Jesuits & Friends 118, Summer 2024 by Jesuits in Britain

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On the cover: Schoolchildren in Nepal (Photo: Xavier Network)

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From Fr Provincial

The Jesuits in Britain and those who work with them try to be adaptable. In the early twentieth century, the Society founded retreat houses for working people. The treasures of the Spiritual Exercises were put at the disposal of people of modest means who had only a little time to spare for a retreat. One of these workers’ spirituality centres was Campion House, Osterley, which was opened in 1913. During the First World War, many soldiers came to make retreats there. The director was Edmund Lester SJ (1866-1934) who was struck by the spiritual seriousness of tommies on leave from the trenches. Their experience of war prompted a turn to God. Having lost so many of their friends in battle, those who came to search their souls at Osterley wanted to make good use of the rest of their life. Father Lester saw that some of those he met would be helped by pre-seminary or pre-novitiate formation. He set about offering such training at Campion House. The retreat

In this issue...

04 What should be the priorities of the new UK government that will be elected on 4 July?

06 Adam Shaw and Paul Chitnis celebrate the international relationships that make Jesuit Missions’ work possible.

08 Eastertide was the perfect time for Jesuits and lay partners to come together to reflect on their work, says Frances Murphy.

10 The alumni networks of the Jesuits in Britain’s schools forge and nourish connections, writes John Green.

12 John Paul de Quay’s equine take on the life of St John Ogilvie SJ gives us a new way to appreciate the martyr’s story.

14 Rebecca Somerset and Naomi Hart

All of us are helped by the Spiritual Exercises to think in a God-focused way about our existence.

house turned into a study centre. For about 85 years, Osterley helped many to find what to do with their life, including 1,500 men who were ordained priest. Father Lester’s intuition was carried forward by the Jesuits and others who worked at Osterley after him. They tried to meet the changing needs of each new generation and of the Church. The work begun when a centre of spirituality responded to wartime and postwar urgencies continued to shape hundreds of lives directly, and thousands indirectly, for the next several decades.

The Jesuits today hope to show the same responsiveness and adaptability. They undertake a discernment about

the needs of the moment and of futures that can be envisaged. Sometimes what the hour requires is very obvious, at other times it is less clear. Whatever is done, the Spiritual Exercises are not easily sidelined. At Campion House, professional studies came to be very important, but seeking the guidance of God about how to spend well a life was always the central activity. Saint Ignatius’s retreat notes provide not only a pattern for decision-making and discernment. They are also a philosophy of life. The soldiers on furlough needed no reminder that death could come quite soon. All of us are helped by the Exercises, the text and the spirit, to think again in a God-focused way about our existence, its meaning and purpose. Such thinking carries us into prayer and also into practical decisions such as Edmund Lester would have understood.

Peter Gallagher SJ

tell us how they were able to share Jesuit history and knowledge with visitors to Farm Street.

16 Opportunities to work with the local community are a gift to JRS UK and their refugee friends, for which Dunstan Rodrigues SJ is grateful.

18 JRS UK’s London Marathon runners finished the race with tired legs but full hearts.

20 If you’re looking for a new way to envisage synodality, Susan Cawley shares an idea.

21 Praying with the pope.

22 Michael Barrow SJ and Denis Blackledge SJ have fond memories of Campion House, Osterley.

23 A Jesuit connection to D-Day!

THE common

good

A general election on 4 July 2024 will bring a change to the political landscape of the UK. What would our friends like to see prioritised in the election campaigns, in voters’ minds, and by the next government?

‘The common good’ cannot be a party-political slogan in an election campaign. Democratic politics presupposes contention, disagreement and conflict, but conducted by argument and persuasion, as opposed to violence and coercion. What political party could succeed by declaring itself opposed to the common good? Each party must at least pretend that the policies they advocate would serve the common good. More or less taxation, more or less expenditure on security, or health, or social care, more or less investment in infrastructure – these are the typical grounds of contention.

Parties in contention in democratic politics may think of one another as enemies, but we hope that they will engage in the contest only in the permitted democratic forms. Commitment to the principles of free and fair elections entails shared goods that transcend

but also enable the pursuit of those goods about which they differ.

What political party could succeed by declaring itself opposed to the common good?

A consequence of the neglect of more ultimate ends in election campaigns is that candidates and their parties present themselves as technicians, with the required professional competence to deliver what it is assumed everyone wants: economic growth, full employment, a protected NHS, peace and security. Perhaps there is some validity in that approach, but it also crowds out any sense that an election is a choice of leaders who will have responsibility for deciding what will serve the good of all. With the power to decide on conditions that will facilitate the flourishing of individuals and groups, they also will have power to constrain the life chances and hence the lives of many people.

Patrick Riordan SJ is author of Human Dignity and Liberal Politics: Catholic Opportunities for the Common Good (Georgetown University Press, 2023).

People seeking asylum face being forcibly transferred to Rwanda and politicians across the political spectrum are proposing policies that dehumanise refugees. Our society appears increasingly divided by a politics that scapegoats those who are viewed as outsiders.

The cost of living crisis means that more people are struggling, and we are told that the solution is further to marginalise and exclude some of the most vulnerable – those who have lost everything and come to our shores seeking sanctuary. At JRS UK, we accompany and serve refugees and other forcibly displaced people, and we see the pain and fear this politics causes them.

Pope Francis gives us a different vision of how to build a society in which we can all flourish, calling us to welcome women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes. And he rightly notes that how we respond to refugees says something important about who we are.

Our society appears increasingly divided by a politics that scapegoats outsiders.

Approaching an election, our politicians need to build welcome for refugees into plans for a more just, more caring society.

So, I’ll ask politicians to see the people who are seeking sanctuary. Defend the right to asylum – a right designed to protect human life. And allow people seeking asylum to work, so they can participate in society and support themselves and their families. These are actions that would help to build a more welcoming society and make a real contribution to the common good.

Sophie Cartwright is Senior Policy Officer for the Jesuit Refugee Service UK.

When you vote in the general election, consider the immense sacrifice that has been paid to make possible this simple act that lies at the heart of our democracy.

Jesuit Missions, guided by the experience of our partners in the Global South, believes there are three areas that an incoming government needs to address urgently.

Climate change affects the lives of everyone on the planet. It is most damaging to the lives and livelihoods of the poorest people. Most politicians know what needs to be done, but lack the political will to take the necessary decisions. If we do not act urgently, the UK will not only fail to meet its international commitments but also fail to show the international leadership required to address the climate crisis.

It is predicted that climate change will cause 1.2 billion refugees by 2050. Most of these refugees will come from low-income countries where three in ten children under five years old suffer acute malnutrition.

The Church insists on the innate dignity of every human being ‘created in the image and likeness of God’. The violence of poverty – something even more lethal than the violence of war – is gravely immoral precisely because it harms the image and likeness of God.

