged to build a
solidarity with others that transcends race, culture or religion. In a Jesuit school,
good manners are expected; the atmosphere is one in which all can live and work
together in understanding and love, with respect for all men and women as children
of God.
xii
1.3 A religious dimension permeates the entire education.
(34) Since every program in the school can be a means to discover God, all teachers share a
responsibility for the religious dimension of the school. However, the integrating factor
in the process of discovering God and understanding the true meaning of human life is
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theology as presented through religious and spiritual education. Religious and spiritual
formation is integral to Jesuit education; it is not added to, or separate from, the
educational process.
(35) Jesuit education tries to foster the creative Spirit at work in each person, offering the
opportunity for a faith response to God while at the same time recognizing that
faith cannot be imposed.13 In all classes, in the climate of the school, and most
especially in formal classes in religion, every attempt is made to present the
possibility of a faith response to God as something truly human and not opposed to
reason, as well as to develop those values which are able to resist the secularism of
modern life. A Jesuit school does everything it can to respond to the mission given
to the Society of Jesus “to resist atheism vigorously with united forces”.14
(36) Every aspect of the educational process can lead, ultimately, to worship of God
present and at work in creation, and to reverence for creation as it mirrors God.
Worship and reverence are parts of the life of the school community; they are
expressed in personal prayer and in appropriate community forms of worship. The
intellectual, the imaginative and affective, the creative, and the physical develop-
ment of each student, along with the sense of wonder that is an aspect of every
course and of the life of the school as a whole -all can help students to discover
God active in history and in creation.
1.4 An apostolic instrument.15
(37) While it respects the integrity of academic disciplines, the concern of Jesuit education
is preparation for life, which is itself a preparation for eternal life. Formation of
the individual is not an abstract end; Jesuit education is also concerned with the
ways in which students will make use of their formation within the human
community, in the service of others “for the praise, reverence, and service of
God”.16 The success of Jesuit education is measured not in terms of academic
performance of students or professional competence of teachers, but rather in terms
of this quality of life.
1.5 The dialogue between faith and culture.
(38) Believing that God is active in all creation and in all human history, Jesuit education
promotes dialogue between faith and culture - which includes dialogue between
faith and science. This dialogue recognizes that persons as well as cultural
structures are human, imperfect, and sometimes affected by sin and in need of
conversion;17 at the same time it discovers God revealing Himself in various
distinct cultural ways. Jesuit education, therefore, encourages contact with and a
genuine appreciation of other cultures, to be creatively critical of the contributions
and deficiencies of each.
(39) Jesuit education is adapted to meet the needs of the country and the culture in which
the school is located;18 this adaptation, while it encourages a “healthy patriotism” is
not an unquestioning acceptance of national values. The concepts of “contact
with”, “genuine appreciation” and being “creatively critical” apply also to one’s
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own culture and country. The goal is always to discover God, present and active in
creation and in history.
(40) 2. Each man or woman is personally known and loved by God. This love invites a
response which, to be authentically human, must be an expression of a radical
freedom. Therefore, in order to respond to the love of God, each person is called
to be:
- free to give of oneself, while accepting responsibility for and the consequences of
one’s actions: free to be faithful.
- free to work in faith toward that true happiness which is the purpose of life: free to
labor with others in the service of the Kingdom of God for the healing of creation.
(41)
Jesuit education: insists on individual care and concern for each person.
emphasizes activity on the part of the student.
encourages life-long openness to growth.
2.1 Care and concern for each individual person.
(42) The young men and women who are students in a Jesuit school have not reached full
maturity; the educational process recognizes the developmental stages of
intellectual, affective and spiritual growth and assists each student to mature
gradually in all these areas. Thus, the curriculum is centered on the person rather
than on the material to be covered. Each student is allowed to develop and to
accomplish objectives at a pace suited to individual ability and the characteristics
of his or her own personality.
(43) Growth in the responsible use of freedom is facilitated by the personal relationship
between student and teacher. Teachers and administrators, both Jesuit and lay, are
more than academic guides. They are involved in the lives of the students, taking a
personal interest in the intellectual, affective, moral and spiritual development of
every student, helping each one to develop a sense of self-worth and to become a
responsible individual within the community. While they respect the privacy of
students, they are ready to listen to their cares and concerns about the meaning of
life, to share their joys and sorrows, to help them with personal growth and
interpersonal relationships. In these and other ways, the adult members of the
educational community guide students in their development of a set of values
leading to life decisions that go beyond “self”: that include a concern for the needs
of others. They try to live in a way that offers an example to the students, and they
are willing to share their own life experiences. “Cura personalis” (concern for the
individual person) remains a basic characteristic of Jesuit education.19
(44) Freedom includes responsibilities within the community. “Cura personalis” is not
limited to the relationship between teacher and student; it affects the curriculum
and the entire life of the institution. All members of the educational community are
concerned with one another and learn from one another. The personal
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relationships among students, and also among adults - lay and Jesuit,
administrators, teachers, and auxiliary staff - evidence this same care. A personal
concern extends also to former students, to parents and to the student within his or
her family.
2.2 Activity of students in the learning process.
(45) Growth in the maturity and independence that are necessary for growth in freedom
depends on active participation rather than passive reception. Important steps
toward this active participation include personal study, opportunities for personal
discovery and creativity, and an attitude of reflection. The task of the teacher is to
help each student to become an independent learner, to assume the responsibility
for his or her own education.
2.3 Life-long openness to growth.
(46) Since education is a life-long process, Jesuit education tries to instill a joy in learning
and a desire to learn that will remain beyond the days in school. “Perhaps even
more important than the formation we give them is the capacity and concern to
continue their own formation; this is what we must instill in them. It is important
to learn; but it is much more important to learn how to learn, to desire to go on
learning all through life”.20
(47) Personal relationships with students will help the adult members of the educational
community to be open to change, to continue to learn; thus they will be more
effective in their own work. This is especially important today, given the rapid
change in culture and the difficulty that adults can have in understanding and
interpreting correctly the cultural pressures that affect young people.
(48) Jesuit education recognizes that intellectual, affective, and spiritual growth continue
throughout life; the adult members of the educational community are encouraged
to continue to mature in all of these areas, and programs of ongoing formation are
provided to assist in this growth.21
* * *
xvi
(49) 3. Because of sin, and the effects of sin, the freedom to respond to God’s love is
not automatic. Aided and strengthened by the redeeming love of God, we are
engaged in an ongoing struggle to recognize and work against the obstacles that
block freedom - including the effects of sinfulness - while developing the capacities
that are necessary for the exercise of true freedom.
a. This freedom requires a genuine knowledge, love and acceptance of self,

joined to a determination to be freed from any excessive attachment: to
wealth, fame, health, power, or anything else, even life itself.
b. True freedom also requires a realistic knowledge of the various forces present
in the surrounding world and includes freedom from distorted perceptions
of reality, warped values, rigid attitudes or surrender to narrow ideologies.
c. To work toward this true freedom, one must learn to recognize and deal with
the influences that can either promote or limit freedom: the movements
within one’s own heart; past experiences of all types; interactions with
other people; the dynamics of history, social structures and culture.
(50)
Jesuit education: is value-oriented.

encourages a realistic knowledge, love, and acceptance of self.
provides a realistic knowledge of the world in which we live.
3.1 Value-oriented.
(51) Jesuit education includes formation in values, in attitudes, and in an ability to evaluate
criteria; that is, it includes formation of the will. Since a knowledge of good and
evil, and of the hierarchy of relative goods, is necessary both for the recognition of
the different influences that affect freedom and for the exercise of freedom, educa-
tion takes place in a moral context: knowledge is joined to virtue.
(52) Personal development through the training of character and will, overcoming
selfishness and lack of concern for others and the other effects of sinfulness, and
developing the freedom that respects others and accepts responsibility, is all aided
by the necessary and fair regulations of the school; these include a fair system of
discipline. Of equal importance is the self-discipline expected of each student,
manifested in intellectual rigor, persevering application to serious study, and
conduct toward others that recognizes the human dignity of each individual.
(53) In a Jesuit school, a framework of inquiry in which a value system is acquired through
a process of wrestling with competing points of view is legitimate.
3.2 Realistic knowledge, love and acceptance of self.
(54) The concern for total human development as a creature of God which is the “Christian
humanism” of Jesuit education emphasizes the happiness in life that is the result of
a responsible use of freedom, but it also recognizes the reality of sin and its effects
xvii
in the life of each person. It therefore tries to encourage each student to confront
this obstacle to freedom honestly, in a growing self-awareness and a growing
realization that forgiveness and conversion are possible through the redemptive
love and the help of God.22
(55) The struggle to remove the obstacles to freedom and develop the capacity to exercise
freedom is more than a recognition of the effects of sin; an ongoing effort to
recognize all obstacles to growth is also essential.23 Students are helped in their
efforts to discover prejudice and limited vision on the one hand and to evaluate
relative goods and competing values on the other.
(56) Teachers and administrators assist students in this growth by being ready to challenge
them, helping students to reflect on personal experiences so that they can
understand their own experience of God; while they accept their gifts and develop
them, they also accept limitations and overcome these as far as possible. The
educational program, in bringing students into realistic contact with themselves,
tries to help them recognize these various influences and to develop a critical
faculty that goes beyond the simple recognition of true and false, good and evil.
3.3 A realistic knowledge of the world.
(57) A realistic knowledge of creation sees the goodness of what God has made, but
includes an awareness of the social effects of sin: the essential incompleteness, the
injustice, and the need for redemption in all people, in all cultures, in all human
structures. In trying to develop the ability to reason reflectively, Jesuit education
emphasizes the need to be in contact with the world as it is - that is, in need of
transformation - without being blind to the essential goodness of creation.
(58) Jesuit education tries to develop in students an ability to know reality and to evaluate
it critically. This awareness includes a realization that persons and structures can
change, together with a commitment to work for those changes in a way that will
help to build more just human structures, which will provide an opportunity for the
exercise of freedom joined to greater human dignity for all.24
* * *
xviii
(59) 4. The world view of Ignatius is centered on the historical person of Jesus Christ.
He is the model for human life because of his total response to the Father’s love in
the service of others. He shares our human condition and invites us to follow him
under the standard of the cross,25 in loving response to the Father. He is alive in our
midst and remains the Man for others in the service of God.
(60)
Jesuit education: proposes Christ as the model of human life.

