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Sept. 21, 2006 • Volume 15 Number 2

Rev. Julio Giulietti, SJ

Jesuit Speaker Series Begins Sept. 26

By Reid Oslin
Staff Writer

A three-part lecture series focusing on Jesuit values in contemporary life will begin next Tuesday with Center for Ignatian Spirituality Director Julio Giulietti, SJ, speaking on "Christian Spirituality Today: An Ignatian Vision."

Fr. Giulietti's lecture will take place in Gasson 305, starting at 7 p.m.

Additional lectures in the series, which commemorates anniversaries of several of the founding members of the Society of Jesus, will be held on Oct. 17, when Boston Institute for Psychotherapy Fellow Tim Kochems presents "Loving Those With Whom We Work: A Psychoanalytical and Spiritual Vision" in McGuinn Hall's fifth floor lounge; and on Nov. 7 when Saint Louis University Institute of Jesuit Sources Director Rev. John W. Padberg, SJ, will speak on "Jesuits and Friends: Looking to the Future" in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons.

Admission is free for all events.

The series marks the 450th anniversary of the death of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus and the 500th anniversary of the birth of two of the best-known early Jesuits, St. Francis Xavier and Blessed Peter Faber.

The three Jesuit anniversaries occurring this year provide a special impetus for a look at Ignatian spirituality in the modern world, says Fr. Giulietti. "The 'triple anniversary' commemorates the spiritual and cultural vitality of three renaissance Jesuits living in a time when humanity was moving from centuries of darkness toward hope and exploration. Each of them responded in a way meaningful to that hope.

"They were at the forefront of the Jesuit vision that inspired the genesis of Boston College 300 years later," he says. "Our University values its Catholic intellectual tradition and feels the spiritual and humanistic energies that are part of the Jesuit tradition."

These Jesuit values remain an important solution for the complexities of modern life, Fr. Giulietti says. "So many of our students and colleagues are seeking to understand how spirituality and the human sciences can enhance their day-to-day lives.

"Each of the three talks focuses on human development - the desire for meaning, connectedness with God and service to others." •