Solidarity means thinking and acting in terms of community.

St John Chrysostom said: ‘If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice.’ Britain’s aid budget has been slashed and its leadership lost.

Voting is both a political act and one that expresses human solidarity.

Pope Francis declares that: ‘Solidarity finds concrete expression in service, which... always looks to their faces, touches their flesh’. He continues: ‘[Solidarity] means thinking and acting in terms of community... combatting

the structural causes of poverty... confronting the destructive effects of the empire of money’.

Jesus began his public ministry with the words: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.’

This election, what is good news for the poor?

Paul Chitnis is Director of Jesuit Missions.

‘You may find this useful’, said the prison chaplain as he handed over a grey, A4 piece of paper with a long list of acronyms that are common parlance around the prison. It wasn’t long before I was reaching for this in order to understand what was being said to and around me.

One acronym soon stood out from the others. It was more the tone of the prisoner who said it: ‘I have an IPP’. It hung in the air for a moment whilst he checked out if I registered this. IPP stands for ‘Imprisonment for Public Protection’. These sentences were created by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and were intended to protect the public from serious offenders whose crimes did not merit a life sentence. IPPs were abolished in

2012 as they were deemed by the United Nations to be ‘arbitrary and therefore unlawful’. Sadly, these sentences still apply to the many who had already received them.

A tangible outcome of the retreats that we have been offering in prisons is the gift of hope.

The concern is that having an IPP is detrimental to the mental well-being of prisoners and a serious worry for their families. In short, it takes away the hope of how and when a prisoner will be released. Offenders on IPPs are twice as likely as other prisoners to self-harm and to have suicidal ideation.

If there is one gift that is a tangible outcome of the retreats that the Jesuit Institute has been offering in prisons, it is the gift of hope. But this is hard for an IPP prisoner to hear. May the next government bring clarity to prison sentences and the number of years these remaining IPP prisoners should serve. It may just help them to turn a difficult corner.

Sarah Young is a member of the Jesuit Institute team, with responsibility for Networking & Collaboration.

A TRULY social network

Many readers will be familiar with the work of Jesuit Missions UK, the international mission and development organisation of the Jesuits in Britain, but how much do you know about their counterparts around the world with whom they work closely? Adam Shaw introduces the Xavier Network.

The concept of working together towards a common goal has inspired everything from sports teams to businesses, with the ability to share ideas, experiences and resources proving a mightily effective tool.

And when it comes to Jesuit works promoting justice across the world, fourteen heads are better than one.

That’s the idea behind the Xavier Network, a collection of the Society of Jesus’s international mission and development organisations from North America, Europe and Australia.

Its members are: Alboan and Entreculturas (Spain), Canadian Jesuits International, Irish Jesuits International, Fundação Gonçalo da Silveira (Portugal), Magis Italy, Magis Americas (USA), Hubeje (Belgium), Oeuvre des Missions Catholiques Françaises d’Asie et d’Afrique (France), Stiftung Jesuiten weltweit (Switzerland), Menschen für Andere-jesuitenweltweit (Austria), Jesuitenmission (Germany),

Jesuit Mission Australia, and Jesuit Missions (Great Britain).

Together they respond to international humanitarian crises – in Ukraine, Haiti and Syria, for example – build up development projects in the Global South and advocate for social justice.

The extensive nature of the network, which was set up in 2004, means it supports partners and projects in more than 85 countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

Asunción Taboada, Head of Humanitarian Action at Entreculturas and Coordinator for Emergency Responses at the Xavier Network, explains: ‘We are the first such network in the Jesuit world, set up with the simple principle that by joining together we can achieve more.’

While members each acknowledge the distinct nature of their respective organisations, they appreciate the value that working collectively can have for themselves and the people they support.

This effect of coming together as one is seen through the network’s impact on the ground, both in crisis situations and multi-year initiatives.

When an international emergency occurs, the network will allocate a lead agency for the disaster, coordinate members’ contributions, and draw down the best resources in terms of personnel and supplies.

‘At the start of each emergency response, we unify the voices of the Xavier Network members into one single voice’, Asunción says.

She adds that once an emergency begins, an operations team will be in place and local partners will have support on hand within the first two weeks.

The group also has a number of longer-term collaborative projects, tackling issues in areas such as healthcare, human rights and education.

This includes the African Jesuit AIDS Network, which seeks to support those in sub-Saharan Africa who are affected by AIDS and help stop the spread of HIV. Services offered include pastoral counselling, home-based care, incomegenerating activities, and educational, medical and nutritional support.

Fe y Alegría is a global movement which works with impoverished and excluded populations, and hopes for a world where everyone has the right to receive an education.

And Lok Manch, a network in India which champions community rights, has helped thousands of marginalised people access key services such as healthcare and legal support. It trains community leaders in towns and villages across twelve Indian states, who then act on behalf of the local populations.

Examples of their success include: fundraising for new solar-powered sewing machines for seamstresses in rural Karnataka; a campaign to get better rations for tea workers in Kolkata; and the rebuilding of an entire village in Gujarat after it was destroyed to make way for a dam.

A Xavier Network project in Ukraine (Photo: Sergi Camara)

When it comes to Jesuit works promoting justice across the world, fourteen heads are better than one.

When it comes to both responses to crises and long-term initiatives, the Xavier Network is keen to ensure that its influence remains even after the projects come to an end.

In terms of humanitarian action, once it has completed the initial response, it will offer ongoing support to affected communities, giving them the chance to pursue locally-led rebuilding processes.

For the longer shared projects, the network’s members pass on as much knowledge and expertise as possible throughout the length of each programme. The hope is that partners can then utilise these to devise and deliver future projects.

The strong Jesuit identity of the network is clear – it is named after St Francis Xavier and its logo takes inspiration from his signature.

Its vision statement reads: ‘As an international network across many countries, we aspire to reflect St. Francis Xavier’s spirit of transformation and dialogue between different peoples.

‘We strive for an open, trusting and mutually respectful partnership that can bear much fruit in the service of the world’s poorest people.

‘Our shared vision as Jesuit organisations is a world where human dignity and equality for all is achieved. Rooted in five hundred years of Ignatian values of compassion and solidarity, we work alongside our sisters and brothers, deeply respecting their cultures and traditions.

‘We are energised by our faith and our Jesuit mission to fight unjust social structures and to care for creation, as we look to the connected future of humanity.’

Asunción explains that the network is also guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.

What’s more, she notes, it has four of its own principles.

‘There is solidarity with those affected by disaster; subsidiarity, whereby each Jesuit Province and organisation has autonomy over all activities within its own territory; partnerships that imply long-term commitment to agreed objectives based on shared values, strategies and information; and accountability, where Provinces and local organisations are responsible for the management of their resources in benefit of those in need.’