provides adequate pastoral care.
Celebrates faith in personal and community prayer,
worship and service.
4.1 Christ the model.
(61) Members of various faiths and cultures are a part of the educational community in
Jesuit schools today; to all, whatever their beliefs, Christ is proposed as the model of
human life. Everyone can draw inspiration and learn about commitment from the life
and teaching of Jesus, who witnesses to the love and forgiveness of God, lives in
solidarity with all who suffer, and pours out his life in the service of others. Everyone
can imitate him in an emptying of self, in accepting whatever difficulties or sufferings
come in the pursuit of the one goal to be achieved: responding to the Father’s will in
the service of others.
(62) Christian members of the educational community strive for personal friendship with
Jesus, who gained forgiveness and true freedom for us through his death and
resurrection, is present today and active in our history. To be “Christian” is to
follow Christ and be like him: to share and promote his values and way of life as
far as possible.26
4.2 Pastoral care.27
(63) Pastoral care is a dimension of “cura personalis” that enables the seeds of religious
faith and religious commitment to grow in each individual by enabling each one to
recognize and respond to the message of divine love: seeing God at work in his or
her life, in the lives of others, and in all of creation; then responding to this
discovery through a commitment to service within the community. A Jesuit school
makes adequate pastoral care available to all members of the educational
community in order to awaken and strengthen this personal faith commitment.
(64) For Christians this care is centered on Christ, present in the Christian community.
Students encounter the person of Christ as friend and guide; they come to know
him through Scripture, sacraments, personal and communal prayer, in play and
work, in other persons; they are led to the service of others in imitation of Christ
the Man for others.28
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(65) Making the Spiritual Exercises29 is encouraged as a way of knowing Christ better,
loving him, and following him. The Exercises will also help the members of the
educational community understand the vision of Ignatius, which is the spirit that
lies behind Jesuit education. They can be made in various ways, adapted to the
time and the abilities of each person, whether adult or student.
(66) The Jesuit school encourages and assists each student to respond to his or her own
personal call from God, a vocation of service in personal and professional life -
whether in marriage, religious or priestly life, or a single life.
4.3 Prayer and worship.
(67) Prayer is an expression of faith and an effective way toward establishing the personal
relationship with God that leads to a commitment to serve others. Jesuit education of-
fers a progressive initiation to prayer, following the example of Christ, who prayed
regularly to his Father. All are encouraged to praise and thank God in prayer, to pray
for one another within the school community, and to ask God’s help in meeting the
needs of the larger human community.
(68) The faith relationship with God is communal as well as personal; the educational
community in a Jesuit school is united by bonds that are more than merely human: it is
a community of faith, and expresses this faith through appropriate religious or spiritual
celebrations. For Catholics, the Eucharist is the celebration of a faith community
centered on Christ. All adult members of the community are encouraged to participate
in these celebrations, not only as an expression of their own faith, but also to give
witness to the purposes of the school.
(69) Catholic members of the educational community receive and celebrate the loving
forgiveness of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Depending on local
circumstances, the Jesuit school prepares students (and also adults) for the reception of
other Sacraments.
(70) The obedience of Christ to his Father’s will led him to give of himself totally in the
service of others; a relationship to God necessarily involves a relationship to other per-
sons.30 Jesuit education promotes a faith that is centered on the historical person of
Christ, which therefore leads to a commitment to imitate him as the “Man for others.”
* * *
xx
(71) 5. A loving and free response to God’s love cannot be merely speculative or
theoretical. No matter what the cost, speculative principles must lead to decisive ac-
tion: “love is shown in deeds”.31 Ignatius asks for the total and active commitment of
men and women who, “to imitate and be more actually like Christ”,32will put their
ideals into practice in the real world of the family, business, social movements, political
and legal structures, and religious activities.33
(72)
Jesuit education: is preparation for active life commitment.

serves the faith that does justice.
seeks to form “men and women for others”.
manifests a particular concern for the poor.
5.1 Active life commitment:
(73) “Love is shown in deeds”: the free human response of love to the redeeming love of
God is shown in an active life of service. Jesuit education - in progressive stages that
take into account the developmental stages of growth, and without any attempt at
manipulation - assists in the formation of men and women who will put their beliefs and
attitudes into practice throughout their lives. “We ... challenge you and try to inspire
you to put into practice - in concrete activity - the values that you cherish, the values
that you have received in your formation”.34
5.2 Education in the Service of the Faith that Does Justice:35
(74) The “decisive action” called for today is the faith that does justice: “The mission of
the Society of Jesus today is the service of faith, of which the promotion of justice is
an absolute requirement. For reconciliation with God demands the reconciliation of
people with one another”.36 This service of the faith that does justice is action in
imitation of Christ; it is the justice of God, which is informed by evangelical charity:
“It is charity which gives force to faith, and to the desire for justice. Justice does not
reach its interior fullness except in charity. Christian love both implies justice, and
extends the requirements of justice to the utmost limits, by providing a motivation and
a new interior force. Justice without charity is not evangelical”.37 The Kingdom of
God is a Kingdom of justice, love and peace.38
(75) The promotion of justice includes, as a necessary component, action for peace. More
than the absence of war, the search for peace is a search for relationships of love and
trust among all men and women.
(76) The goal of the faith that does justice and works for peace is a new type of person in a
new kind of society, in which each individual has the opportunity to be fully human and
each one accepts the responsibility of promoting the human development of others.
The active commitment asked of the students - and practiced by former students and by
the adult members of the educational community - is a free commitment to the struggle
xxi
for a more human world and a community of love. For Christians, this commitment is a
response to the call of Christ, and is made in humble recognition that conversion is only
possible with the help of God. For them, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a necessary
component of the struggle for peace and justice. But all members of the educational
community, including those who do not share Christian faith, can collaborate in this
work. A genuine sense of the dignity of the human person can be the starting point for
working together in the promotion of justice and can become the beginning of an
ecumenical dialogue which sees justice as intimately tied to faith.
(77) In a Jesuit school, the focus is on education for justice. Adequate knowledge joined to
rigorous and critical thinking will make the commitment to work for justice in adult life
more effective. In addition to this necessary basic formation, education for justice in an
educational context has three distinct aspects:
(78) 1. Justice issues are treated in the curriculum. This may at times call for the
addition of new courses; of greater importance is the examination of the justice
dimension always present in every course taught.39 Teachers try to become more
conscious of this dimension, so that they can provide students with the intellectual,
moral and spiritual formation that will enable them to make a commitment to service -
that will make them agents of change. The curriculum includes a critical analysis of
society, adapted to the age level of the students; the outlines of a solution that is in line
with Christian principles is a part of this analysis. The reference points are the Word of
God, church teachings, and human science.40
(79) 2. The policies and programs of a Jesuit school give concrete witness to the faith
that does justice; they give a counter-witness to the values of the consumer society.
Social analysis of the reality in which the school is located can lead to institutional self-
evaluation, which may call for structural changes in school policies and practices.41
School policy and school life encourage mutual respect; they promote the human
dignity and human rights of each person, adult and young, in the educational
community.
(80) 3. “There is no genuine conversion to justice unless there are works of justice”.42
Interpersonal relationships within the school manifest a concern for both justice and
charity. In preparation for life commitment, there are opportunities in Jesuit education
for actual contact with the world of injustice. The analysis of society within the
curriculum thus becomes reflection based on actual contact with the structural
dimensions of injustice.
(81) Members of the educational community are aware of and involved in the serious
issues of our day. The educational community, and each individual in it, are
conscious of the influence they can have on others; school policies are made with
an awareness of possible effects on the larger community and on its social
structures.
5.3 Men and women for others.43
(82) Jesuit education helps students to realize that talents are gifts to be developed, not for
self-satisfaction or selfgain, but rather, with the help of God, for the good of the
xxii
human community. Students are encouraged to use their gifts in the service of
others, out of a love for God:
“Today our prime educational objective must be to form men and women
for others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God
and his Christ—for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men
and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not
include love for the least of their neighbors; men and women completely
convinced that the love of God which does not issue in justice for men and
women is a farce”.44
(83) In order to promote an awareness of “others”, Jesuit education stresses community

values such as equality of opportunity for all, the principles of distributive and
social justice, and the attitude of mind that sees service of others as more self-
fulfilling than success or prosperity.45
(84) The adult members of the educational community - especially those in daily contact
with students - manifest in their lives concern for others and esteem for human
dignity.46
5.4 A particular concern for the poor.
(85) Reflecting on the actual situation of today’s world and responding to the call of Christ
who had a special love and concern for the poor, the church and the Society of Jesus
have made a “preferential option”47 for the poor. This includes those without
economic means, the handicapped, the marginalized and all those who are, in any
sense, unable to live a life of full human dignity. In Jesuit education this option is
reflected both in the students that are admitted and in the type of formation that is
given.
(86) Jesuit schools do not exist for any one class of students;48 Ignatius accepted schools
only when they were completely endowed so that education could be available to
everyone; he insisted that special facilities for housing the poor be a part of every
school foundation that he approved and that teachers give special attention to the
needs of poor students. Today, although the situation differs greatly from country to
country and the specific criteria for selecting students depends on “circumstances of
place and persons”, every Jesuit school does what it can to make Jesuit education
available to everyone, including the poor and the disadvantaged.49 Financial
assistance to those in need and reduction of costs whenever possible are means toward
making this possible.
(87) In order for parents, especially the poor, to exercise freedom of choice in the
education of their children, Jesuit schools join in movements that promote free
educational opportunity for all. “The recovery of genuine equality of opportunity and
genuine freedom in the area of education is a concern that falls within the scope of our
struggle for promotion of justice”.50
(88) More basic than the type of student admitted is the type of formation that is given. In
Jesuit education, the values which the school community communicates, gives
witness to, and makes operative in school policies and structures, the values which
flow into the school climate, are those values that promote a special concern for those
xxiii
men and women who are without the means to live in human dignity. In this sense,
the poor form the context of Jesuit education: “Our educational planning needs to be
made in function of the poor, from the perspective of the poor”.51
(89) The Jesuit school provides students with opportunities for contact with the poor and
for service to them, both in the school and in outside service projects, to enable these
students to learn to love all as brothers and sisters in the human community, and also
in order to come to a better understanding of the causes of poverty.
(90) To be educational, this contact is joined to reflection. The promotion of justice in the
curriculum, described above in (80), has as one concrete objective an analysis of the
causes of poverty.
* * *
xxiv
(91) 6. For Ignatius, the response to the call of Christ is made in and through the
Roman Catholic Church, the instrument through which Christ is sacramentally present
in the world. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is the model of this response. Ignatius and his
first companions all were ordained as priests and they put the Society of Jesus at the
service of the Vicar of Christ, “to go to any place whatsoever where he judges it
expedient to send them for the greater glory of God and the good of souls”.52
(92)
Jesuit education: is an apostolic instrument, in service of the church as it serves human

society.
prepares students for active participation in the church and the local
community, for the service of others
6.1 An apostolic instrument in service of the church.
(93) Jesuit schools are a part of the apostolic mission of the church in building the
Kingdom of God. Even though the educational process has changed radically
since the time of Ignatius and the ways to express religious concepts are quite
different, Jesuit education still remains an instrument to help students know God
better and respond to him; the school remains available for use in response to
emerging needs of the people of God. The aim of Jesuit education is the formation
of principled, value-oriented persons for others after the example of Jesus Christ.
Teaching in a Jesuit school, therefore, is a ministry.
(94) Because it is characteristic of all Jesuit works, the Ignatian attitude of loyalty to and
service of the church, the people of God, will be communicated to the entire edu-
cational community in a Jesuit school. The purposes and ideals of members of
other faiths can be in harmony with the goals of the Jesuit school and they can
commit themselves to these goals for the development of the students and for the
betterment of society.
(95) Jesuit education - while respecting the conscience and the convictions of each student
- is faithful to the teachings of the church, especially in moral and religious forma-
tion. As far as possible, the school chooses as qualified leaders of the educational
community those who can teach and give witness to the teachings of Christ
presented by the Catholic Church.
(96) The educational community, based on the example of Christ - and of Mary in her
response to Christ53 - and reflecting on today’s culture in the light of the teachings
of the church, will promote:54
a spiritual vision of the world in the face of materialism;
a concern for others in the face of egoism;
simplicity in the face of consumerism;
the cause of the poor in the face of social injustice.
(97) As part of its service of the church a Jesuit school will serve the local civil and
religious community and cooperate with the local bishop. One example of this is
xxv
that important decisions about school policy take into account the pastoral
orientations of the local church; these same decisions about school policy consider
their possible effects on the local church and the local community.
(98) For greater effectiveness in its service of human needs, a Jesuit school works in
cooperation with other Jesuit apostolic works, with local parishes and other
Catholic and civic agencies, and with centers for the social apostolate.
(99) All members of the educational community are active in service as members of the
local community and of their churches. They participate in meetings and other
activities, especially those related to education.
(100)The Jesuit school community encourages collaboration in ecumenical activities with

other churches and is active in dialogue with all men and women of good will; the
community is a witness to the Gospel of Christ, in service to the human
community.
6.2 Preparation for active participation in the church.
(101) Jesuit education is committed to the religious development of all students. They will
receive instruction in the basic truths of their faith. For Christian students, this includes
a knowledge of the Scriptures, especially the Gospels.
(102) For Catholic students Jesuit education offers a knowledge of and love for the church
and the sacraments, as privileged opportunities to encounter Christ.
(103) In ways proper to a school, concrete experiences of church life are available to all
students, through participation in church projects and activities. Lay teachers, es-
pecially those active in parish activities, can be leaders in promoting this; they can
communicate to students the current emphasis on the apostolate of lay people.
(104) Following the example of the early Jesuit schools where the Sodalities of Mary played
such an important part in fostering devotion and Christian commitment, opportunities
such as the Christian Life Communities are available for those students and adults who
want to know Christ more completely and model their lives on his more closely.
Similar opportunities are offered to members of other faiths who wish to deepen their
faith commitment.
* * *
xxvi
(105) 7. Repeatedly, Ignatius insisted on the “magis” - the more. His constant concern
was for greater service of God through a closer following of Christ and that concern
flowed into all the apostolic work of the first companions. The concrete response to
God must be “of greater value”.55
(106)
Jesuit education: pursues excellence in its work of formation.

