"Can we renew our determination to go forward together?"

• Introduction
  I welcome you warmly to this Province Assembly. I believe we are at an important moment in the history of the Church in Ireland, and that together as lay people, religious and Jesuits we have an important contribution to make to our future. I welcome this opportunity to brief you on my understanding of our situation and to issue an invitation arising out of this briefing.
  Briefing
  a. Context There is a project going on among Jesuits, and now with religious and some laity in Western Europe, which is attempting to understand and respond to the relationship between faith and culture in our region. The results to date are interesting: The Church is widely perceived to be an obstacle to the preaching of the Gospel (authoritarian, non-democratic, paternalistic, clerical and outmoded); religion is often treated as fundamentalism and struggles to make its voice heard in public debate; Christians (including Jesuits) are affected by the prevailing individualism and secularism so that belief in God is less spontaneous and there is less confidence that Christianity or Catholicism has all the answers. In Ireland we Jesuits are conscious of our ageing profile and lack of vocations: in 1982 there were 356 Irish Jesuits. Today we number 200 (180 in Ireland; average age 70; 30 under 50, of whom two are novices and six outside the country, i.e. 22 altogether); 93 over 70. We are all conscious of the scandal of Child Sexual Abuse by clergy. You all know that Vatican II rediscovered the value of the lay vocation, the equality of all baptised Christians: And yet for many laity this has not been backed up by the formation and opportunity of employment that would make it more meaningful, while for us Jesuits it has proved difficult to identify the value of religious, Jesuit life in the context of this positive evaluation of the lay vocation. There are important and unresolved questions about sexuality and celibacy which affect us all, Jesuit and lay alike. In the face of all this much religious language sounds tired and clichéd.
  This is a partial description of the situation we face in Ireland at this time. Its effect on Jesuits is mixed: loss of heart in planning for a future which we won't be part of; sadness at younger Jesuits leaving; shame about the CSA phenomenon; anger that clergy seem to bear the brunt of society's criticism; excitement that something new is happening and hope that we can be faithful participants in what is emerging. How can we be more effective in tapping into the power of the gospel in response to this situation?
  b. Province planning I began a Strategic Planning exercise about 1½ years ago in response to this situation. The first phase of this exercise is now reaching completion. It involved widespread consultation of Jesuit communities and apostolates, with lay facilitation, a particular focus on the under 50s Jesuit group, and in a context where the Jesuit Father, Father Kolvenbach, was urging Jesuits in Europe in particular to engage in planning, not least because of the reduction in manpower.
  It should be said at this point, as many of you know, that decision-making within the Jesuit Order takes place according to a process of discernment which involves widespread consultation, planning, prayer and ultimately a decision by the appropriate authority - Superior, Director of Work, Board of Management, Provincial. Overall responsibility and Province - wide decisions rest with the Provincial, who is assisted by four Jesuit Consultors. The planning exercise was mainly internal, Jesuit, with the help of some laity, in an effort to see what we as Jesuits wanted. The main results -
  Regrouping - growth
  # Manresa has been renovated and new personnel are in place to help implement the emphasis on a lay clientele; Manresa has a focus as Resource Centre for lay formation.
  # JCC and their publications are in process of being reorganised under Paddy Carberry; the new thrust will mean that they are more in service of the Jesuit Province and collaborators to communicate with the media and one another. Appointment of Mr. Gary O'Sullivan as Communications Manager of JCC.
  # The CFJ has a new lay Director, Mr. Eugene Quinn, with a Jesuit Chair of the Board, Brian Lennon.
  # The new Central Director of the Pioneers is Mr. Pádraic Naughton.
  # There is a strong thrust to bring about lay responsibility for the maintenance of the Jesuit Ignatian ethos in our schools. Appointment of Dermot Cowhey as Head of Crescent College Comprehensive and Gerard Foley as Head of Belvedere.
  # The Trustees of the Milltown Institute have approved a five-year strategic plan for the Institute with an annual review and a major review in the Autumn of 2004.
  Regrouping - reduction
  # We have closed a Formation Community in Ballymun
  # We have announced to the relevant bishops that we are unable to fill the role of Curate in our parishes.
  # We have announced the sale of the Clongowes Farm and are monitoring the property situations in Galway and Dooradoyle.
  # We have announced to the people of Ballymun that following a meeting with Cardinal Connell we will be withdrawing from responsibility for the parish next summer. A Jesuit community will remain in Ballymun.
  # We have announced our withdrawal from responsibility for the parish of St. Ignatius in Galway. It will remain a 'Service Church'.
  Question: Can we continue in the following areas?
  # Can we continue to maintain our commitment to Northern Ireland in the context of reduced numbers? (Under review) Update
  # Can we continue to maintain our commitment to University Hall? (Under review)
  # The merging of communities. (Under review)
  c. Emerging insights
• Several key insights emerged from this exercise
  1. We need to harness our resources so as to respond proactively to the needs of Ireland, in particular in the areas of intellectual (including second-level) spiritual and social ministry, with special sensitivity to young adults, Northern Ireland and the need for good communications.
  2. We need to envisage a less burdensome future, and so cut back on certain areas.
  3. Our partnership with lay people and religious will be absolutely crucial to the continuation of our mission in Ireland.
  4. With regard to more specific details of this Lay / Jay partnership I note the developments in Manresa and the colleges in particular; the new Lay / SJ Bulletin as a way of promoting further communication; and the many other ways in which you, as laity and we as Jesuits collaborate on a daily basis.
  5. A need for Jesuits to develop better ways of living together, a more open sharing of difficulties and dreams.
  6. A realisation that, given the difficulties we face, we are driven back to our Principle and Foundation to faith in Jesus Christ, to a green hope that is rooted in the wood of the soil of resurrection.
  
  Invitation
  We are clear as Jesuits that we will be a lot less numerous in future. We also have confidence in our tradition, in particular that of the discernment that goes with the Spiritual Exercises and our international links. We believe that this tradition has much to offer the Ireland of today and the Church of today as we attempt to discern our way forward in a time of crisis. We are sure that this will be done more effectively if we do it together with you as lay people.
  Can we, then, renew our determination to go forward together? We, on our side, want to place at your disposal the resources of formation and opportunity which you need. We want to hear from you what these needs are. We are asking you, now, this second phase of planning, to help us with your wisdom and insight to plot the way forward together. The Lay / SJ Committee, set up after the working group review in 2001, and coming out of the 1998 Province Congregation can be the coordinator of this collaboration. It is an important consultative part of the structure of decision making at Province level to which I earlier referred. And we would be grateful, also, if we could receive from you as well as give to you: We know (even if we sometimes find it hard to admit) that we, too, need formation, not least to work with you in a more cooperative way.
  Conclusion
  The obverse side of the crisis that we face in Ireland today is the wonderful challenge facing us, in the company of a God who never disappoints. Let us, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus allow ourselves to become part of a conversation along that journey that changes downcast faces into hearts that burn within us.

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