With these ideals in place and a web of Jesuit organisations on the ground, the Xavier Network will continue to support and empower marginalised groups across the globe.

For more information visit xavier. network.

JESUIT MISSIONS’ DIRECTOR, PAUL CHITNIS, WRITES:

Many of the programmes that Jesuit Missions supports require greater resources and capacity than are available to us.

That’s why we are a proud member of the Xavier Network. With a combined income of €63 million, of which a third is spent on work in Africa, it is a significant development network.

In South Sudan, for example, one of the poorest countries in the world, collaborating with other Xavier Network members has been invaluable in strengthening the capacity of local Jesuits, enabling them to respond to the vast needs of the people after decades of war and isolation.

It’s vital, too, that we raise awareness of the causes of poverty and injustice, such as climate change. Every community we support, in every country in which we work, is experiencing its destructive effects.

The scale of the challenge is huge, but working alongside our Jesuit partners enables us to learn from each other, and bring our experience to the attention of decision-makers and call for change.

This kind of international, crosscontinental collaboration is not unusual for the Catholic Church and for the Jesuits in particular. These global connections are part of Jesuit Missions’ identity, just as collaboration is part of our mission.

The Xavier Network supports local partners in Renk, South Sudan

Paul Chitnis (back row, left) with Xavier Network partners

THE state of things

Easter 2024 brought 150 Jesuits and friends together in order to reflect on the work they do in the name of reconciling all things in Christ. Frances Murphy recalls a one-of-a-kind Province Meeting.

‘As people sent to collaborate in the reconciliation of all things in Christ, we must experience in each of us and in each of our communities, works, and apostolic institutions the grace of the Crucified and Risen Lord, whose total gift of himself opens the door and becomes the way to reconciliation.’

These are the opening words of a document which 150 Jesuits and co-workers gathered to reflect on in, appropriately, the second week of Easter 2024. Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ issued the text in question – his own thoughts on the current condition of the Society of Jesus, or De Statu Societatis Iesu – in July 2023, with the aim that it would inspire prayer and sharing, thought and action, in Jesuit communities and works worldwide.

The Jesuits in Britain Province Meeting 2024 took up exactly that invitation.

The four-day conference at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire, was the first Province Meeting of its kind, namely, one at which the entire programme was open to

Jesuit and non-Jesuit participants alike. Unlike previous years, in which sessions, days or whole gatherings had been reserved for Jesuits, on this occasion lay co-workers played a full part in the discussions, workshops and of course the many social windows in which much of the fruit of the meeting was borne. Fr Provincial’s comprehensive welcome address illustrated the impressive range of the works and communities represented at the meeting, which mirrored the breadth of the Society’s activity in Britain.

The rich timetable took in all of the chapters and themes of the De Statu in a variety of formats. Talks from Fr James Hanvey SJ and Fr Nick Austin SJ delved, respectively, into the increasingly relevant topic of synodality and the fascinating development of the De Statu, with the latter leading into discussions in small groups about our engagement with the text. In another session that also balanced conversation and personal reflection, Ruth Holgate and Fr Tom McGuinness SJ of St Beuno’s invited small groups to share their stories with one another, with individuals taking what they had revealed and heard into prayer, and then back into conversation, all in the name of deepening an appreciation of collaboration.

A panel that boasted a wealth of involvement in spirituality, academia, education, finance and administration brought their own experiences to bear on the question of who and where the Society of Jesus is in today’s world; and members of the Jesuit Young Adult Ministries’ network generously spoke about their own lives during a contemplative session on tensions in life-mission. We were treated to more sharing as the whole group was captivated and charmed by Br Mikhael Ahmad SJ and Fr Michael Barrow SJ, two men at the opposite ends of their Jesuit journeys, who imparted their stories in two evocative films, which

Participants in the 2024 Province Meeting (Photo: Ken Vance SJ/Grégoire Le Bel SJ)

Cake baked by Julie Ashby-Ellis

you can watch at jesuit.org.uk/videoseries/vi-the-first-vows and jesuit.org. uk/video-series/v-the-adventurer.

Afternoon slots on each day were devoted to workshops during which new developments in Province works were showcased. The London Jesuit Centre team brought their audience up-to-date with the evolution of the building and the work being carried out within it; the Jesuit presence in the academic environment of Oxford via Campion Hall and the Laudato Si’ Research Institute was articulated by members of those institutions; and Pray As You Go joined forces with the Jesuit Archives to demonstrate how the Society of Jesus has always embraced the newest media at its disposal.

Other workshops on offer were delivered by the Jesuit Refugee Service UK, who presented their work as an example of hope and reconciliation within and between communities; representatives from the Province’s eight parishes, who reflected on how they have responded to Pope Francis’ call to synodality (you can read more about this on page 20); and a dynamic duo in Christopher Brolly SJ and Vron Smith, who facilitated a conversation about Jesuit and lay formation and the mutual expectations of both.

The penultimate evening provided an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks for the ministry of those who reach milestones in their Jesuit lives this year: Frs Grzegorz Jankowski SJ, Damian Howard SJ and Paul O’Reilly SJ, whose priestly ordinations were 25

The impressive range of the works and communities represented mirrored the breadth of the Society’s activity in Britain.

years ago; Frs David Gornall SJ (sadly unable to attend) and Peter Griffiths who have been in the priesthood for fifty years; Frs Michael Holman SJ, Gerard Mitchell SJ and Frank Turner SJ, who joined the Society fifty years ago, ten years after fellow jubilarians Br Alan Harrison SJ, Fr James Crampsey SJ and Fr Brian McClorry SJ; and Fr Rory Geoghegan SJ, whose 75 years as a Jesuit were celebrated in his absence. Fr McClorry celebrated the Jubilarians’ Mass, at which Fr Crampsey preached, and the celebratory dinner that followed concluded with a toast from Br Harrison that had the guests in stitches, and the cutting of a remarkable cake which had been baked by Julie Ashby-Ellis, the Province safeguarding officer, and decorated with a photo of the previous Province Meeting.

The daily Masses rooted all of our

discussions and ideas in the eucharist, and were animated by Fr Andrew Cameron-Mowat SJ and his band of musicians. The staff at Swanwick looked after us admirably, their job no doubt having been made infinitely easier by the organisational efforts of the Socius, Fr Paul Nicholson SJ, and the curia office manager, Fiona Robb, to whom all present were exceptionally grateful. There was no shortage of entertainment to be had in the evenings, in the form of a screening of a film about Pope Francis, impromptu music and dance, or the chance to learn how to use a light sabre via a virtual reality headset!

