Listen to this story:
Ignatian formation is at the heart of the Jesuits’ mission in Canada, guiding both Jesuits and their lay partners. To strengthen formation and spiritual accompaniment across the country, spirituality-focused ministries have begun collaborating more closely to pool their resources and nationalize training in Ignatian spirituality.
Kevin Kelly, SJ, Provincial Assistant for Ignatian Spirituality, discusses the challenges and opportunities within this sector, which includes parishes, chaplaincies, Christian Life Communities, retreat houses, and spirituality centres. Their work will impact all the apostolates in the Province.
What is the reality of the Province now for your sector?
The Province is changing. With fewer Jesuits and more lay partners, we need a well-formed Ignatian presence in our parishes, university campus, retreat houses… in all of our current works. Collaboration is essential. However, this also means changes in some of our apostolates. We will need to be more focused and intentional in our approach to meet Canada’s geographic, linguistic, and cultural realities.
We are also seeing a significant demand for spiritual accompaniment, retreats, and formation—not just in spiritual direction but also in the basics of Ignatian spirituality. There is a real hunger for these offerings, however, with fewer resources, we must respond in a coordinated way. This requires working together, with a common formation mission. It will likely require existing formation teams in works across Canada to evolve from what they are currently doing, in order to meet not just the needs of those they serve, but also the needs of other Jesuit apostolates.
So where are we currently standing in the Ignatian Spirituality Sector?
The Spirituality and Pastoral sector is made up of a wide variety of ministries. While some commonalities exist, each area faces distinct challenges and opportunities. This diversity is our first challenge: how do we bring these ministries together in a way that respects their uniqueness and helps them to serve their missions, while fostering collaboration?
One key connection among our works is the need for strong formation in Ignatian spirituality—whether in parishes, retreat houses, schools, or other settings. We recognize the shared foundations and possibilities for collaboration, yet historically, these ministries have not always been connected in an integrated way. That presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
To move forward, we need to better understand the spiritual ministries operating across the country—their needs, especially in formation and spiritual support. While this work is just beginning through a completion of a needs assessment, one thing is already clear: we need to nationalize our training approach to avoid our efforts remain in silos and to ensure ministries with limited human resources are receiving what they need.
One approach we are considering is bringing together those who specialize in different aspects of Ignatian formation and offering this formation to a broader audience. For example, retreat houses already have structures in place for this work, while other ministries may lack the same infrastructure. Everyone has valuable skills and experience, and by working together, we can better leverage our collective strengths. For now, we are calling this initiative the Canadian Ignatian Spirituality Formation Program.
What are the main priorities, or pillars, of this national formation initiative?
The national formation initiative is focused on three key areas.
- The first pillar will support all our works in Canada and those we serve within them. It focuses on Ignatian spirituality formation—starting with its basics and progressing toward completing the Spiritual Exercises, either in daily life or through a long retreat experience. This pillar will address needs that include: How do we help people learn Ignatian prayer? How do we teach fundamental skills of self-awareness and recognizing God’s presence in everyday life and the world? How do we support individuals learning to discern life choices?
- The second pillar focuses on spiritual accompaniment—forming new spiritual directors who can lead retreats, facilitate communal discernment activities, and provide ongoing spiritual direction.
- The third pillar focuses on communal discernment, where Gabriel Côté, SJ, and others will form individuals to accompany groups and support them in their communal discernment processes.
How will you begin this process?
Our first step is to develop a new course for the partners of the Jesuits across all sectors of the Canadian Province. It will help individuals to better understand the Jesuits, our Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs), the Jesuit and Ignatian tradition in Canada, our variety of apostolic works, basics of Ignatian spirituality, and our priorities like our ongoing work with Indigenous peoples.
While online courses from various Jesuit conferences provide some of this content, our Canadian context is unique. This program will ensure that all Jesuits and partners in mission of the Province—whether a retreat centre housekeeper or a teacher at one of our schools—have a foundational understanding of the Jesuits and Ignatian spirituality. The goal is also to create connections and to break down silos across different ministries. The pilot program launches in May at the Villa Saint-Martin.
Are you also working with the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States?
There are valuable materials and structures within the JCCU Conference, particularly in the area of formation, on which we are already collaborating. The U.S. Provinces are generously sharing these programs that will support us as we develop programming that reflects the Canadian reality. We also have expertise, especially in areas of spiritual accompaniment and communal discernment formation, that our U.S. colleagues are wanting to benefit from. All Provincial Assistants, including myself, are seeing the benefits of engaging with these shared resources.
