History of the Jesuit Institute

The Jesuit Institute was founded in 1988 through an endowment from Boston College's Jesuit Community.

The information on this page comes from the directorships of Robert Daly, SJ (1989-1991), Michael Buckley, SJ (1992-2001) and T. Frank Kennedy, SJ. (2002-2014).

  • In 1989 Fr. Robert Daly, S.J. was named its first director, a professor in the Theology Department and editor of Theological Studies.
  • In 1992, Fr. Michael Buckley, S.J. became its second director. Prior to his appointment, he was a professor of systematic and philosophical theology at the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Buckley also served as rector and professor at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif. from 1969 to 1986, and was a delegate to the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus held in Rome in 1995.
  • In 1996 Fr. Buckley became the inaugural holder of the Canisius Chair. Named by the University for the 16th-century Jesuit educator, writer and theologian Peter Canisius, the chair was set to be held by an accomplished scholar whose academic interests and influence would further the institute's efforts to foster the Jesuit and Catholic nature of Boston College.
  • During Fr. Buckley’s tenure the Institute took its actual shape. He sponsored many important events, among them was an international conference held in late May 1997, entitled “The Jesuits: Culture, Learning, and the Arts, 1540-1773.” The University of Toronto Press published the proceedings of the conference under the very same title.

Work Produced and Supported by the Jesuit Institute

In past years, a variety of works, books, films, musical compositions, and exhibitions have been produced or supported by the Jesuit Institute. Finding God in all Things, comprises the papers given at the inaugural conference of the Jesuit Institute by a variety of distinguished scholars. Religion and the Arts began as an interdisciplinary faculty seminar and is now an independent quarterly that "seeks to explore religious and spiritual dimensions in the verbal, visual and performing arts, in the context of contemporary theory and culture." Others have included:

Books

  • Ethics and the Golden Rule by Harry J. Gensler, New York and London, Routledge, 2013
  • True Reform: Liturgy and Ecclesiology in Sacrosanctum Concilium, Minessota, Pueblo Book, 2012
  • Vatican II: The Battle for Meaning, by Massimo Faggioli, New York, Paulist Press, 2012
  • Geistigkeit, Leben und geschichtliche Welt in der Transzendentalphänomenologie Husserls [Trans. Mind, Life an Historical World in Husserl's Transcendental Phenomenology], by Andrea Staiti, Ergon Verlag, Würzburg, 2010.
  • The Jesuits II: Cultures, Sciences and the Arts, 1540-1773, by John W. O’Malley, Gauvin Bailey, Steven Harris & T. Frank Kennedy, Eds. University Of Toronto Press, 2006.
  • The Jesuits: Cultures, Sciences and the Arts, 1540-1773, by John W. O’Malley, Gauvin Alexander Bailey, Steven J. Harris & T. Frank Kennedy, Eds. University of Toronto Press, 1999.
  • Inculturation and the Church in North America, by T. Frank Kennedy, S.J., Ed., Crossroads, 2006.
  • Religion, Human Rights, and the Gulag, by John J. Michalczyk & Naomi Blumberg Eds. Etolie International Productions, 2006.
  • The Jesuits and the Arts, 1540-1773, by John W. O’Malley and Gauvin Alexander Bailey Eds. (Original Italian edited by Giovanni Sale). Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2005.
  • The Dialogue Between Science and Religion: What We Have Learned from One Another, by Patrick H. Byrne, The University of Scranton Press, 2005.
  • Catholic Ethicist on HIV/ AIDS Prevention, by James F. Keenan, S.J. Ed. Continuum, 2000.
  • Art on the Jesuit Missions in Asia and Latin America, 1542-1773, by Gauvin Alexander Bailey, University Of Toronto Press, 1999.
  • Seeing into the Life of Things. Essays on Literature and Religious Experience, by John L. Mahoney Ed. Fordham University Press, 1998
  • In Ten Thousand Places: Dogma in a Pluralistic Church, by Paul G. Crowley, Crossroad, 1997.
  • Medicine, Ethics and the Third Reich, by John J. Michalczyk Ed. Sheed & Ward, 1994.
  • Liberating the Caged Dalit Panther, by M. Sebastian, Emerald, 1994.
  • Capitalism and the Moral Life, by John Langan S.J.
  • Redeeming the Promise: Inquiries into Catholic Higher Education in a Jesuit Idiom, by Michael J. Buckley, S.J.
  • Finding God in all Things, a collection of essays in various disciplines from numerous scholars that pay tribute to the inaugural Canisius chair holder of the Jesuit Institute, by Michael J. Buckley, S.J.

Studies

  • "Salvadorian High-risk Youth and Service," by René Olate (Graduate School of Social Work)
    A study of high-risk youth in youth development programs involving students from Universidad Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas” and other international Jesuit universities.