In concluding the meeting, Fr Provincial grounded the contemplations, activity and plans that had arisen over the previous days in a survey of the current work of the Jesuits in Britain, and an examen of the gathering proved to be a fittingly prayerful way to bring it to its official close. There was a pervading sense of a new depth and breadth to the relationships among and between Jesuits and their lay partners, which will no doubt inspire all who were present as they continue to serve the mission of Christ in a complex and changing world.

Concelebrants at the Jubilarians Mass (Photo: Christian Duhay)

An education FOR LIFE

The lives of former pupils of the Jesuit schools in Britain have taken them in myriad different directions. John Green follows just a few, and wants other Jesuit school alumni to share their own stories.

Running a marathon having lost the use of the left side of your body; being selected for the England under-18 rugby union squad; directing a radio station; swimming from Ireland to Scotland with just one leg; and providing political and communications advice to the private sector.

This is a snapshot of the lives of alumni of the eleven Jesuit schools in Britain. As well as academic studies and sporting pursuits, through which each pupil seeks the magis – ‘something more’ – Jesuit schools have uniquely sought and continue to form pupils that are ‘people for others’. Students live out that maxim in different ways during their formal education, and our schools love to hear about how it continues to inform the lives of their past pupils as they embark on careers, pursue vocations and seek life experiences.

The Jesuit schools’ alumni associations support the ongoing peer community among former students, organising reunions, Christmas carol services and sports events, for example, and keeping the network, which extends around the world, alive.

Suzanne Wheeler, Director of Development at Stonyhurst College, notes that a Jesuit schooling doesn’t finish at the school gates: ‘Alumni relationships help continue the formation of boys and girls into men and women for others, who in turn give back to society.’

Meet the alumni of some of our schools:

St Ignatius College, Enfield

Anthony Bryan had a brain tumour as a child and then suffered a stroke after an

operation to treat it, subsequently losing the use of the left side of his body – a condition known as hemiplegia. Ever since then, doctors have been sceptical about him walking, let alone running.

But this didn’t stop Anthony, and in April 2024 he proved how much can be achieved with willpower and hard work: during the London Marathon on Sunday 21 April, he set the men’s Guinness World Record for hemiplegia participants.

Donhead Preparatory School

Conor Byrne attended Donhead from 2009-2016 and was part of a successful rugby year group. Since leaving Donhead, Conor’s rugby skills accelerated him to the top of the schoolboy scene, leading to a call-up to the England U18 squad in 2023, and more recently the U19s this year. Conor was kind enough to spare some time to attend the school’s fiftieth U11 7s

rugby festival in 2024. He made a huge impact on the current Elements (year 6) students, and hopefully inspired more international honours to come from Donhead in years to come. He currently combines the demands of his rugby commitments with studying towards a degree in economics and finance at Exeter.

If you are a Donhead alumnus, find out about their July alumni launch event at donhead.org.uk/our-community/alumni

Jesuit schools have uniquely sought and continue to form pupils that are ‘people for others’.

Anthony Bryan (left) (Photo: Guinness World Records Limited)

Conor Byrne (Photo: RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Stonyhurst College

Toby Lees OP, OS 99

‘“We always said you had a face for radio, Lees!” That was the reaction when I told friends that I had been appointed Priest Director of Radio Maria England.

‘Running a radio station was not something I ever expected to do. However, whilst working as a hospital chaplain during Covid-19, I was asked to present a thirty-minute weekly radio slot looking at faith and culture, which then led to an additional monthly sixty-minute slot on sports and faith.

‘Radio Maria is only four-and-a-half years old in England, but is one of a family of 84 stations all around the world, having begun in Italy as a parish radio station in the 1980s. The broadcasting is roughly split into thirds: live prayer and liturgies; faith formation; and general human interest. That latter category has recently seen features on topics as diverse as hunting and foraging; the art of making coffee; the neurobiology of broken relationships; and long-distance pilgrimages. Any alumni with interesting pastimes and passions, please do get in touch!

‘The station being truly Catholic is part of a necessary rebuilding of a culture that nourishes, one which helps us raise hearts and minds to the transcendent. It offers a better vision of what it is to be human than much of our media; a liberation from a cult of youth, looks, gossip, clickbait, cancelling, and celebrity.’

Fr Toby offers a short daily reflection, Mon-Fri at 1.15pm. You can listen to Radio Maria England via radiomariaengland.uk; and contact Fr Toby on director@radiomariaengland.uk

Alumni relationships help continue the formation of boys and girls into men and women who give back to society.

Jonty Warneken OS 90

In 2023, Jonty became the first amputee to swim the North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland solo. Jonty, who lost his left leg after a car crash in 1994, completed the feat in 15 hours and 24 minutes. He was raising money for Open Country, a charity which helps people with disabilities to access and enjoy the countryside. Jonty was only the 135th swimmer to complete the feat since it was first done in 1947.

Charlotte Leach OS 09

Charlotte has recently launched a consultancy business, providing political and communications advice to the private sector. Charlotte spent eight years as a local councillor in both Lancashire and Cheshire, and worked in parliament for two MPs.

Since leaving parliament, she has worked for some of the country’s leading companies, both in-house

THERE ARE ELEVEN JESUIT SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM IN SIX LOCATIONS:

Barlborough Hall School, Barlborough

Donhead Preparatory School, London

Mount St Mary’s College, Spinkhill

St Aloysius’ College and Junior School, Glasgow

St Ignatius College, Enfield

St John’s Beaumont, Old Windsor

St Joseph’s School, Hurst Green

St Mary’s Hall, Stonyhurst Stonyhurst College

Wimbledon College, London

and via an agency, and has significant expertise across multiple sectors including housing, infrastructure, renewables, regeneration, retail and leisure. You can contact Charlotte via her website on www.cleachcomms.co.uk

SHARE YOUR STORY

If you or a family member went to one of the schools above, get in touch with your school’s alumni association to find out what your peers are doing or share your story – everyone has one! Contact John Green, who will put you in touch with your school’s association: jgreen@jesuit.org.uk or 07593 452507.

Alternatively, if you are an individual subscriber to this magazine, please fill in the enclosed card and return it in the freepost envelope, and we can put you in touch with your school’s alumni association.

Charlotte Leach

Toby Lees, OP

Jonty Warneken

What’re we doing here,

Have you not heard?

ogilvie!

It turns out he came back to Scotland from his studies in Europe

ministering to Catholic humans in secret

John ogilvie?

St John Ogilvie SJ (1579-1615) is Scotland’s only catholic martyr of the reformation. In refusing to a ept that the king could dictate one’s religious beliefs, and giving his life for this cause, he became a Catholic martyr and a hero for religious tolerance. In 1929, he was beatified he was declared a saint in 1976.

I, King James VI of Scotland and I of than the king (that’s me). Also, as head of the Church

And horses!

As tricky a theological CATHOLIC HORSES?

would have known him as Watson. John Watson.

