Learning is a journey

Etienne_Grieu_sj rector
Centre Sèvres
Publié le 30 April 2021

The Facultés Loyola Paris lie at the heart of Paris, with fifty permanent teachers ready to welcome you. They were founded in 1974 bringing together the prestigious theology faculty at Fourvière, in Lyon (Henri de Lubac, Jean Daniélou, Xavier Léon-Dufour), and also the philosophy faculty at Chantilly (Gaston Fessard, Jacques Sommet ). They remain under Jesuit leadership, but now in close collaboration with other religious, lay people and diocesan priests. Moreover, their students, and increasingly their staff, come from all over the world.

The Facultés Loyola Paris offer programmes leading to university-level canonical diplomas: the baccalaureate, the licentiate, and the doctorate. Their courses are rooted in the Ignatian tradition. In their content, they stress how the approach to the mystery of God opens us up also to the mystery of humanity. Their pedagogy centres on a conviction that philosophy and theology involve people’s experience. Thus, to teach well is also to accompany individuals as they make their own journeys of discovery.

The two faculties of philosophy and theology each have their own specific programmes and research. At the same time, they collaborate closely, and are enriched by the dialogue. They publish two international research periodicals: Recherches de sciences religieuses and Archives de philosophie. Our research focuses on systematic theology, patristics, Ignatian spirituality, ethics, and a distinctive attempt to do theology based on close contact with people at the margins. In philosophy, we highlight phenomenology, hermeneutics, moral and political philosophy, and mysticism.

All this activity takes place in a modern and lively campus equiped with wifi, a library of 400.000 volumes and rare collections, a peaceful garden. It is neighbour to Saint-Ignace, the church of the Jesuits in Paris, where the students, teachers and staff gather once a month to celebrate the Eucharist.

Bienvenue à tous!