Jesuit Collaborative

A national conference to educate and encourage those who practice Ignatian spirituality as well as those involved in works rooted in Ignatian spirituality will be held July 24-27, 2008 at Saint Louis University. The conference is sponsored by Saint Louis University, the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus and the St. Louis Center for Ignatian Spirituality.

The conference, “Ignatian Passion: The Challenge of the Cross in the 21st Century,” will feature major presentations and small group workshops. Keynote presentations will explore the role of Christ’s Passion in the Spiritual Exercises, as conceived by Ignatius’ experience at LaStorta; what Ignatian passion looks like today; and what formation and foundation are needed by people who follow Ignatius in order to be sent on mission.

Five hundred lay people, Jesuits, clergy and other religious men and women interested in Ignatian spirituality are expected to attend. Held every third year since 1999, this is the fourth national conference on Ignatian spirituality hosted by St. Louis University.

“The Third Week of the Exercises, when the retreatant accompanies Jesus on his way to Calvary, is a rich spiritual image for Christian believers in our passion-laden world,” said A. James Blumeyer, SJ, director of the Ignatian Spirituality Center in Kansas City, Mo., and chairperson of this conference since its inception. “This conference will offer companionship and conversation about the suffering we see and know in our lives and in our world today. What better way to make our Ignatian heritage real, and to invite those of like mind to share in the heart of Christ.”

Keynote speakers include David Fleming, SJ, editor of the Review for Religious and an internationally known Ignatian writer and speaker from St. Louis; Marie Schwann, CSJ, a spiritual guide, retreat director and instructor on staff of the Sioux Spiritual Center in Howes, S.D.; and the sister-brother duo, Dr. Eileen Burke-Sullivan, S.T.D., associate professor of theology at Creighton University, and Kevin Burke, SJ, academic dean and associate professor of systematic theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

Thirty small group workshops will provide participants with opportunities to share their specific experiences and works in Ignatian spirituality and to network with others from throughout North America.

In response to 2005 conference participants’ suggestions, three workshop “tracks” have been developed. Some workshops will be presented for those who are relatively new to Ignatian spirituality and its practices. Others will be geared for those more experienced in this spirituality and conducted in a seminar format. Others will have wide appeal for any conference participant.

Workshops will explore topics that include the principles, psychology and practice of Ignatian spirituality, especially related to the Third Week; ethics and spiritual direction; and the Eastern flavor of the Passion and suffering.

Cost for the conference is $225 (before May 1). The conference is subsidized by the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus and Saint Louis University.

For registration information, call Saint Louis University at (314) 977-7065 or go on-line at http://www.slu.edu/conferences/isc/