Of John Watson horse dealers?

The same. It turns out he was John Ogilvie SJ. A Jesuit Priest!

A Catholic priest, that is

Hence Fr John’s Clever disguise as a horse dealer.

What then?

JOHN OGILVIE...

Betrayed by a friend! in the market square.

he put up a fight?

Such distasteful imagery! No. He went like a lamb to the slaughterhouse.

gunpowder plot put James.

By John Paul de Quay

Lorem ipsum

Did you say

his majesty king James VI/I ?

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BRINGING HISTORY

and words to life

Rebecca Somerset and Naomi Hart were delighted to have the opportunity to showcase their work in the British Jesuit Archives and Heythrop Library, respectively, this spring.

On 20 March 2024, Heythrop Library and British Jesuit Archives held their first joint public open day. It was an opportunity for anyone interested to see relics, historical documents and rare books as well as modern books, with archivists and librarians on hand to showcase the items. It followed a joint open day in February, which was for an internal audience and selected invited guests. It was also a chance to see both the library and archives reading rooms, and to enquire about library membership and how to conduct research in the archives. There was no requirement to pre-book and 26 visitors attended on the day.

The archives have held previous exhibitions, but none had been open to the general public so there was some apprehension beforehand about how it would go. The first challenge is expressed by Province Archivist, Rebecca Somerset:

‘It is always difficult to select only a few items to put out on display as we are privileged to care for such a wonderful collection. We try to include not just visually pleasing items but also to showcase the variety of records in the archives and hope that everyone finds at least one thing of interest.’

Ultimately, the archives exhibition included a letter by Robert Persons SJ, an illuminated manuscript, Second World War medals and plenty of relics. The team agreed that this was ‘the best exhibition put on to date’.

We are privileged to care for such a wonderful collection.

The feedback received was all very positive with one visitor exclaiming: ‘This has made my day!’ It is certainly something we would like to do again, and we valued the chance to share our collection with a wider audience.

We have realised that we need to improve our advertising, as we had neglected to tell our dedicated volunteers about this event and so missed out on the chance of wordof-mouth publicity; nor had we done much on social media to promote the event. The Independent Catholic News website had featured the event and most of our attendees had learnt about the open day from this.

The Heythrop Library primarily displayed modern books organised under three themes: women philosophers, Jesuit missionary activities, and ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.

As Heythrop Librarian, Clemens Gresser, explained:

‘We often say: “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, and so one theme of books on display was inspired by this expression. They covered an introduction to Christian theology, Christian values and finance, the Catholic Church in Ireland, Christian counselling and Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.’

There was also a display of two rarer books kept at Mount Street – biographies of St Ignatius of Loyola and St Francis Xavier – as well as a summary and chronology of the library’s history.

Reflecting on the success of the open day, Assistant Librarian, Naomi Hart, said:

‘We were pleased that a number of visitors to the open day registered for library membership as a result. It was good to hear that people had found out about the event through a combination of word-of-mouth and our advertising, including some individuals who were delighted to learn that, after Heythrop College closed in 2019, the Jesuits in Britain remained committed to the upkeep and development of Heythrop Library.

‘Feedback from visitors also highlighted that the library can be challenging to find, so in future, we would prepare clearer signage directing people to the library’s location within the London Jesuit Centre.’

COME AND SEE!

To find out more about Heythrop Library, its collections, and applying for membership, please visit www.londonjesuitcentre.org/ our-facilities/heythrop-library

To commemorate the 175th anniversary of Farm Street Church, the archives will be holding exhibitions showcasing material related to the church, which will be open to the public on 5-7 July and 22-23 October 2024 (access via the church).

To find out more about the British Jesuit Archives please visit www.jesuitarchives.co.uk

1 The display in the archives. 2 Saint Ignatius Loyola by Francis Thompson, edited by John Hungerford Pollen SJ, with 100 illustrations by H.W. Brewer & others. The accompanying caption highlights provenance stamps and bookplates within the book, which offer clues about its previous owners. 3 Selecting material for the exhibition. 4 Archivists were on hand to answer questions. 5 A display case in the British Jesuit Archives containing records related to Edmund Campion SJ. 6 Display of books in the Heythrop Library collection written by, or about, women philosophers, ranging from a reference handbook to works focused on individual thinkers. The library team is making efforts to include more female philosophers in the collection and diversify the voices represented on the shelves.

Forming relationships ACROSS DIFFERENCE

Over the last year, JRS UK has begun some new initiatives in response to polarisation within communities. Dunstan Rodrigues SJ gives this update.

It is a word often heard these days, but what exactly is polarisation? We could say that it names the situation in which different groups become increasingly estranged from one another. Opinion divides people into opposing camps, with little possibility of dialogue. As divisions grow, the identity and sense of belonging of one group is tied up with their disdain for those on the other side. So debates become increasingly hostile, including those around refugees and migration.

JRS UK has been wrestling with this issue for some time. JRS UK’s core mission is to accompany, serve and advocate for refugees and other forcibly displaced people. We walk with those who are struggling to live amidst a dehumanising and brutal asylum system.

Happily, JRS UK is not alone in this endeavour to combat polarisation: this kind of work is being carried out internationally, pioneered by JRS Malta. In October 2023, Danielle Vella and Mariosa Caruana from the international and Maltese offices, respectively, facilitated a workshop in Wapping focused on how to go about this task. It was a time of great learning and sharing insights. A vision was cultivated and articulated: ‘To create spaces where people may come together and identify what connects them, spaces of hospitality where change can start to happen, spaces of belonging for all. To build community, inviting all to be involved, and to support and accompany refugees on their journeys to integrate – not assimilate – into the community.’

In this spirit, JRS UK has been helping to create such spaces of encounter and hospitality through joyful, shared activities over the last few months. These have included a variety of community initiatives that bring people together, such as litterpicking, gardening, textile-making, food-sharing, a school Christmas party and a community Iftar.

To focus on some examples: in Wapping, where JRS UK’s centre is based, we join the Wapping Wombles, a local litter-picking group organised by residents, on the second weekend of every month. Around fifteen to

The handiwork of the Wapping Community Quilters. (All photos: JRS UK)

twenty residents attend, and refreshments follow the two-hour litter-pick. Working alongside one another, refugees and local residents are slowly able to get to know each other.

Another group of local residents, the Wapping Community Quilters, made a patchwork quilt of things they love about Wapping, which included the Hurtado Centre and the JRS UK social drop-in. JRS UK offered to host the group, in which some of our friends participate, and the group now meets on Thursday evenings at the Hurtado Centre, bringing together local crafters and refugee friends.

JRS UK also launched a community gardening project in April. Local people and our refugee friends are invited to garden at the Hurtado Centre, alongside our dedicated gardening volunteer who supports participants to seed and grow vegetables.

