Ignatian Spirituality: History and Hermeneutics

What we now call Ignatian spirituality has been lived out in different ways since the time of Ignatius Loyola and the first Jesuits. For a long period, Ignatius’s Exercises and the Society of Jesus were seen as promoting ascetical, disciplined allegiance to the Church. In the mid-1960s onwards, with Vatican II and its call to renewal, major changes took hold. These were informed by important historical research that enabled the Ignatian family to retrieve insights long forgotten, and to strike out in significant new directions. The process continues.
There are, perhaps, four key phases in Jesuit history: the foundational period centred on Ignatius and the first companions, the consolidation after his death associated with Claudio Acquaviva: the movement of restoration following the suppression (1773) and re-establishment (1814) of the Jesuits spearheaded by Jan Philipp Roothaan; and the conciliar renewal led by Pedro Arrupe. This seminar will look at how key motifs of Ignatian spirituality were lived and understood in different ways in each of these periods – for example, the grace focused in the life of Ignatius; the relationship between prayer and action; the ways in which the Exercises were given; obedience, authority and discernment. Each session will normally have a seminar-discussion of a particular point, to which all students are expected to contribute, and a short lecture or class filling in the wider context.
Besides offering an introduction to the history of Ignatian spirituality, this seminar also presents case studies in theological development and interpretation, showing how a charismatic inspiration can give rise to different styles of Christian living in different periods.
Input mostly in English; discussion in French and English.