witnesses to excellence.
7.1 Excellence in formation.
(107)In Jesuit education, the criterion of excellence is applied to all areas of school life:
the aim is the fullest possible development of every dimension of the person,
linked to the development of a sense of values and a commitment to the service of
others which gives priority to the needs of the poor and is willing to sacrifice self-
interest for the promotion of justice.56 The pursuit of academic excellence is
appropriate in a Jesuit school, but only within the larger context of human
excellence.57
(108)Excellence, like all other Ignatian criteria, is determined by “circumstances of place

and persons”. “The nature of the institution, its location, the number of students,
the formulation of objectives for academic quality or of the publics to be served,
etc., are elements which diversify the instrument in order to adapt it to the
circumstances in which it is being employed”.58 To seek the magis, therefore, is to
provide the type and level of education for the type and age-group of students that
best responds to the needs of the region in which the school is located.
(109)“More” does not imply comparison with others or measurement of progress against an
absolute standard; rather is it the fullest possible development of each person’s
individual capacities at each stage of life, joined to the willingness to continue this
development throughout life and the motivation to use those developed gifts for
others.
(110)A traditional aim of Jesuit education has been to train “leaders”: men and women who
assume responsible positions in society through which they have a positive
influence on others. This objective has, at times, led to excesses which call for
correction. Whatever the concept may have meant in the past, the goal of Jesuit
education in today’s understanding of the Ignatian world-view is not to prepare a
socio-economic elite, but rather to educate leaders in service. The Jesuit school,
therefore, will help students to develop the qualities of mind and heart that will
enable them - in whatever station they assume in life - to work with others for the
good of all in the service of the Kingdom of God.
(111)Service is founded on a faith commitment to God; for Christians this is expressed in

terms of the following of Christ. The decision to follow Christ, made in love, leads
to a desire to always do “more” - enabling us to become multiplying agents. 59 The
xxvii
desire, in turn, is converted into the necessary personal preparation in which a
student dedicates himself or herself to study, to personal formation, and ultimately
to action.
(112)The Ratio Studiorum recommends competition - normally between groups rather than
individuals - as an effective stimulus to academic growth. Jesuit education today
faces a different reality: a world of excessive competitiveness reflected in
individualism, consumerism, and success at all costs. Although a Jesuit school
values the stimulus of competitive games, it urges students to distinguish
themselves by their ability to work together, to be sensitive to one another, to be
committed to the service of others shown in the way they help one another. “A
desire for Christian witness ... cannot thrive in an atmosphere of academic compe-
tition, or where one’s personal qualities are judged only by comparison to those of
others. These things will thrive only in an atmosphere in which we learn how to be
available, how to be of service to others”.60
7.2 Witness to excellence.
(113) The school policies are such that they create an ambience or “climate” which will
promote excellence. These policies include ongoing evaluation of goals, programs,
services and teaching methods in an effort to make Jesuit education more effective in
achieving its goals.
(114) The adult members of the educational community witness to excellence by joining
growth in professional competence to growth in dedication.
(115) The teachers and directors in a Jesuit school cooperate with other schools and
educational agencies to discover more effective institutional policies, educational pro-
cesses, and pedagogical methods.61
* * *
xxviii
(116) 8. As Ignatius came to know the love of God revealed through Christ and began to
respond by giving himself to the service of the Kingdom of God he shared his
experience and attracted companions who became “friends in the Lord”,62 for the
service of others. The strength of a community working in service of the Kingdom is
greater than that of any individual or group of individuals.
(117)
Jesuit education: stresses lay-Jesuit collaboration.

relies on a spirit of community among:
teaching staff and administrators;
the Jesuit community;
governing boards;
parents;
students;
former students;
benefactors.
takes place within a structure that promotes community.
8.1 Lay-Jesuit Collaboration:
(118)Lay-Jesuit collaboration is a positive goal that a Jesuit school tries to achieve in

response to the Second Vatican Council63 and to recent General Congregations of
the Society of Jesus.64 Because this concept of a common mission is still new,
there is a need for growing understanding and for careful planning.
(119)In a Jesuit school, there is a willingness on the part of both lay people and Jesuits to
assume appropriate responsibilities: to work together in leadership and in service.
Efforts are made to achieve a true union of minds and hearts, and to work together
as a single apostolic body65 in the formation of students. There is, therefore, a shar-
ing of vision, purpose and apostolic effort.
(120)The legal structure of the school allows for the fullest possible collaboration in the
direction of the schools.66
(121)Jesuits are active in promoting lay-Jesuit collaboration in the school. “Let Jesuits
consider the importance for the Society of such collaboration with lay people, who
will always be the natural interpreters for us of the modern world and so will
always give us effective help in this apostolate”.67 “We must be willing to work
with others ... willing to play a subordinate, supporting, anonymous role; and
willing to learn how to serve from those we seek to serve”. 68 One of the
responsibilities of the Religious superior is to foster this openness in the apostolic
work.
8.2 Teaching staff and Administrators:
(122)As far as possible, people chosen to join the educational community in a Jesuit school
will be men and women capable of understanding its distinctive nature and of
xxix
contributing to the implementation of characteristics that result from the Ignatian
vision.
(123)In order to promote a common sense of purpose applied to the concrete circumstances
of school-life, teachers, administrators and auxiliary staff, Jesuit and lay,
communicate with one another regularly on personal, professional and religious
levels. They are willing to discuss vision and hopes, aspirations and experiences,
successes and failures.
8.3 The Jesuit Community:
(124)The Jesuits working in the school “should be a group of men with a clear identity,
who live the true Ignatian charism, closely bound together by union of minds and
hearts ad intra, and similarly bound, ad extra, by their generous participation in a
common mission.... It should be the source of inspiration and stimulation for the
other components of the educational community.... The witness of our lives is
essential”.69
(125)The Jesuits will be more effective in their service and inspiration of the total
educational community if they live in service and inspiration to one another,
forming a true community in prayer and in life. This lived witness is one means of
making their work in the school a “corporate” apostolate, and will help the larger
school community be more effectively and affectively united.
(126)At least on special occasions, other members of the educational community are
invited to meals and to liturgical and social functions in the Jesuit community.
Spending time together informally is a help toward building community and lay
people will come to a better understanding of Jesuit life when they have
opportunities to be a part of it.
(127)In addition to their professional responsibilities in the school as teachers,

administrators, or pastors, Jesuits are available to provide opportunities such as
discussions, workshops, and retreats which can enable others in the school
community to come to a better knowledge and appreciation of the world-view of
Ignatius.
(128)Education - the work of a teacher or administrator or member of the auxiliary staff -is
itself apostolic. In keeping with the nature of the school as an apostolic instrument
of the church, however, those Jesuits who are priests are also active in more
directly sacerdotal work, including celebration of the Eucharist, being available for
the Sacrament of Reconciliation, etc.
(129) The statutes of the school define the responsibilities of the school director and the
authority of the Society of Jesus (see 8.9 below). Depending on local
circumstances, neither the individual Jesuit nor the group of Jesuits as a
community has, as such, any power of decision-making in a Jesuit school not
described in these statutes.
8.4 Governing Boards:
xxx
(130)General Congregation XXXI of the Society of Jesus recommended that governing
boards be established in Jesuit schools, with membership that includes both lay
people and Jesuits.70 These are a further means of sharing responsibility among
both lay people and Jesuits and thus promoting lay-Jesuit collaboration. They take
advantage of the professional competencies of a variety of different people. The
members of these boards, both Jesuits and lay, are familiar with the purposes of a
Jesuit school and with the vision of Ignatius on which these purposes are based.
8.5 Parents:
(131)Teachers and directors in a Jesuit school cooperate closely with parents, who are also
members of the educational community. There is frequent communication and on-
going dialogue between the home and the school. Parents are kept informed about
school activities; they are encouraged to meet with the teachers to discuss the
progress of their children. Parents are offered support and opportunities for growth
in exercising their role as parents, and they are also offered opportunities to
participate in advisory councils. In these and other ways, parents are helped to
fulfill their right and responsibility as educators in the home and family and they in
turn contribute to the work of education going on in the school.71
(132)As far as possible, parents understand, value and accept the Ignatian world view that
characterizes the Jesuit school. The school community, keeping in mind the
different situations in different countries, provides opportunities by which parents
can become more familiar with this worldview and its applications to education.
(133)There is consistency between the values promoted in the school and those promoted
in the home. At the time their children first enroll in the school, parents are
informed about the commitment of Jesuit education to a faith that does justice.
Programs of ongoing formation are available to parents so that they can understand
this aim better and be strengthened in their own commitment to it.
8.6 Students:
(134)Students form a community of understanding and support among themselves; this is