JRS UK has also been working in Dagenham, to the east of London, where there is both a high number of asylum seekers, but also a sense of isolation and a history of extreme politics. We have been working with local leaders and institutions, partnering in particular with the local Anglican parish, to create spaces and projects which foster togetherness. Here, as elsewhere, JRS acts as a catalyst, helping to connect and bring together groups and people who might not otherwise meet or get to know one another. Further projects are in the pipeline.

It has been enriching and rewarding to be part of this work. Here are

JRS UK has been helping to create spaces of encounter and hospitality through joyful, shared activities.

three themes that stay with me, maxims which speak to the mission of reconciliation which has been the focus of the Society of Jesus’s selfunderstanding over the last few years.

First, the primacy of relationships. Rather than having pre-planned ideas about what to do, the work has begun through the formation of new relationships. Whether in Wapping or Dagenham, we have been reaching out to people beyond us, reaching out to form connections with others and to join in and support what is already happening in an area. This has often occurred in surprising ways: an encounter in a café, a knock on a door...

Second, through such relationships, possibilities for collaboration seem to emerge organically. Rather than as something that is defined or set in advance – like a set of goals to be achieved or programmes to be delivered – mission is something which is continually discovered in and through relationships with others. Through such relationships, it is as if one finds oneself as part of a larger gathering or movement, a movement of humanity. Seen from this perspective, mission is not something of which we are the protagonists or possessors but rather something in which we participate, making our distinctive contribution along with many others around the world.

Third, it’s about reaching out and, at the same time, identifying what is already there – where are there already pockets of trust, of relationship, of joy? On a personal level, it has been a particular delight to work with and get to know the Anglican parish of Dagenham. We have been very warmly welcomed to a ‘tea and talk’ café in Dagenham: a place where one can feel at home and be oneself, where people feel safe, and where seeds of trust are sown.

Perhaps this, then, is the key to combatting polarisation: identifying and then helping to spread and expand spaces of trust and joy. In so doing, one helps foster relationships across difference, friendships which are an antidote to the divisiveness of polarisation. It is a task that JRS UK can model in its own way but which everyone can try to work towards in their own life situation. It is work which is hyper-local, concrete and practical, yet which has a global horizon and contributes to a movement of humanity which is greater than any one group and yet which can include and involve everyone.

In his first message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in 2014, Pope Francis said: ‘migrants and refugees... are an occasion that Providence gives us to help build a more just society, a more perfect democracy, a more united country, a more fraternal world and a more open and evangelical Christian community.’ We are all called to this work.

A community litter-pick with the Wapping Wombles

A Christmas party at Bacon’s College, a local school

‘Just get out there!’

JRS UK was thrilled to have a team of 26 people running the London Marathon this year – how did they get on?

For the 26 Team JRS UK runners, 21 April 2024 was a day of great excitement mixed with the exhaustion that resulted from each of them pushing their own boundaries of physical endurance. The welcoming team from JRS UK awaiting them after the London Marathon got to congratulate them at Horse Guards Parade, as they emerged from the finishing line brimming with pride and relief.

Jacob, who has been a long-time friend of the supportive local community in Wapping, ran for Team JRS UK together with his childhood friends, Matteo and Alex. He shared how he felt after completing his first marathon:

‘It’s mixed emotions! Throughout the race, I was feeling really emotional, and I think at the end it was bittersweet. Obviously your legs are unhappy, but

I think mentally, you know, the crowd and everything was amazing, so you want to keep going. But I feel good!’

It was truly amazing to see friends and family of the JRS UK community choosing to run the marathon, not only to enjoy such a fun day at an iconic world event, but also to support a cause which aligned with their personal ethos. One of those friends is Matt, who has been residing in the US and came back to London for the marathon:

‘My dad actually volunteers his time, in sort of pseudo-retirement, for JRS UK. I’ve heard about the mission, and I think it’s a really important cause. I feel really privileged to be able to run on their behalf.’

Colm, a long-time colleague and friend of the Jesuit community, came back from Brussels to represent JRS UK

at his first (and he currently thinks his last!) marathon:

‘JRS UK is a charity I’ve known most of my life: I went to my first JRS talk –they came to speak at my school –when I was eleven! I’ve been close to them ever since. And at the moment, I’m working in Brussels and I share an office with JRS International, so I get to see the work of JRS every day. I am really proud to run this.’

Colm’s brother, Anthony completed the marathon alongside him on Team JRS UK. He commented on the amazing atmosphere of the event despite the physical hardship:

‘I think the most challenging part was when you got to about twenty miles and your feet started getting sore. But the streets were lined with tons of people cheering you on, random

Team JRS UK! Top: Kamryn at mile 22. Above (l-r): Anthony and his brother, Colm; Thomas; Matteo (second from left) with a friend (second from right) and JRS team members Eileen and Aidan; and Anthony during the race (All photos: JRS UK)

strangers screaming “Go, Anthony!”, and that helped me get across the finish line. Amazing experience.’

Team JRS UK this year was truly an international one, with runners coming from France, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and across the US. Among them was Natalia, an American graduate student now living in the UK, who hopes to dedicate her career to working with migrants and refugees. Upon finishing the marathon, she was welcomed by her friends and other JRS UK runners.

‘I have so many feelings ... I am so proud and happy that I am done. Proud of myself and everyone else [on the team] that finished with me. I am definitely very tired, but overall, I am just so grateful to be here... I’m just happy and excited!’

Mark, who is the JRS UK Community Projects Coordinator, took on the marathon challenge in solidarity with another runner who has been supported by JRS UK. He led on the fundraising for both of them, while training for a marathon for the very first time. He explained how the funds raised could significantly contribute not just to the services refugee friends can continue to receive, but also to the safer and more enriched lives they get to enjoy in the UK:

I get to see the work of JRS every day. I am really proud to run this.

‘We offer amazing, holistic, wraparound support for destitute refused asylum seekers in London, who would otherwise be in extreme hardship. So, we provide cash support to people, food to stop people from being hungry, legal advice and casework support to get people out of destitution and to try to legalise their stay in the UK, and we have an accommodation team that provides homes to people and gets them to safety – they have somewhere to sleep while they try to resolve their cases. And on my part, we get to do all the fun stuff! We provide English classes, acupuncture, art, drama, other creative opportunities, and really get to explore people as their true selves and not just their immigration status.’

Together, the team this year raised almost £50,000 through the JustGiving website, and donations are still being collected by our runners offline in support of JRS UK’s mission and work. This amount, received from almost a thousand generous individual donors, is remarkable and critical, even more so in the current context of the

cost-of-living crisis, as well as the hostile asylum laws and policies. With the solidarity and support shown through the marathon, JRS UK, together with other Catholic charities, will continue to campaign for the UK to uphold its responsibility towards refugees. And it’s motivating to know that we have supporters like the runners and their networks who are willing to go the distance for refugees – both within the UK and beyond!