Musical Performances

  • 2011, October 13. Making History-Making Music: the Jesuit Musical Tradition in Italy and England. Music by Carissimi, Victoria, and William Byrd. Ensemble Plus Ultra (UK). It was performed at St Mary’s Chapel, Boston College.
    Michael Noone, Director
  • 2011, October 12. Masterworks from the Jesuit German College in Rome: Tomás Luis de Victoria and Giacomo Carissimi. Ensemble Plus Ultra (UK). It was performed at St Mary’s Chapel, Boston College.
    Michael Noone, Director
  • 2009, September 18. East Meets West. Two Jesuit Choreographers, by Robert VerEecke, SJ and Saju George, SJ. Watch it online
  • 2009, November 2. 15th Century Chansons for voices and instruments, by Du Fay, Binchois, Ockeghem, Busnoys, Frye and others. It was performed at St Mary’s Chapel, Boston College.
    Blue Heron, Scott Metcalfe, Director
  • 2008, October 24-25. Judicium Salomonis, by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was performed at St Mary’s Chapel, Boston College.
    Producer: T. Frank Kennedy, S.J.
    Production Director: Michael A. Zampelli, S.J.
    Conductor: John Finney (BC Music Department)
    Ensemble Abendmusik
  • 2007, October 2-11. San Ignacio de Loyola, by Domenico Zipoli. Three performances at Santa Clara, University of San Francisco and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
    Producer: T. Frank Kennedy, S.J.
    Production Director: Michael A. Zampelli, S.J.
    Conductor: John Finney (BC Music Department)
  • 2006, March 24 -25, San Ignacio de Loyola, by Domenico Zipoli. It was performed in Rome in the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the Society of Jesus.
    Producer: T. Frank Kennedy, S.J.
    Production Director: Michael A. Zampelli, S.J.
    Conductor: John Finney (BC Music Department)
  • 2004, October 30-31. Mors Saulis et Jonathae, H403, by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was performed at St Mary’s Chapel, Boston College.
    Producer: T. Frank Kennedy, S.J.
    Production Director: Michael A. Zampelli, S.J.
    Conductor: John Finney (BC Music Department)
    Ensemble Abendmusik
  • 2002, November 23-24. Patientis Christi Memoria, by Johan Bernhard Staudt. It was performed at St Mary’s Chapel, Boston College.
    Producer: T. Frank Kennedy, S.J.
    Production Director: Michael A. Zampelli, S.J.
    Conductor: John Finney (BC Music Department)
    Ensemble Abendmusik

Musical Recordings

Monumenta Musicae Societatis Iesu (Series)

Director: Michael Noone
Organ: Robert Quinney
Ensemble Plus Ultra
Musica Omnia

1. Gradualia (1607), by William Byrd

Ensemble Abendmusik
Dorian Recording.

2. The Jesuit Operas. Operas by Johannes Kapsberger (Apotheosis sive consecratio SS. Ignatii et Francisci Xaverii) and Domenico Zipoli/Martin Schmid/ et al., (San Ignacio).

3. God Here Among Us, a collection of 15 original musical compositions, by Chris Willcock, S.J.

4. Solo and Chamber Works, by Ralf Yusuf Gawlick.

On November 2009, composer and BC assistant professor, Ralf Yusuf Gawlick, released a solo CD of four works on the Musica Omnia label. Works include Mysterium doloris quintae (Tropen-Kreuz) for solo piano, Sonata-Mazur (Aus der Ferne...) for violin and piano, Trio for violin, cello and piano, and Glocken-Spiel for piano quartet. Gawlick has received numerous national and international awards and was most recently selected as a 2009 Artist Fellow in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC).

Commissions and Sponsored Works

  • XXX Annual Colloquy of the American Weil Society. Title: "Simone Weil: Texts and Contexts." Organized by Tomeu Estelrich.
  • "Catholic Renewal and Reform: Four Decades Sharing in the Jesuit Mission in Higher Education" by David O'Brien.
  • “The Guestbook Project”. Founded in 2008 by Richard Kearney and others, the aim of The Guestbook Project is to welcome the stranger as guest through an innovative and technological investigation of hospitality through text, performance, and digital arts.
  • "Mass for the Holy Year 2000" by Thomas Oboe Lee (BC Music Department). First Performance by John Finney and the University Chorale in Trinity Chapel, April 15, 2000. The Mass is divided into nine movements and scored by SATB chorus, chamber orchestra and organ. It follows the entire Latin text from the Ordinary of the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. In between these sections, there are four settings of contemporary poems written in English by Elizabeth Kirschner, Claude McKay, Edith Stein, and Thomas Merton. All these poems reflect and amplify what is already in the Latin text: a veneration for faith and redemption.

Films

  • "Writing on the Wall," (2009) co-produced by John J. Michalczyk & Ronald A. Marsh. This documentary, produced for the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in conjunction with the German Embassy’s national commemoration, not only highlights the principle phases on the reconstruction of democracy and international stability after the fall of the Berlin Wall, but also captures the personal narratives of both leaders and citizens caught up in this drama.
  • "Unexpected openings: Northern Ireland’s Prisoners," (2000) by John J. Michalczyk, Raymond Helmick, S.J., and Paul Goudreau. Etoile Productions.
  • "Out of the Ashes: Northern Ireland’s Fragile Peace," (1998) by John J. Michalczyk. Etoile Productions.
  • "In the Shadow of the Reich: Nazi Medicine," (1997) by John J. Michalczyk. First Run Features.
  • "December’s Dilemma: The Creche, the Dreidel and the Star," (1997) by John J. Michalczyk. Etoile Productions.
  • “The Cross and the Star: Jews, Christians and the Holocaust," (1992) by John J. Michalczyk. Etoile Productions.

Exhibitions

  • 2011, March 14- September. Binding Friendships: Ricci, China and Jesuit Cultural Learnings.
    Curator: Jeremy Clarke SJ
  • 2006, September 7. Francis Xavier and the Jesuit Missions in the Far East. In the 500th anniversary of the birth of Francis Xavier (1506-1552), the Jesuit Institute and the John J. Burns Library at Boston College offered an exhibition of early printed works relating to his biography and posthumous cult, as well as to the subsequent Jesuit enterprise in the Far East where Xavier labored for ten years and died on a small desolate island off the coast of China. Curator: Franco Mormando.
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