reinforced both informally and through such structures as student government and
student councils. Moreover, according to their age and capacity, student
participation in the larger school community is encouraged through membership on
advisory councils and other school committees.
8.7 Former students:
(135)Former students are members of the “community working in service of the kingdom”;
a Jesuit school has a special responsibility to them. As far as resources permit, the
school will offer guidance and ongoing formation so that those who received their
basic formation in the school can be more effective in putting this formation into
practice in adult life and can continue to deepen their dedication to the service of
others.72 Close bonds of friendship and mutual support exist between the Jesuit
school and Alumni (Former Student) Associations.73
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8.8 Benefactors:
(136) In a similar way, the Jesuit school has a special responsibility toward its
benefactors and will offer them the support and guidance that they may need. In
particular, benefactors have opportunities to learn more about the distinctive nature
of a Jesuit school, the Ignatian vision on which it is based, and its goals, to which
they contribute.
8.9 The School Structure:
(137)A greater degree of shared responsibility has developed in recent years. Increasingly,
decisions are made only after receiving advice through informal consultations,
formal committees and other means; all members of the educational community
are kept informed about decisions and about important events in the life of the
school. In order to be truly effective, a sharing of responsibility must be based on
a common vision or common sense of purpose, noted above.
(138)Inthe past the Rector of the Jesuit community, appointed by the Superior General of
the Society of Jesus, was responsible for the direction of the Jesuit school; he
reported regularly to the Jesuit Provincial. Today, in many parts of the world, the
Rector of the community is not the “Director of the Work”; in some cases a
governing board works in collaboration with the Society in the appointment of the
director; more and more frequently this director is a lay person. Whatever the
particular situation and whatever the mode of appointment, the responsibility
entrusted to the director of a Jesuit school always includes a mission that comes
ultimately from the Society of Jesus. This mission, as it relates to the Jesuit
character of the school, is subject to periodic evaluation by the Society (normally
through the Jesuit Provincial or his delegate).
(139)The role of the director is that of an apostolic leader. The role is vital in providing
inspiration, in the development of a common vision and in preserving unity within
the educational community. Since the world-view of Ignatius is the basis on which
a common vision is built, the director is guided by this world-view and is the one
responsible for ensuring that opportunities are provided through which the other
members of the community can come to a greater understanding of this world-view
and its applications to education. In addition to his role of inspiration, the director
remains ultimately responsible for the execution of the basic educational policy of
the school and for the distinctively Jesuit nature of this education. The exact
nature of this responsibility is described in the statutes of each school.
(140)In many cases, responsibility for the Jesuit school is shared among several people
with distinct roles (Rector, Director, President, Principal or Headmaster); the final
responsibility for policy and practice is often entrusted to governing boards. All
those sharing responsibility for the Jesuit school form a directive team. They are
aware of and are open to the Ignatian vision as this is applied to education; they are
able to work together with mutual support and respect, making use of the talents of
each. This type of team structure, which is an application of the principle of
subsidiarity, has the advantage of bringing the abilities of more people into the
leadership of the school; in addition, it ensures greater stability in carrying forward
the policies that implement the basic orientation of the school.
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(141)If the school is “Jesuit”, then sufficient authority and control remains in the hands of
the Society of Jesus to enable that Society to respond to a call of the church
through its institutions and to ensure that the Jesuit school continues to be faithful
to its traditions. Except for this limitation, effective authority in the school can be
exer- cised by anyone, Jesuit or lay, who has a knowledge of, sympathy for,
identification with and commitment to the Jesuit character of education.
(142)The structures of the school guarantee the rights of students, directors, teachers, and
auxiliary staff, and call each to his or her individual responsibilities. All members
of the community work together to create and maintain the conditions most
favorable for each one to grow in the responsible use of freedom. Every member
of the community is invited to be actively engaged in the growth of the entire
community. The school structure reflects the new society that the school, through
its education, is trying to construct.
* * *
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(143) 9. For Ignatius and for his companions, decisions were made on the basis of an
ongoing process of individual and communal “discernment”74 done always in a
context of prayer. Through prayerful reflection on the results of their activities, the
companions reviewed past decisions and made adaptations in their methods, in a
constant search for greater service to God (“magis”).
(144)
Jesuit education: adapts means and methods in order to achieve its purposes
most effectively.
is a “system” of schools with a common vision
and common goals.
assists in providing the professional training and
ongoing formation that is needed, especially for teachers.
9.1 Adaptation to achieve the purposes of Jesuit education:
(145) The educational community in a Jesuit school studies the needs of present-day society
and then reflects on school policies, structures, methods, current pedagogical methods
and all other elements of the school environment, to find those means that will best
accomplish the purposes of the school and implement its educational philosophy. On
the basis of these reflections changes are made in school structure, methods,
curriculum, etc., when these are seen to be necessary or helpful. An educator in the
Jesuit tradition is encouraged to exercise great freedom and imagination in the choice of
teaching techniques, pedagogical methods, etc. School policies and practices encourage
reflection and evaluation; they allow for change when change is necessary.
(146) Though general norms need to be applied to concrete circumstances, principles on

which this reflection is based can be found in current documents of the church and of
the Society of Jesus.75 In addition, the Jesuit Constitutions provide criteria to guide
discernment in order to achieve the “magis”: the more universal good, the more urgent
need, the more lasting value, work not being done by others, etc.76.
(147)The “circumstances of persons and places” require that courses of studies, educational
processes, styles of teaching, and the whole life of the school be adapted to fit the
specific needs of the place where the school is located, and the people it serves.
9.2 The Jesuit “system” of schools:
(148)The Jesuits in the first schools of the Society shared ideas and the fruits of their
experience, searching for the principles and methods that would be “more”
effective in accomplishing the purposes of their educational work. Each institution
applied these principles and methods to its own situation; the strength of the Jesuit
“system” grew out of this interchange. Jesuit schools still form a network, joined
not by unity of administration or uniformity of programs, but by a common vision
with common goals; teachers and administrators in Jesuit schools are again
sharing ideas and ex-
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periences in order to discover the principles and methods that will provide the most
effective implementation of this common vision.
(149)The interchange of ideas will be more effective if each school is inserted into the
concrete reality of the region in which it is located and is engaged in an ongoing
exchange of ideas and experiences with other schools and educational works of the
local church and of the country. The broader the interchange on the regional level,
the more fruitful the interchange among Jesuit schools can be on an international
level.
(150)To aid in promoting this interchange of ideas and experiences an exchange of teachers
and students is encouraged wherever possible.
(151)A wide variety of experimentation to discover more effective ways to make “the faith
that does justice” a dimension of educational work is going on in all parts of the
world. Because of the importance of this challenge, and the difficulty of achieving
it, these experiments need to be evaluated and the results shared with others, so
that positive experiences can be incorporated into local school policies, practices
and community. The need for an exchange of ideas and experiences in this area is
especially great - not only for the individual schools, but also for the apostolate of
education as such.
9.3 Professional training and ongoing formation:
(152) Rapid change is typical of the modern world. In order to remain effective as educators
and in order to “discern” the more concrete response to God’s call, all adult members of
the educational community need to take advantage of opportunities for continuing
education and continued personal development - especially in professional competence,
pedagogical techniques, and spiritual formation. The Jesuit school encourages this by
providing staff development programs in every school and, as far as possible, providing
the necessary time and financial assistance for more extended training and formation.
(153) In order to achieve genuine collaboration and sharing of responsibility, lay people need
to have an understanding of Ignatian spirituality, of Jesuit educational history and
traditions and Jesuit life, while Jesuits need to have an understanding of the lived
experience, challenges, and ways in which the Spirit of God also moves lay people,
together with the contributions lay people make to the church and to the Jesuit school.
The Jesuit school provides special orientation programs to new members of staff; in
addition, it provides ongoing programs and processes which encourage a growing
awareness and understanding of the aims of Jesuit education, and also give an
opportunity for Jesuits to learn from the lay members of the community. Where pos-
sible, special programs of professional and spiritual training are available to help lay
people prepare themselves to assume directive posts in Jesuit schools.
* * *
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10. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF JESUIT PEDAGOGY
(154) Ignatius insisted that Jesuit schools should adopt the methods of the University of Paris
(“modus Parisiensis”) because he considered these to be the most effective in achieving
the goals he had in mind for these schools. The methods were tested and adapted by
Jesuit educators in accordance with their religious experience in the Spiritual Exercises
and their growing practical experience in education. Many of these principles and
methods are still typical of Jesuit education because they are still effective in
implementing the characteristics described in the previous sections. Some of the more
widely known are listed in this final section by way of example.
A. From the experience of the Spiritual Exercises77:
(155) 1. Though there are obvious differences between the two situations, the quality of
the relationship between the guide of the Spiritual Exercises and the person making
them is the model for the relationship between teacher and student. Like the guide of
the Exercises, the teacher is at the service of the students, alert to detect special gifts or
special difficulties, personally concerned, and assisting in the development of the inner
potential of each individual student.
(156) 2. The active role of the person making the Exercises is the model for the active role
of the student in personal study, personal discovery and creativity.
(157) 3. The progression in the Exercises is one source of the practical, disciplined,
“means to end” approach that is characteristic of Jesuit education.78
(158) 4. The “Presupposition” to the Exercises79 is the norm for establishing personal
relations and good rapport - between teachers and students, between teachers and
school directors, among teachers, among students, and everywhere in the educational
community.
(159) 5. Many of the “Annotations” or “suggestions for the guide to the Exercises” are,
with appropriate adaptations, suggestions to teachers in a Jesuit school.
(160) 6. There are analogies between methods of the Exercises and traditional Jesuit
teaching methods, many of which were incorporated into the Ratio Studiorum:
a. The “preludes” and “points” for prayer are the prelection of the course material to
be covered;
b. The “repetition” of prayer becomes the mastery of course material through

frequent and careful repetition of class work;
c. The “application of the senses” (“sentir” for Ignatius) is found in the stress on the
creative and the imaginative, in the stress on experience, motivation, appreciation
and joy in learning.
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B. A few examples of directives from the Constitutions and Ratio Studiorum:
(See Appendix I for a fuller description of the contents of these two
documents.)
(161) 1. The curriculum is to be structured carefully: in daily order, in the way that
courses build on material covered in previous courses and in the way courses are related
to one another. The curriculum should be so integrated that each individual course
contributes toward the overall goal of the school.
(162) 2. The pedagogy is to include analysis, repetition, active reflection, and synthesis; it
should combine theoretical ideas with their applications.
(163) 3. It is not the quantity of course material covered that is important but rather a
solid, profound, and basic formation. (“Non multa, sed multum”.)
* * *
xxxviii
Conclusion
(164) The introduction refers to a meeting held in Rome in 1980, and to the address that
Father Pedro Arrupe gave at the conclusion of that meeting. The address was later
published under the title “Our Secondary Schools Today and Tomorrow” and has been
quoted several times, both in the characteristics themselves and in the footnotes.
(165) In that address, Father Arrupe described the purpose of a Jesuit school. It is, he said, to
assist in the formation of
“New Persons, transformed by the message of Christ, who will be witnesses

to His death and resurrection in their own lives. Those who graduate from
our secondary schools should have acquired, in ways proportional to their
age and maturity, a way of life that is in itself a proclamation of the charity
of Christ, of the faith that comes from Him and leads back to Him, and of the
justice which he announced”.80
(166) More recently the present General of the Society of Jesus, Father Peter-Hans
Kolvenbach, expressed the same purpose in very similar words:
“Our ideal is the well-rounded person who is intellectually competent, open to

growth, religious, loving, and committed to doing justice in generous service
to the people of God”.81
(167) The aim of Jesuit education has never been simply the acquisition of a store of
information and skills or preparation for a career, though these are important in
themselves and useful to emerging Christian leaders. The ultimate aim of Jesuit
secondary education is, rather, that full growth of the person which leads to action -
action that is suffused with the spirit and presence of Jesus Christ, the Man for Others.
(168) The International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education has attempted to
describe the characteristics of Jesuit education in order to help Jesuit schools to achieve
this purpose more effectively. The material is not new; the paper is not complete; the
work of renewal is never ended. A description of the characteristics of Jesuit education
can never be perfect, and can never be final. But a growing understanding of the
heritage of these schools, the Ignatian vision applied to education, can be the impetus to
renewed dedication to this work, and renewed willingness to undertake those tasks
which will make it ever more effective.
* * *
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APPENDIX I
IGNATIUS, THE FIRST JESUIT SCHOOLS, AND