If you are feeling inspired and would like to join the team in April 2025, do fill out the application form on the JRS UK website to express your interest! And here is a piece of advice from Matt for anyone considering running a marathon:

‘Take it slow. [When] I started running, I thought you had to go as quickly as you can. But it’s really more about going slowly, and building rhythm. So, just get out there, go slow, and see where you end up!’

SUPPORT TEAM JRS UK!

It’s not too late to make a donation in support of this year’s marathon runners, at justgiving.com/ campaign/londonmarathon2024jrsuk And keep an eye on jrsuk.net for your chance to register to run the London Marathon in 2025.

THE empty chair

Synodality came to life for Susan Cawley at a meeting of Jesuit parish representatives at the end of 2023. What did she take from that gathering back to her parish in Southall, West London?

In November 2023, representatives from the Jesuit parishes in England and Scotland gathered at Stonyhurst to hear someone who had been present at the second synodal session in October tell us what had happened there and what our next steps would be – or so I thought!

What ensued over the next two days turned into a lived experience of the ‘synodal process’ as we addressed the same questions used at the session in Rome. At first, they did not appear to relate to anything discussed at previous meetings or in my parish. Listening was highlighted as an important skill in this process, but what was I supposed to be listening to? This had nothing to do with the challenges we face in our vibrant, multi-ethnic parish in a very culturally diverse part of West London.

Furthermore, as we moved around the room, from group to group, we were asked to make sure that there was an empty chair ‘present’ as we talked.

By the end of the process, however, I found myself listening, really listening, to everyone, and what I heard was what was most important to each person and their parish. This included my own, as I met with those who travelled with me for the final session to plan the next steps for our parish.

The empty chair? We had to decide on its occupant at the end of each conversation: who was missing from the group? Sometimes, it was easy to identify and agree on who or what it was. At others, we each came up with different answers. It enabled us to think about who needed to be part of our conversations as we returned home.

I left eager to make a start, eager to do something, but Advent, then Christmas,

The Synod and its process are an invitation to each of us to be active missionary disciples of Jesus.

then... got in the way! Some of us met on Zoom to discuss what was happening in our various parishes. I was envious as I listened to what everyone was doing to embed the synodal process into their way of working as parishes. On this Zoom call, for me, time was the occupant of the ‘empty chair’! I was then reminded by someone who was at Stonyhurst that their takeaway from the meeting was our united commitment to persevere, stay connected, share our experiences and ideas, and support

each other in what everyone realised would be the difficult process of embedding the synodal process into our way of working. All feelings of impatience and frustration left me!

So, what of lessons learned?

The Synod is not an event or an end in itself. It is not something to be ‘done’!

It is a process, and the outcome will be different wherever it is employed, because the occupant of the empty chair will be different for everyone. To discover who or what that is, it is important to include as many people as possible.

If the focus is on those who no longer practise, why, and how we help them return, there can be no meaningful conversation if they are not present and we are unwilling to listen to what they say. This will be uncomfortable and challenging, but we cannot change, develop and grow unless we know what we need to change.

Participation is important. If I am unwilling to participate in the process and listen to others, my energies are wasted in complaining about what I do not like in my parish.

Many of the issues raised at our gathering were not my issues. But what I witnessed there was the Church focused on mission, on making itself relevant to the people it serves. The Synod and its process are an invitation to each of us to be active missionary disciples of Jesus, whatever that means in our parishes, and share in the mission of the Church, given to us through baptism.

So, who or what is in your empty chair? Who needs a voice? What lessons will you learn as you listen?

Doing God IN POLITICS

Pope Francis’ prayer intentions for the coming months invite us to be political with a small p, says Paul Nicholson SJ

Some still believe that the Church shouldn’t meddle in politics. There is a grain of truth here. Contemporary lay people neither expect nor want their political choices to be dictated by clerics from the pulpit, and the Church is frequently ill-advised when it throws its support behind one party rather than another. But if politics concerns how we can best organise our societies to serve the common good, the Church cannot, and should not, remain silent on such matters.

This is clear in Pope Francis’ prayer intentions for the coming months, most obviously in the August intention. We are invited to pray that political leaders be at the service of their people. If the alternative is that they serve merely themselves, or just a narrow faction of their supporters, this is hardly controversial. But the pope then singles out the poor as those who should have priority among politicians’ concerns. This might be more difficult to accept, particularly by those who are not themselves poor. But it is an outlook deeply rooted in the pope’s theology, his belief that God has made a ‘preferential option for the poor’, seeing their needs and inspiring others to help them. This prayer is challenging, as it is almost certain to lead you to consider making changes in your lifestyle – not an intention to be taken up lightly!

The political implications of this set of prayer intentions don’t end there. September’s intention reminds us that climate change, happening as a result

of human activity, needs to be a principal concern for all people of faith. Pope Francis writes frequently about this, not least in his landmark 2015 encyclical, Laudato si ’. And again, it’s an intention calling anyone who prays it to action, asking God to lead each of us to a ‘personal commitment’.

Of course, the Church can hardly expect to be listened to when it speaks of how best to organise society unless it reflects on how it organises itself. Another concern close to Pope Francis’ heart features in the October intention. ‘Synodality’ can sound like an abstract notion, but it leads us to change our thinking about who takes responsibility for what in the Church. We are all invited, by virtue of our baptism, to be missionary disciples, spreading the news of God’s love by our words and actions. This is a task that cannot be left to religious ‘professionals’, priests and religious, so the pope invites us to pray for the gifts we need to be heralds of the gospel.

While those who are sick can frequently, by the way they accept and respond to their suffering, be powerful witnesses to the reality of God’s love, the Church recognises that this may not be an easy task. The sacrament of the anointing of the sick offers strength here, and July’s intention acknowledges this. One of the ways to judge any society is by the provision it makes for those who are sick. Even this intention, therefore, has a political dimension that warrants our prayer.

INTENTIONS FOR THIS PERIOD

JULY

For the pastoral care of the sick

Let us pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick grant the Lord’s strength to those who receive it and to their loved ones, and that it may become for everyone an ever more visible sign of compassion and hope.

AUGUST

For political leaders

Let us pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and the common good, taking care of those who have lost their jobs and giving priority to the poor.

SEPTEMBER

For the cry of the earth

Let us pray that each of us listen with our hearts to the cry of the Earth and of the victims of environmental disasters and the climate crisis, making a personal commitment to care for the world we inhabit.

OCTOBER

For a shared mission

Let us pray that the Church continue to sustain a synodal lifestyle in every way, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, communion and mission shared by priests, religious and laity.

