We’ve come together to bring You
the International Ignatian Ecospiritual Conference
2022
The more we grow to love our gracious Earth the more anxious we will be to reverence and protectour natural environment, and to bring compassion, peace, freedom and justice to all who are living here. Daniel O’Leary (An Astonishing Secret)
St Ignatius and the 500th anniversary of his conversion.
At the age of 30, (1521), Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, was wounded in battle at Pamplona, Spain. He endured a life-threatening injury to his knee and was taken back to Loyola, in the Basque country, to recuperate. During his nine months of convalescence, he underwent a spiritual conversion through reading and reflecting on the Life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. This conversion changed his life and Ignatius committed himself to serving Christ in the world. In 1540 with his 10 companions, the Society of Jesus was approved by Pope Paul III. By the time Ignatius died in 1556, there were 1000 Jesuits. The Society of Jesus went on to become the largest religious order in the Catholic Church. In 2022 we celebrate the 500 th anniversary of the conversion of Ignatius. As part of this celebration the Australian Jesuit Province is offering participants the opportunity to take part in an immersion experience in Nature leading to ecological conversion at the International Ignatian Ecospiritual Conference.
Pope Francis’ encyclical – Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home.
In 2015 Pope Francis published his encyclical, Laudato Si: On Care of Our Common Home. Pope Francis was concerned about the way we are neglecting our relationship with Earth. Pope Francis reminds us “that our common home [Earth] is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us”. Yet Pope Francis identifies that our “sister [Earth] now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will”. Pope Francis wants us to address this by changing our relationship with our Mother Earth, through experiencing ecological conversion.
This is not just being concerned about the environment.
This is a call to have our hearts transformed again, this time drawn into the deeper relationship with the Presence that is God in all Creation. This is a living Presence, a mystical Presence of Love, that makes us aware of how everything is connected in our Earth, in our Solar System, in our Milky Way Galaxy, in our Universe. We are made of the stardust of a supernova. We are evolving just as the universe and life on Earth has been evolving. God is present in all of this calling us into deep connection with everything. It is this interior ecological conversion that fills each of us with a new appreciation of our Mother Earth. It brings forth a deep desire to care for our common home and to seek reconciliation with Creation.
Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si, will provide the theological underpinning for the conference.
Statement of Belief
“Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of her creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth.” (LS, n. 92)
Society of Jesus and the Universal Apostolic Preference
It is logical to conclude that what Christians “need is an ‘ecological conversion,’ whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue.” (LS, n. 217)
In 2019 the Society of Jesus published four Universal Apostolic Preferences [UAP], priorities for the next 10 years. One of these UAP’S was: To Collaborate to Care for Our Common Home. The Society of Jesus has established the Ecojesuit ministry to pursue this collaboration in the world. The Society of Jesus supports the International Ignatian Ecospiritual Conference in 2022. Xavier Jeyaraj sj, Secretary to the Father General, for Social Justice and Ecology will be a keynote speaker at the IIEC. And Pedro Walpole sj, the co-ordinator of Ecojesuit will also be a keynote speaker.
Statement of Belief
To collaborate with others in the construction of alternative models of life that are based on respect for creation and on a sustainable development capable of producing goods that, when justly distributed, ensure a decent life for all human beings on our planet.
Australian Jesuit Province and their apostolic goals including – Care for our Common Home
Following this the announcement of the Universal Apostolic Preferences, the Australia Jesuit Province announced their five year Apostolic Plan. This plan included a priority to: Heal Humanity and our
World. “We commit ourselves to reconciliation with God, with one another and with creation. Hence we commit to embedding reconciliation with creation in all our ministries.”
Statement of Belief
That when a person experiences ecological conversion, their hearts are transformed through an encounter with the Presence that is God in Nature. This leads to a strong desire to live differently with our Mother Earth and seek reconciliation with all Creation.
Reconciliation with Creation Committee
“The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dew drop, in a poor person’s face.” (LS, n. 233)
The Reconciliation with Creation Committee provides leadership and support to the ministries in the Australian Jesuit Province, ensuring commitment to caring for our common home across the
Province
Statement of Belief
With the encouragement of ecological conversion across the Province we can be leaders in finding new ways to live in harmony with our Earth.