THE RATIO STUDIORUM
A. The Spiritual Journey of Ignatius of Loyola: 1491 - 1540
(This narration of the life of Ignatius is based on A Pilgrim’s Testament,82 an

autobiography dictated to a fellow Jesuit three years before he died. In speaking,
Ignatius consistently referred to himself in the third person.)
Loyola to Montserrat
Ignatius was a minor nobleman, born in 1491 in the family castle of Loyola in Basque
country and brought up as a knight in the courts of Spain. In his autobiography he
sums up the first twenty-six years of his life in one sentence: “he was a man
given to the follies of the world; and what he enjoyed most was warlike sport,
with a great and foolish desire to win fame”.83 The desire to win fame brought
Ignatius to Pamplona to aid in the defense of that frontier city against French
attack. The defense was hopeless; when, on May 20, 1521, he was hit by a
cannon ball which shattered one leg and badly injured the other, Ignatius and the
city of Pamplona both fell to the French forces.
French doctors cared for the badly-wounded Ignatius and returned him to Loyola, where he
spent a long convalescence. In this forced period of inactivity he asked for books
to read and, out of boredom, accepted the only ones available - The Lives of the
Saints and The Life of Christ. When not reading, the romantic knight dreamed - at
times of imitating the deeds of St. Francis and St. Dominic, at times of knightly
deeds of valor in service of “a certain lady”.84 After a time, he came to realize that
“there was this difference. When he was thinking of those things of the world, he
took much delight in them, but afterwards, when he was tired and put them aside,
he found himself dry and dissatisfied. But when he thought of... practising all the
rigors that he saw in the saints, not only was he consoled when he had these
thoughts, but even after putting them aside he remained satisfied and joyful.... His
eyes were opened a little, and he began to marvel at the difference and to reflect
upon it. Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that
were stirring”.85 Ignatius was discovering God at work in his life; his desire for
fame was transformed into a desire to dedicate himself completely to God,
although he was still very unsure what this meant. “The one thing he wanted to do
was to go to Jerusalem as soon as he recovered ... with as much of disciplines and
fasts as a generous spirit, fired with God, would want to perform”.86
(169) Ignatius began the journey to Jerusalem as soon as his recovery was complete. The first
stop was the famous shrine of Montserrat. On March 24, 1522, he laid his sword and
dagger “before the altar of Our Lady of Montserrat, where he had resolved to lay aside
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his garments and to don the armor of Christ”.87 He spent the whole night in vigil, a
pilgrim’s staff in his hand. From Montserrat he journeyed to a town named Manresa,
intending to remain for only a few days. He remained for nearly a year.
Manresa
Ignatius lived as a pilgrim, begging for his basic needs and spending nearly all of his time
in prayer. At first the days were filled with great consolation and joy, but soon
prayer became torment and he experienced only severe temptations, scruples, and
such great desolation that he wished “with great force to throw himself through a
large hole in his room”.88 Finally peace returned. Ignatius reflected in prayer on
the “good and evil spirits”89 at work in experiences such as this, and he began to
recognize that his freedom to respond to God was influenced by these feelings of
“consolation” and “desolation”. “God treated him at this time just as a
schoolmaster treats a child whom he is teaching”.90
(170) The pilgrim gradually became more sensitive to the interior movements of his heart
and the exterior influences of the surrounding world. He recognized God revealing
His love and inviting a response, but he also recognized that his freedom to respond to
that love could be helped or hindered by the way he dealt with these influences. He
learned to respond in freedom to God’s love by struggling to remove the obstacles to
freedom. But “love is expressed in deeds”.91 The fullness of freedom led inevitably to
total fidelity; the free response of Ignatius to the love of God took the form of loving
service: a total dedication to the service of Christ who, for Ignatius the nobleman,
was his “King”. Because it was a response in love to God’s love, it could never be
enough; the logic of love demanded a response that was ever more (“magis”).
(171) The conversion to loving service of God was confirmed in an experience that took
place as he stopped to rest one day at the side of the river Cardoner. “While he was
seated there, the eyes of his understanding began to be opened; not that he saw any
vision, but he understood and learned many things, both spiritual matters and matters
of faith and of scholarship, and this with so great an enlightenment that everything
seemed new to him.... He experienced a great clarity in his understanding. This was
such that in the whole course of his life, after completing sixty-two years, even if he
gathered up all the various helps he may have had from God and all the various things
he has known, even adding them all together, he does not think he had got as much as
at that one time”.92
(172) Ignatius recorded his experiences in a little book, a practice begun during his
convalescence at Loyola. At first these notes were only for himself, but gradually he
saw the possibility of a broader purpose. “When he noticed some things in his soul and
found them useful, he thought they might also be useful to others, and so he put them in
writing”.93 He had discovered God, and thus discovered the meaning of life. He took
advantage of every opportunity to guide others through this same experience of
discovery. As time went on, the notes took on a more structured form and became the
basis for a small book called The Spiritual Exercises,94 published in order to help others
guide men and women through the experience of an interior freedom that leads to the
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faithful service of others in service of God.
(173)
The Spiritual Exercises is not a book simply to be read; it is the guide to an

experience, an active engagement enabling growth in the freedom that leads to
faithful service. The experience of Ignatius at Manresa can become a personal
lived experience.
In the Exercises each person has the possibility of discovering that,

though sinful, he or she is uniquely loved by God and invited to respond to His
love. This response begins with an acknowledgment of sin and its effects, a
realization that God’s love overcomes sin, and a desire for this forgiving and
redeeming love. The freedom to respond is then made possible through a
growing ability, with God’s help, to recognize and engage in the struggle to
overcome the interior and exterior factors that hinder a free response. This
response develops positively through a process of seeking and embracing the
will of God the Father, whose love was revealed in the person and life of His
Son, Jesus Christ, and of discovering and choosing the specific ways in which
this loving service of God is accomplished through active service on behalf of
other men and women, within the heart of reality.
Jerusalem to Paris
(177) Leaving Manresa in 1523, Ignatius continued his journey to Jerusalem. His
experiences during the months at Manresa completed the break with his past life and
confirmed his desire to give himself completely to God’s service, but the desire was
still not clearly focused. He wanted to stay in Jerusalem, visiting the holy places and
serving others, but he was not permitted to remain in that troubled city. “After the
pilgrim realized that it was not God’s will that he remain in Jerusalem, he continually
pondered within himself what he ought to do; and eventually he was rather inclined to
study for some time so that he would be able to help souls, and he decided to go to
Barcelona”.95 Though he was thirty years old he went to school, sitting in class beside
the young boys of the city to learn grammar; two years later, he moved on to
university studies at Alcalá. When he was not studying he taught others about the
ways of God and shared his Spiritual Exercises with them. But the Inquisition would
not permit someone without training in theology to speak about spiritual things.
Rather than keep silent about the one thing that really mattered to him, and convinced
that God was leading him, Ignatius left Alcalá and went to Salamanca. The forces of
the Inquisition continued to harass him until finally, in 1528, he left Spain entirely and
moved to France and the University of Paris.
(178) Ignatius remained in Paris for seven years. Though his preaching and direction in
Barcelona, Alcalá, and Salamanca had attracted companions who stayed with him for
a time, it was at the University of Paris that a more lasting group of “friends in the
Lord”96 was formed. Peter Favre and Francis Xavier were his roommates, “whom he
later won for God’s service by means of the Spiritual Exercises”.97 Attracted by the
same challenge, four others soon joined them. Each of these men experienced God’s
love personally, and their desire to respond was so complete that their lives were
totally transformed. As each one shared this experience with the others, they formed
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a bond of community which was to last throughout their lives.
Paris to Rome
(179) In 1534, this small group of seven companions journeyed together to a small
monastery chapel in Montmartre, outside of Paris, and the only priest among them -
Pierre Favre - celebrated a Mass at which they consecrated their lives to God through
vows of poverty and chastity. It was during these days that they “determined what
they would do, namely, go to Venice and Jerusalem, and spend their lives for the good
of souls”.98 At Venice the six other companions were ordained as priests, Ignatius
among them. But their decision to go to Jerusalem was not to become a reality.
(180) Recurring warfare between Christian and Islamic armies made travel to the East
impossible. While they waited for the tension to ease and pilgrim journeys to be
resumed, the companions spent their days preaching, giving the Exercises, working in
hospitals and among the poor. Finally, when a year had passed and Jerusalem
remained inaccessible, they decided that they would “return to Rome and present
themselves to the Vicar of Christ so that he could make use of them wherever he
thought it would be more for the glory of God and the good of souls”.99
(181) Their resolve to put themselves at the service of the Holy Father meant that they
might be sent to different parts of the world, wherever the Pope had need of them; the
“friends in the Lord” would be dispersed. It was only then that they decided to form a
more permanent bond which would keep them united even when they were physically
separated. They would add the vow of obedience, thus becoming a religious order.
(182) Toward the end of their journey to Rome, at a small wayside chapel in the village of La
Storta, Ignatius “was visited very especially by God. .... He was at prayer in a church
and experienced such a change in his soul and saw so clearly that God the Father placed
him with Christ his Son that he would not dare doubt it - that God the Father had placed
him with his Son”.100 The companions became Companions of Jesus, to be intimately
associated with the risen Christ’s work of redemption, carried out in and through the
church, working in the world. Service of God in Christ Jesus became service in the
church and of the church in its redemptive mission.
(183) In 1539 the companions, now ten, were received favorably by Pope Paul III, and the
Society of Jesus was formally approved in 1540; a few months later, Ignatius was
elected its first Superior General.
B. The Society of Jesus Enters Education: 1540 - 1556.
(184) Even though all of these first companions of Ignatius were graduates of the University
of Paris, the original purposes of the Society of Jesus did not include educational
institutions. As described in the “Formula” presented to Paul III for his approval, the
Society of Jesus was founded “to strive especially for the defense and propagation of
the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine, by means of public
preaching, lectures, and any other ministration whatsoever of the word of God, and
further by means of the Spiritual Exercises, the education of children and unlettered
persons in Christianity, and the spiritual consolation of Christ’s faithful through hearing
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confessions and administering the other sacraments”.101 Ignatius wanted Jesuits to be
free to move from place to place wherever the need was greatest; he was convinced that
institutions would tie them down and prevent this mobility. But the companions had
only one goal: “in all things to love and serve the Divine Majesty”; 102 they would adopt
whatever means could best accomplish this love and service of God through the service
of others.
(185) The positive results to be obtained from the education of young boys soon became
apparent, and it was not long before Jesuits became involved in this work. Francis
Xavier, writing from Goa, India in 1542, was enthusiastic in his description of the effect
Jesuits there were having when they offered instruction at St. Paul’s College; Ignatius
responded with encouragement. A college had been established in Gandía, Spain for
the education of those preparing to join the Society of Jesus; at the insistence of parents
it began, in 1546, to admit other boys of the city. The first “Jesuit school”, in the sense
of an institution intended primarily for young lay students, was founded in Messina,
Sicily only two years later. And when it became apparent that education was not only
an apt means for human and spiritual development but also an effective instrument for
defending a faith under attack by the Reformers, the number of Jesuit schools began to
increase very rapidly: before his death in 1556, Ignatius personally approved the
foundation of 40 schools. For centuries, religious congregations had contributed to the
growth of education in philosophy and theology. For the members of this new order to
extend their educational work to the humanities and even to running the schools, was
something new in the life of the church; it needed formal approval by Papal decree.
(186) Ignatius, meanwhile, remained in Rome and dedicated the last years of his life to
writing the Constitutions103 of this new religious order.
(187)
Inspired by the same vision embodied in the Spiritual Exercises,

the Constitutions manifest the Ignatian ability to combine exalted ends with
the most exact and concrete means for achieving them. The work, divided
into ten “Parts”, is a formative guidebook for Jesuit life.
In its first draft, Part IV consisted of directives for the education of

young men being formed as Jesuits. Since he was approving the
establishment of new schools at the same time as he was writing the
Constitutions, Ignatius partly revised Part IV to include the guiding
educational principles work that was to be undertaken in these schools. This
section of the Constitutions is, therefore the best source for the explicit and
direct thought of Ignatius on the apostolate of education, even though it was
largely completed before he realized the extensive role education was to
play in the apostolic work of Jesuits.
The preamble to Part IV sets the goal: “The aim which the Society
of Jesus directly seeks is to aid its own members and their fellowmen to
attain the ultimate end for which they were created . To achieve this
purpose, in addition to the example of one’s life, learning and a method of
expounding it are also necessary.”104
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The priorities in the formation of Jesuits became priorities of Jesuit
education: a stress on the humanities, to be followed by philosophy and
theology,105 a careful orderly advance to be observed in pursuing these
successive branches of knowledge,106 repetition of the material and active
involvement of the students in their own education.107 Much time should be
spent in developing good style in writing.108 The role of the Rector, as the
center of authority, inspiration and unity, is essential.109 These were not new
pedagogical methods: Ignatius was familiar with lack of method, and with
the methods of many schools, especially the careful methods of the
University of Paris. He chose and adapted those which would be most
effective in achieving the purposes of Jesuit education.
When speaking explicitly about schools for lay students in Part IV,
chapter 7, Ignatius is specific about only a few matters. He insists, for
example, that the students (at that time nearly all Christians), be “well-
instructed in Christian doctrine”.110 Also, in accordance with the principle
that there be no temporal remuneration for any Jesuit ministry, no fees are
to be charged.111 Except for these and a few other details, he is content to
apply a basic principle found throughout the Constitutions: “Since there
must be a great variety in particular cases in accordance with the
circumstances of place and persons, this present treatment will not descend
further to what is particular, except to say that there should be rules which
come down to everything necessary in each college”.112 In a later note, he
adds a suggestion: “From the Rules of the Roman College, the part which is
suitable to the other colleges can be adapted to them.”113
(188) In separate correspondence, Ignatius promised further development of the rules, or