‘A POWER STATION FOR THE retreat apostolate’

This summer marks twenty years since the closure of a west London property from which the Jesuits in Britain made an invaluable contribution to the life of the Catholic Church in Britain for nearly 100 years. Two former superiors of Campion House, Frs Michael Barrow SJ and Denis Blackledge SJ, tell its story.

Campion House, Osterley, is one of the truly great institutions of the Church in this country’, wrote Cardinal Basil Hume.

Founded under the inspiration of Fr Edmund Lester SJ, this unique work of the British Jesuit Province was to provide a vibrant community where men who had insufficient education might be readied for seminary life and studies. Campion House was gifted to the Jesuits in 1911 as a retreat house, but it soon became obvious that many men coming on retreat had the ability and dedication enough to become ideal priests if only they had the basic education. In those days and until after World War II, eighty per cent of the children in Britain left school and

An article (right) in The Tablet, the international Catholic weekly, on 7 May 1921 celebrates the evident impact of the work being done at Campion House from its beginnings. In those early days, the retreatants who came from far and wide to find a place of rest ‘on the Electric Underground four stations from the terminus, Hounslow Barracks’, encountered men in training for the priesthood.

‘First and foremost Campion House is a Power Station for the Retreat Apostolate. Many other things are done there, but they are, as it were, offshoots from the Retreat Work. It is true that the Young Priests’ work is one of the inspiring sights at Osterley for those who come every week for Retreats. There the Retreatants see a modern miracle — the vast crowd of young men in the very prime of life’s spring, bold, dashing, manly, merry, but in deadly earnest and supremely happy.

The dust and care worn business man comes, worried, weary and “half-alive,” like the man in the story of the Good Samaritan, and he sees nothing but freshness, alertness, unworldliness, and he is refreshed like the parched plant after a spring shower.

‘As these two magnificent works go hand in hand it is well to treat them together. If you have never made a Retreat you are not rested. Come to Osterley. You will return home and to work a new man.’

(A diary entry in an issue of the magazine three weeks prior, on 16 April 1921, reveals how enthusiastically the work was supported: ’In aid of Father Lester’s Young Priests’ Fund a most enjoyable and well-attended dance was held in the Grand Hall of the Cecil Hotel on Tuesday evening... well over 200 assembled. Dancing began at 9 o’clock and was continued until 2 a.m.’)

Campion House, Osterley (ref. WS/3/12/2)

TOP: Lenten procession, 1940-1945 (ref. WS/3/12/4 – photos: British Jesuit Archives)

started work on their fourteenth birthday. So, Fr Lester decided to provide just what was needed, opening it to men from dioceses, religious and missionary orders and congregations, both from home and abroad.

When Fr Lester died, Fr Clement (Clem) Tigar SJ continued and developed his dream. These two extraordinary priests directed the work for the first fifty years. As well as being inspired, both were very gifted beggars and response to their appeals came from rich and poor alike. It was certainly needed. After World War II, numbers rapidly expanded and a new three-floor wing was constructed. The large gardens provided most of the fresh vegetables year-round, thanks to the work of the students. Osterley gave the men a solid grounding in personal and liturgical prayer, and in community living, sharing the practical workload of every day, as well as sound teaching in Latin, English language and literature, Scripture and other subjects, as well as an opening to culture, with plays and music in the West End.

D-Day links

On 6 June this year there were international celebrations in Normandy to mark the eightieth anniversary of D-Day, the Allied amphibious landings on the beaches of northern France which began the liberation of mainland Europe at the end of World War II. On that occasion the current Jesuit chaplain at Stonyhurst, Fr Tim Curtis SJ, recalled a college and Province link with the landings.

Fr Lester Guilly SJ (OS 1923), who had only been ordained in 1938, rose to be a senior chaplain in the Second World War. He claimed later in life that he was one of only six people to know the date, time and place of the D-Day landings in advance. (The cautious Stonyhurst Association Newsletter noted in 2019: ‘This probably was unlikely, however it makes a good story!’) What credibility the story may have comes from the fact that it was Fr Guilly’s job to mobilise the chaplains

After those first two pioneers there was a succession of Jesuit superiors for shorter periods, but the teaching and formation of the students was largely in the hands of a very few totally dedicated lay men and women, as well as the Jesuit priests who came to teach. By the end of the century, more than 1,500 priests had been ordained who otherwise would never have started.

The Osterley brass plaques, once close to the main entrance of the college, may now be viewed in Sacred Heart church, Wimbledon, and contain the names of more than 1,600 men who

studied at Osterley. Most of them are priests, some are deacons. After the closure of Campion House in 2004, Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ, then Superior General of the Society of Jesus, wrote that the number of priests who had been ordained after studying there ‘undoubtedly indicates the presence of an extraordinary gift of God’s grace to the Church’.

A blog post from the British Jesuit Archives tells more of the story: jesuitarchives.co.uk/post/campionhouse-osterley

(including eighty Jesuits) to follow the troops as they advanced across Europe. The British Army Lists for October 1944 record him as ‘Chaplain to the Forces, (ranking as Captain) Guilly, Rev, Richard Lester Calderwood, Master of Arts, Roman Catholic, employed since 19th August 1939’. He therefore served as army chaplain throughout the war.

He was awarded an OBE in 1945 and mentioned in despatches.

After the war he was sent out to Guyana (then British Guiana), despite having written when he entered the Society: ‘I have never had any particular thoughts as to Foreign Missions’. There he served six years as mission superior before being appointed Vicar Apostolic (1954), and later the first Bishop of Georgetown (1956). He took an active part in the Second Vatican Council after which he became the bishops’ expert in AIDS. After retiring from Georgetown, Guyana he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the island of St Lucia for four years while they searched for their own bishop. He died in St Lucia one day after the 52nd anniversary of the D-Day landings at the age of ninety, while writing a recollection of his time at Campion Hall, Oxford for its centenary celebrations, being at the time its oldest alumnus.

Retreatants from RAF Henlow, 10-11 July 1943 (ref. WS/3/12/4)

Pope John Paul II and Bishop Guilly

Refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity

Pope Francis calls us to welcome women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes because of violence, injustice, poverty, or environmental disasters.

Will you take up his call and stand with people seeking sanctuary in the UK, by supporting the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service?

With your help, we are providing our refugee friends with vital services including food, accommodation, advice and legal support, as we work to build a more welcoming society.

YES, I want to support Pope Francis’ call to welcome and assist refugees!

Ways to donate: online at jrsuk.net/donate , call us on 020 7488 7310 or return this form with the pre-paid envelope included in with this issue.

£160 £80 £50 £25 £

I enclose a cheque/postal order made payable to: Jesuit Refugee Service

I’d like to find out more about regular giving to JRS UK

Someone from JRS will contact you

I’d like to learn more information about leaving a gift in my will to JRS UK