basic principles, which should govern all the schools. But he insisted that he could
not provide these principles until he could derive them from the concrete experiences
of those actually engaged in education. Before he could fulfill his promise, Ignatius
died. It was the early morning of July 31, 1556.
C. The Ratio Studiorum and More Recent History
(189) In the years following the death of Ignatius, not all Jesuits agreed that involvement in
schools was a proper activity for the Society of Jesus; it was a struggle that lasted well
into the 17th Century. Nevertheless, Jesuit involvement in education continued to grow
at a rapid rate. Of the 40 schools that Ignatius had personally approved, at least 35 were
in operation when he died, even though the total membership of the Society of Jesuits
had not yet reached 1,000. Within forty years, the number of Jesuit schools would
reach 245. The promised development of a document describing common principles
for all Jesuit schools was becoming a practical necessity.
(190) Successive Jesuit superiors encouraged an exchange of ideas based on concrete

experiences so that, without violating the Ignatian principle that “circumstances of place
and persons” be taken into account, a basic curriculum and basic pedagogy could be
developed which would draw on this experience and be common to all Jesuit schools.
xlv
A period of intense interchange among the schools of the Society followed.
(191) The first drafts of a common document were, as Ignatius had wished, based on the
“Rules of the Roman College”. An international committee of six Jesuits was
appointed by the Superior General Claudio Acquaviva; they met in Rome to adapt and
modify these tentative drafts on the basis of experiences in other parts of the world. In
1586 and again in 1591, this group published more comprehensive drafts which were
widely distributed for comments and corrections. Further interchange, commission
meetings and editorial work resulted, finally, in the publication of a definitive Ratio
Studiorum114 on January 8, 1599.
(192)
In its final form the Ratio Studiorum, or “Plan of Studies” for Jesuit
schools, is a handbook to assist teachers and administrators in the daily operation
of the school; it is a series of “rules” or practical directives regarding such matters
as the government of the school, the formation and distribution of teachers, the
curriculum and methods of teaching. Like Part IV of the Constitutions, it is not so
much an original work as a collection of the most effective educational methods of
the time, tested and adapted for the purposes of the Jesuit schools.
There is little explicit reference to underlying principles flowing from

the experience of Ignatius and his Companions, as these were embodied in the
Spiritual Exercises and the Constitutions; such principles had been stated in
earlier versions, but were presupposed in the final edition of 1599. The
relationship between teacher and student, to take one example, is to be modelled
on the relationship between the director of the Exercises and the person making
them; since the authors of the Ratio, along with nearly all the teachers in the
schools, were Jesuits, this could be assumed. Even though it is not stated
explicitly, the spirit of the Ratio - like the inspiring spirit of the first Jesuit
schools - was the vision of Ignatius.
(193) The process leading to and resulting in the publication of the Ratio produced a “system”
of schools whose strength and influence lay in the common spirit that evolved into
common pedagogical principles. The pedagogy was based on experience, then refined
and adapted through constant interchange. It was the first such educational system that
the world had ever seen.
(194) The system of Jesuit schools developed and expanded for more than two hundred years,
and then came to a sudden and tragic end. When the Society of Jesus was suppressed
by Papal Order in 1773 a network of 845 educational institutions, spread throughout
Europe and the Americas, Asia and Africa, was largely destroyed. Only a few Jesuit
schools remained in Russian territories, where the suppression never took effect.
(195) When Pius VII was about to bring the Society of Jesus back into existence in 1814,
one of the reasons he gave for his action was “so that the Catholic Church could have,
once again, the benefit of their educational experience”. 115 Educational work did
begin again almost immediately and a short time later, in 1832, an experimental
revision of the Ratio Studiorum was published. But it was never definitively
xlvi
approved. The turmoil of 19th Century Europe, marked by revolutions and frequent
expulsions of Jesuits from various countries - and therefore from their schools -
prevented any genuine renewal in the philosophy or pedagogy of Jesuit education;
often enough the Society itself was divided, and its educational institutions were
enlisted in the ideological support of one or the other side of warring nations.
Nevertheless, in difficult situations, and especially in the developing nations of the
Americas, India, and East Asia, the schools of the Society began once again to
flourish.
(196) The 20th Century, especially in the years after the Second World War, brought a
dramatic increase in the size and number of Jesuit Schools. The seeds of a renewed
spirit were planted in the decrees of various General Congregations, notably the
applications of the Second Vatican Council that were incorporated into decree 28 of
General Congregation XXXI. Today, the Jesuit educational apostolate extends to more
than 2,000 educational institutions, of a bewildering variety of types and levels. 10,000
Jesuits work in close collaboration with nearly 100,000 lay people, providing education
for more than 1,500,000 young people and adults in 56 countries around the world.
(197) Jesuit education today does not and cannot form the unified system of the 17 th Century,
and though many principles of the original Ratio remain valid today, a uniform
curriculum and a structure imposed on all schools throughout the world has been
replaced by the distinct needs of different cultures and religious faiths and the
refinement of pedagogical methods that vary from culture to culture.
(198) This does not mean that a Jesuit “system” of education is no longer a possibility. It was
the common spirit, the vision of Ignatius, that enabled the Jesuit schools of the 16th
Century to evolve common principles and methods; it was the common spirit joined to
a common goal - as much as the more specific principles and methods embodied in the
Ratio - that created the Jesuit school system of the 17th Century. This same
commonspirit, along with the basic goals, purposes and policies that follow from it, can
be true of “Jesuit” schools of today in all countries throughout the world, even when
more concrete applications are very different, or when many of the details of school life
are determined by cultural factors or outside agencies.
* * *
xlvii
APPENDIX II: A SCHEMATIC OUTLINE
(This outline puts into schematic form the relationship between the spiritual vision of
Ignatius and the characteristics of Jesuit education. The nine points in the first column repeat
the Ignatian headings for the first nine sections of the main body of the text; the footnotes
relate this material to writings of Ignatius (primarily the Spiritual Exercises and the
Constitutions), and to the paragraphs of the historical summary given in Appendix I. The 28
basic characteristics of Jesuit education are repeated in the second column, placed in a way
that is intended to show their foundation in the Ignatian world-view. This is not intended to
show an exact parallel: rather than a direct application, it would be more accurate to say
that the characteristics are derived from, or find their roots in, the Ignatian vision.)
The Ignatian World-View Jesuit Education . . .
1. For Ignatius, God is Creator and Lord,

Supreme Goodness, the one Reality
that is absolute;116
all other reality comes from God – is an apostolic instrument.
and has value only insofar as it leads
us to God.117
This God is present in our lives, – includes a religious dimension that
“laboring for us” in all things; permeates the entire education.
He can be discovered through faith – is world-affirming.

in all natural and human events,
in history as a whole, – promotes dialogue between faith and
culture.
and most especially in the lived
experience of each individual – assists in the total formation of each
person.118 individual within the human community.
2. Each man or woman is personally – insists on individual care and concern for
known and loved by God. This love each person.
invites a response which, to be
authentically human, must be an
expression of a radical freedom.119
Therefore, in order to respond to the
love of God, each person is called to
be: – encourages life-long openness to growth.
- free to give of oneself, while ac-
cepting responsibility for and the
consequences of one’s actions:
free to be faithful; – emphasizes activity on the part of the
- free to work in faith toward that student.
true happiness which is the
purpose of life: free to labor with
others in the service of the
Kingdom of God for the healing
of creation.120
xlviii
3. Because of sin, and the effects of sin, the
freedom to respond to God’s love is
not automatic. Aided and strengthened
by the redeeming love of God, we are
engaged in an ongoing struggle to
recognize and work against the
obstacles that block freedom,
including the effects of sinfulness,
while developing the capacities that
are necessary for the exercise of true
freedom.121
a. This freedom requires a genuine - encourages a realistic knowledge, love,
knowledge, love and acceptance and acceptance of self.
of self joined to a determination
to be freed from any excessive
attachment to wealth, fame,
health, power, or even life
itself.122
b. True freedom also requires a - provides a realistic knowledge of the
realistic knowledge of the world in which we live.
various forces present in the
surrounding world and includes
freedom from distorted per-
ceptions of reality, warped
values, rigid attitudes or
123
surrender to narrow ideologies.
c. To work toward this true - is value-oriented.
freedom, one must learn to
recognize and deal with the
influences that can promote or
limit freedom: the movements
within one’s own heart; past
experiences of all types;
interactions with other people;
the dynamics of history, social
structures and culture.124
- proposes Christ as the model of human
4. The world view of Ignatius is centered life.
on the historical person of Jesus.125
He is the model for human life
because of his total response to the
Father’s love, in the service of others. - provides adequate pastoral care.
He shares our human condition
and invites us to follow him, under the
standard of the cross, in loving re-
sponse to the Father.126 - celebrates faith in personal and
He is alive in our midst, and community prayer, worship and service.
remains the Man for others in the
service of God.
5. A loving and free response to God’s - is preparation for active life commitment.
xlix
NOTES
1. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., “Our Secondary Schools, Today and Tomorrow”, § 10. Given in Rome,
September 13, 1980; published in Acta Romana Societatis Iesu Volume XVIII (Gregorian
University Press, 1981). English text, pp. 257 - 276. Emphasis added. Hereafter abbreviated OSS.
2. The official document is in Latin: Apostolicam Actuositatem; an English translation can be found
in The Documents of Vatican II, Walter Abbott, S.J., General Editor (The America Press, New
York, 1966), pp. 489 - 521.
3. General Congregation XXXII of the Society of Jesus, Decree 4, “Our Mission Today: The Service
of Faith and the Promotion of Justice”, no. 2. (Published in English in Documents of the 31st and
32nd General Congregations of the Society of Jesus, The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 3700 West Pine
Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri, 63108, U.S.A., 1977.)
4. Ibid., no. 9.
5. The two phrases were repeatedly used by Father Pedro Arrupe in his writings and talks. The first
use seems to have been in an address to the Tenth International Congress of Jesuit Alumni of
Europe held in Valencia, Spain, on July 31, 1973; this address was been published by several dif-
ferent offices under the title “Men for Others”, e.g. by the International Center for Jesuit Education,
C.P. 6139, 00195 Rome, Italy.
6. The expression is found in the Constitutions and in other writings of Ignatius. Father Pedro Arrupe
used the phrase as the theme for one of his last talks: Our Way of Proceeding, given on January
18, 1979 during the “Ignatian Course” organized by the Center for Ignatian Spirituality (CIS);
published as “Documentation No. 42” by the Information Office of the Society of Jesus, C.P. 6139,
00195 Rome, Italy.
7. Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, [351] and passim. (An English edition of these Constitutions,
translated, with an introduction and a commentary by George E. Ganss, S.J. has been published by
The Institute of Jesuit Sources, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 1970.) The sentence in the text is a
basic principle and a favorite phrase of Ignatius.
8. “The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for
which he is created. Hence, man is to make use of them in so far as they help him in the attainment
of his end, and he must rid himself of them in so far as they prove a hindrance to them.” (Spiritual
Exercises, § 23.) This is often referred to as the “tantumquantum”, from the words used in the
Latin text. (Various translations of the Spiritual Exercises are available in English. One common
text is that of David L. Fleming, S.J., The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius: A Literal Translation
and a Contemporary Reading, The Institute of Jesuit Sources, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 1978.)
9. Spiritual Exercises, § 236.
10. From “God’s Grandeur”, a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J.
11. Cf. Genesis 1:27.
12. “Our ideal is ... the unsurpassed model of the Greeks, in its Christian version: balanced, serene and
constant, open to whatever is human”.
(OSS § 14).
13. The “faith response” is treated in greater detail in sections 4 and 6.

14. Pope Paul VI in a letter addressed to the Society of Jesus, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 57, 1965, p.514;
the same call was repeated by Pope John Paul II in his homily to the delegates of General
Congregation XXIII, September 2, 1983. (Cf. “Documents of the 33rd General Congregation of the
Society of Jesus”; The Institute of Jesuit Sources, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 1984, p. 81.)
15. The characteristic of being an “apostolic instrument” is treated in greater detail in section 6.1.
17. Conversion is treated in greater detail in section 3.
18. “Inculturation” is treated in detail in Decree 5 of General Congregation XXXII of the Society of
Jesus. See note 3.
19. “This care for each student individually, as far as this is possible, remains and must remain the
characteristic of our vocation.... Above all, we need to maintain, in one way or in another, this
personal contact with each of the students in our schools and colleges”. (Father General Peter-
Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., “Informal Remarks on Education” given during a meeting with the
Delegates for Education of the Jesuit Provinces of Europe, November 18, 1983. Published in
Education:SJ 44, January-February, 1984, pp. 3 - 6.)
20. OSS § 13.
21. See Section 9.3B. for a fuller development of ongoing formation.
22. Forgiveness and conversion are religious concepts, treated in greater detail in Section 6.
23. Cf. The Meditation on “The Two Standards” in the Spiritual Exercises, §§ 136 - 148.
24. “In this sphere, as in so many others, do not be afraid of political involvement! It is, according to
the Second Vatican Council, the proper role of the laity. It is inevitable, when you become
involved in the struggle for structures that make the world more truly human, that bring into being
the new creation that Christ promised.” (Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., at the
Opening Session of the World Congress of Alumni, Versailles, France, July 20, 1986. Published in
ETC (Together) 40, April - September, nn. 2 and 3, 1986, pp. 7 - 15.)
25. Cf. Spiritual Exercises, §§ 143 - 147.
26. “It is very important to note that the consideration of the mission of Jesus is not proposed in order
for contemplation, or to understand Jesus better, but precisely in so far as this person is inviting us
in a “call” to which the response is a “following”; ... without this disposition, there can be no real
understanding. In the logic of Saint Ignatius (more implicitly than explicitly) it is apparent that
every consideration of Jesus, including the historical Jesus, is made relevant for today’s Chris-
tianity from a privileged point of view: the point of view of following.” (Jon Sobrino, Cristología
desde América Latina. Colección Teología Latinoamericana, Ediciones CRT, México, 1977; p.
329).
27. “Pastoral care” is concerned with spiritual - that is, more than simply human - development. But it
is not limited to the relationship between God and the individual; it includes also human
relationships as these are an expression of, an extension of, the relationship with God. Therefore,
“faith” leads to “commitment”; the discovery of God leads to the service of God in the service of
others in the community.
28. “Those who graduate from our secondary schools should have acquired, in ways proportional to
their age and maturity, a way of life that is in itself a proclamation of the charity of Christ, of the
faith that comes from Him and leads back to Him, and of the justice which He announced”. (OSS §
8).
29. See Appendix I for a brief description of the Spiritual Exercises.
30. This is treated in greater detail in the next section and in section 9.
32. Ibid. § 167.
33. The “Formula of the Institute”, which is the original description of the Society of Jesus written by
Ignatius, applies this basic principle of the Spiritual Exercises: “Whoever desires to serve as a
soldier of God beneath the banner of the cross in our Society ... should ... keep what follows in
mind. He is a member of a Society founded chiefly for this purpose: to strive especially for the
defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine....”
(Constitutions, Formula (pp. 66-68), [3]).
34. Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach speaking at the World Congress of Jesuit Alumni at
Versailles. See Note 24.
35. The “faith” is treated in sections 1 and 4; this present section concentrates on “justice”. However,
it is important not to separate these two concepts:
“The living out of this unity of faith and justice is made possible through a close
following of the historical Jesus. As essential parts of this following, we propose these
points:
In announcing the Kingdom and in his struggle against sin, Jesus ran into conflict
with persons and structures which, because they were objectively sinful, were
opposed to the Kingdom of God.
The fundamental basis for the connection between justice and faith has to be seen
in their inseparable connection with the new commandment of love. On the one
hand, the struggle for justice is the form which love ought to take in an unjust
world. On the other hand, the New Testament is quite clear in showing that it is
love for men and women which is the royal road which reveals that we are loved
by God and which brings us to love for God.”
(Reunión Latinoamericana de Educación, Lima, Perú; July, 1976; published by
CERPE; Caracas, Venezuela; p. 65.)
36. General Congregation XXXII of the Society of Jesus, Decree 4, “Our Mission Today: The Service
of Faith and the Promotion of Justice”, no. 4. See note 3.
37. OSS § 11.
38. Cf. the “Preface” from the Roman Catholic Mass celebrating the Feast of Christ the King.
39. In his address to the Presidents and Rectors of Jesuit Universities at their meeting in Frascati, Italy
on November 5, 1985, Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach gives several examples of how
justice issues can be treated in various academic courses. (Cf. “The Jesuit University Today”,
published in Education:SJ 53, November-December, 1985, pp. 7-8.)
40. Cf. Gabriel Codina, S.J., “Faith and Justice within the Educational Context”, (published in
Education:SJ 56, June-July, 1986, pp. 12-13.)
41. Ibid., p. 11.

42. Ibid., pp. 14-15. Emphasis added.
43. See note 5. The “others” in the much-repeated phrase is the “neighbor” in the Parable of the Good
Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). The quotation in the text is Father Arrupe’s development of this idea
(see next Note).
44. “Men for Others” (see Note 5), p. 9.
45. Concrete examples of a stress on community values can be found in nearly every section of this
present description of the Characteristics of Jesuit Education.
46. “Outside of the influence of the home, the example of the faculty and the climate which they create
in the school will be the single most influential factor in any effort at education for faith and
justice”. (“Sowing Seeds of Faith and Justice” by Robert J. Starratt, S.J. Published by the Jesuit
Secondary Education Association, Washington, D.C., USA; p. 17.)
47. The phrase is common in recent documents of the church and of the Society of Jesus. The exact
meaning is much discussed; what it does not mean is an option for a single class of people to the
exclusion of others. Its meaning within the educational context is described in this section 5.4.
48. “The Society of Jesus has one finality: we are for everyone. Rich and poor, oppressed and
oppressors, everyone. No one is excluded from our apostolate. This is true also for the schools”.
(Pedro Arrupe, S.J., “Reflections During the Meeting on Secondary Education”, published in
Education:SJ 30, October-December, 1980, p. 11.)
49. The question of admission of students varies greatly from country. Where there is no government
aid, the school exists through fees and gifts. A concern for justice includes just wages and good
working conditions for everyone working in the school, and this must also be taken into consider-
ation in the option for the poor.
50. OSS § 8.
51. Cf. Codina, op. cit. p. 8. A more complete explanation of these points is given in that document.
52. Constitutions, [603].
53. Cf. Vatican Council II, “The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” (Lumen Gentium), nn. 66 - 69.
54. The “spiritual vision” mentioned here includes the entire faith response of earlier sections. Once
again, questions of justice cannot be separated from the faith and evangelical charity on which they
are based.
55. The expression is taken from the meditation on “The Kingdom of Christ” in the Spiritual Exercises,
§ 97, where the aim is to lead the person making the Exercises to a closer following of Christ.
56. “The excellence which we seek consists in producing men and women of right principles,
personally appropriated; men and women open to the signs of the times, in tune with their cultural
milieu and its problems; men and women for others”. OSS § 9
57. Some criteria for excellence are given in section 9.1; they are the same as the criteria for
discernment.
58. OSS § 6.
59. “The strange expression which Father Pedro Arrupe used so frequently - that we are to produce
“multiplying agents” - is, in fact, in complete accord with the apostolic vision of Ignatius. His
correspondence of 6,815 letters amply proves that Ignatius never ceased to seek out and encourage
the widest possible collaboration, with all types of people...” (Father General Peter-Hans
Kolvenbach, at the Opening Session of the World Congress of Jesuit Alumni, Versailles. See Note
24.)
60. OSS § 12.
61. “We need to learn, and we have an obligation to share. There are enormous advantages to be
gained through collaboration of every type. It would be foolish to pretend that we have nothing to
learn. It would be irresponsible to think only of ourselves in our planning, without con-
sidering the need to cooperate with other secondary schools. This... will make us more effective
apostolically, and will at the same time increase and strengthen our sense of being a part of the
church”. (Ibid.§ 25.) The question of evaluation is taken up again in greater detail in section 9.
62. Ignatius is the author of this phrase, in a letter written to Juan de Verdolay on July 24, 1537.
(Monumenta Ignatiana Epp. XII, 321 and 323.)
63. Apostolicam Actuositatem - “On the Apostolate of the Laity” - see note 2.
64. General Congregation XXXI, decree 33 (“The Relationship of the Society to the Laity and Their
Apostolate”); decree 28 (“The Apostolate of Education”) n. 27. General Congregation XXXII,
decree 2 (“Jesuits Today”) n. 29. General Congregation XXXIII, decree 1 (“Companions of Jesus
Sent into Today’s World”), n. 47.
65. “We used to think of the institution as “ours”, with some lay people helping us, even if their
number was much greater than the number of Jesuits. Today, some Jesuits seem to think that the
number of lay people has so increased and the control has been so radically transferred, that the
institution is no longer really Jesuit.... I would insist that the [school itself remains an apostolic
instrument: not of the Jesuits alone, but of Jesuits and lay people working together.” (Father
General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, “The Jesuit University Today”. See note 39.)
66. See below, sections 8.7 and 9.3.

67. General Congregation XXXI, Decree 28, “On the Apostolate of Education”, n. 27.
68. General Congregation XXXII, Decree 1, “Jesuits Today”, n. 29.
69. OSS §§ 16, 18.
70. “It will also be advantageous to consider whether it would not be helpful to establish in some of our
institutions of higher education a board of trustees which is composed partly of Jesuits and partly of
lay people.”
(General Congregation XXXI, Decree 28, “On the Apostolate of Education”, n. 27.
71. “We should cooperate with [parents] in the work of education.... I want to give special praise to
those organizations - associations, journals, formation courses- which promote the educational
formation of the parents of our students, to prepare them for a more effective collaboration with the
secondary school”. (OSS § 22.)
72. “The ongoing formation of former students is an obligation.... It is a work that only we can do,
practically speaking, because it is a question of redoing the formation that we gave twenty or thirty
years ago. The person that the world needs now is different from the persons we formed then! It is
an immense task, and well beyond our own abilities; we need to seek the help of lay people who
can help to bring it about”.
(Ibid., § 23.)
73. “What is the commitment of the Society of Jesus to its former students? It is the commitment of
Ignatius, repeated by Pedro Arrupe: to make you multiplying agents, to make you capable of
incorporating the vision of Ignatius and the ... mission of the Society into your own lives.... The
formation you have received should have given you the values and the commitment that mark your
lives, along with the ability to help one another renew this commitment and apply these values to
the changing circumstances of your lives and the changing needs of the world. We Jesuits will not
abandon you - but neither will we continue to direct you! We will be with you to guide and inspire,
to challenge and to help. But we trust you enough to carry forward in your lives and in the world
the formation you have been given”. (Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, address at the
Opening Session of the World Congresss of Jesuit Alumni, Versailles, 1986; see note 24. This
entire address is a development of the relationship between the Society of Jesus and its former
students.)
74. The word “discernment” is used in many different contexts. Ignatius has “Rules for the
Discernment of Spirits” in the Spiritual Exercises, §§ 313 - 336; in the present context it is rather
the “communal apostolic discernment” practiced by the first companions and recommended by
General Congregation XXXIII: a review of every work that includes “an attentiveness to the Word
of God, an examination and reflection inspired by the Igntian tradition; a personal and
communitarian conversion necessary in order to become ‘contemplatives in action’; an effort to
live an indifference and availability that will enable us to find God in all things; and a
transformation of our habitual patterns of thought through a constant interplay of experience,
reflection and action. We must also always apply those criteria for action found in the
Constitutions, Part VII, as well as recent and more specific instructions....” (GC XXXIII, Decree 1,
n. 40.)
75. One of the most recent and most complete sources is the letter on “Apostolic Discernment in
Common” published by Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach in November, 1986. It is a rich
source of information on this topic, giving an historical perspective and also concrete suggestions.
76. Cf. Constitutions, Part VII, especially [622] - [624].
77. The dependence of Jesuit education on the principles and methods of the Spiritual Exercises has
been the subject of much study. One of the classic - somewhat outdated, but still valuable - works
that treat this matter in great detail is La Pedagogie des Jesuites, by François Charmot, S.J., Paris,
1941. More recent treatments of the same subject can be found in “Reflections on the Educational
Principles of the Spiritual Exercises” by Robert R. Newton (Monograph 1, published in 1977 by
the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, 1424 16th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C.
20036, U.S.A.), and Le Secret des Jésuites (published in 1984 as Number 57 of “Collection
Christus” by Desclée de Brouwer, 76 bis, rue des Saints-Pères, 75007 Paris, France).
78. See section 1.
79. Ignatius wrote the “Presupposition” of the Spiritual Exercises to indicate the relation between the
guide to the Exercises and the person
making them. It can be the norm for human relations in general, and especially within the
educational community. What follows is a rather literal translation from the Spanish of Ignatius:
“To assure better cooperation between the one who is giving the Exercises and the exercitant,
and more beneficial results for both, it is necessary to suppose that every good Christian is more
ready to put a good interpretation on another’s statement than to condemn it as false. If an
orthodox construction cannot be put on a proposition, the one who made it should be asked how he
understands it. If he is in error, he should be corrected with all kindness. If this does not suffice,
all appropriate means should be used to bring him to a correct interpretation, and so defend the
proposition from error.” (Spiritual Exercises § 22).
80. OSS § 12.
81. “Talk of Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach at St. Paul’s High School, Winnipeg, Canada:
May 14, 1986”; published in the Newsletter of the Upper Canadian Jesuit Province, June, 1986, pp.
7-8.
82. There are various translations of the Spanish and Italian original of what is often referred to as the
“autobiography” of St. Ignatius. The translation used in the text is A Pilgrim’s Testament: The
Memoirs of Ignatius of Loyola, Parmananda R. Divarkar, translator (Gregorian University Press,
Piazza della Pilotta 4, 00187 Rome, Italy; 1983). Hereafter abbreviated Memoirs.
83. Memoirs, § 1.
84. Ibid., § 6.
85. Ibid., § 8.
86. Ibid., § 9.
87. Ibid., § 17.
88. Ibid., § 24.
89. Ibid., § 25.
90. Ibid., § 27.
91. Spiritual Exercises, [230]. (See above, note 8.)
92. Memoirs, § 30.
93. Ibid., § 99.
94. See note 8.
95. Memoirs, § 50.
96. See above, note 62.
97. Memoirs, § 82.
98. Ibid., § 85.
99. Ibid.
100. Ibid, § 96.
101. Constitutions, Formula (pp. 66-68), [3]; see note 7.
103. See note 7.
104. Constitutions, [307].

105. Ibid., [351].
106. Ibid., [366].
107. Ibid., [375] and [378].
108. Ibid., [381].
109. Ibid., [421] to [439].
110. Ibid., [395].
111. Ibid., [398].
112. Ibid., [395].
113. Ibid., [396]. The Roman College was established by Ignatius himself in 1551; though its
beginnings were very modest, he wished it to become the model for all Jesuit schools throughout
the world. It developed in time into a University, whose name was changed after the unification of
Italy into the Gregorian University.
114. The original Latin of the Ratio Studiorum of 1599, along with the previous drafts, has been newly
published as Volume V of Monumenta Paedagogica Societatis Iesu, edited by Ladislaus Lukacs,
S.J. (Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, Via dei Penitenzieri, 20, 00193 Rome, Italy, 1986). An
English translation is available, The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum of 1599, translated with an
introduction and explanatory notes by Allan P. Farrell, S.J. (The Jesuit Conference, 1424 16th
Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20036, U.S.A.; 1970.)
115. From the Papal Bull Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum of August 7, 1814, by which the Society of
Jesus was restored throughout the world.
116. Appendix I (175); the names that Ignatius uses for God can be found throughout his works; see, for
example, Exercises §§ 15,16.
117. This is the Principle and Foundation of the Exercises, § 23; see note 8, above.
118. God working for us through creation is basic to Ignatian Spirituality. Two examples in the
Exercises are the meditation on the “Incarnation”, §§ 101- 109, and the “Contemplation for
Obtaining Love” §§ 230 - 237. The quotation is from § 236. Ignatius talked repeatedly about
“seeing God in all things” and this was paraphrased by Nadal (one of the first companions of
Ignatius) into the famous “contemplatives in action”.
119. Appendix I (173).
120. The purpose of making the Spiritual Exercises has been summed up in the expression “Spiritual
Freedom”. Ignatius himself gives them the title “Spiritual Exercises, which have as their purpose
the conquest of self and the regulation of one’s life in such a way that no decision is made under
the influence of any inordinate attachment”. (§ 21).
121. Appendix I (172); this statement is a summary of the “First Week” of the Exercises.
122. Appendix I (173); Exercises § 1; §§ 313 - 329 (“Rules for the Discernment of Spirits”).
123. Appendix I (173); Exercises §§ 142 - 146 (“The Two Standards”).

124. Exercises §§ 24 - 42 (“The Examination of Conscience”), and “The Two Standards”, above.
125. Appendix I (173), (182); Exercises § 53, §§ 95 - 98 (“The Kingdom of Christ”) § 167 (“The Third
Degree of Humility”). The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th “Weeks” of the Exercises are intended to lead to a
commitment to the following of Christ.
126. Exercises § 116 (“Contemplation on the Nativity”); see also “The Two Standards” noted above.
127. Appendix I (173), (179); Exercises § 135, §§ 169 - 189 (“The Election”).
128. Appendix I (177), (184).
129. Exercises §§ 352 - 370 (“Rules for Thinking with the Church”); Constitutions, Formula (pp. 66-
68), [3], [603], and passim throughout the writings of Ignatius. When he realized that it would not
be possible to go to the Holy Land to serve Christ directly, Ignatius chose “the next best thing” by
going to Rome to serve the church under the “Vicar of Christ”.
130. Devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is evident throughout the whole life of Ignatius; as noted in
Appendix I (171), it was at Montserrat that his pilgrimage began; Mary appears throughout the
Exercises, for example in §§ 47, 63, 102ff, 111f, 147, 218, 299.
131. Appendix I (180), (182). According to some authors, Ignatius was the originator of the expression
“Vicar of Christ”; whether that be true or
not, loyalty to the Pope is characteristic both of Ignatius and of the Society of Jesus that he
founded.
132. Appendix I (173); Exercises §§ 97, 155.
133. Appendix I (178), (181).
134. The “discernment of spirits” is present in the whole life of Ignatius; it is already evident at Manresa
(Appendix I, 170), but it is constantly growing throughout his life. A short document entitled “The
Deliberations of the First Fathers” describes the discernment of the first companions of Ignatius
that led to the establishment of the Society of Jesus. See also Appendix I (189) - (193) for the
process that led to the first Ratio Studiorum, and Exercises §§ 313 - 336 (“Rules for the
Discernment of Spirits”).

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THE CHARACTERISTICS OF

The Characteristics of Jesuit Education------------------------------------------------------------ 5

Introductory Notes --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

1. Jesuit Education is world-affirming.---------------------------------------------------------- 7

Jesuit Education assists in the total formation

Jesuit Education includes a religious dimension

2. Jesuit Education is an apostolic instrument.------------------------------------------------- 9

Jesuit Education promotes dialogue between faith and culture ---------------------------- 9

Jesuit Education emphasizes activity on the

Jesuit Education encourages a realistic knowledge,

Jesuit Education provides a realistic knowledge

5. Jesuit Education provides adequate pastoral care.------------------------------------------ 14

Jesuit Education celebrates faith in personal

7. Jesuit Education serves the faith that does justice.------------------------------------------ 16

21. Jesuit education pursues excellence in its work of formation.----------------------------- 22

22. Jesuit education witnesses to excellence.----------------------------------------------------- 23

27. Jesuit Education is a “system” of schools with a common vision and

28. Jesuit Education assists in providing the professional training and

Some Characteristics of Jesuit Pedagogy:------------------------------------------------------- 31

Appendix I: Ignatius, First Jesuit Schools, and the Ratio Studiorum.-------------------------- 34

A. The Spiritual Journey of Ignatius of Loyola --------------------------------------------- 34

Appendix II: The World View of Ignatius compared with the

“should be easily identifiable as such. There are many ways in which it

(5) In response to the recommendation, the International Commission on the Apostolate

b. Developmental psychology and the social sciences, along with advances in

c. In recent years, a developed theology has explicitly recognized and

1.2 The total formation of each individual within community.

1.4 An apostolic instrument.15

1.5 The dialogue between faith and culture.

2.1 Care and concern for each individual person.

2.2 Activity of students in the learning process.

2.3 Life-long openness to growth.

a. This freedom requires a genuine knowledge, love and acceptance of self,

Jesuit education: is value-oriented.

3.2 Realistic knowledge, love and acceptance of self.

3.3 A realistic knowledge of the world.

Jesuit education: proposes Christ as the model of human life.

4.1 Christ the model.

4.2 Pastoral care.27

4.3 Prayer and worship.

Jesuit education: is preparation for active life commitment.

5.1 Active life commitment:

5.2 Education in the Service of the Faith that Does Justice:35

5.3 Men and women for others.43

(83) In order to promote an awareness of “others”, Jesuit education stresses community

5.4 A particular concern for the poor.

Jesuit education: is an apostolic instrument, in service of the church as it serves human

6.1 An apostolic instrument in service of the church.

(100)The Jesuit school community encourages collaboration in ecumenical activities with

6.2 Preparation for active participation in the church.

Jesuit education: pursues excellence in its work of formation.

7.1 Excellence in formation.

(108)Excellence, like all other Ignatian criteria, is determined by “circumstances of place

(111)Service is founded on a faith commitment to God; for Christians this is expressed in

7.2 Witness to excellence.

Jesuit education: stresses lay-Jesuit collaboration.

8.1 Lay-Jesuit Collaboration:

(118)Lay-Jesuit collaboration is a positive goal that a Jesuit school tries to achieve in

8.2 Teaching staff and Administrators:

8.3 The Jesuit Community: