The Jesuit Tradition


Jesuit education seeks to be world affirming - to reveal a world "charged with the grandeur of God". It encourages study of all reality, promoting the search for God in all things while respecting the infinite variety of ways in which God is revealed to an individual. Its objective is to produce wisdom and a deep sense of reverence rather than marketability or a narrow orientation towards a specific career. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus -- the Jesuits, was a man of global vision living at a time when horizons were being extended and new cultures were developing. For more than 400 years, following in Ignatius's footsteps, teachers in Jesuit schools have lived through great changes such as those brought about by the printing press, the industrial revolution, the development of the New World, the burgeoning of science, and major political revolutions. Through all these times they have taught young people, introducing them to seminal knowledge and instructing them in the principles of the Catholic faith. Their experience, their reflections on the nature of education, and their views on how best to prepare the young to act for the benefit of others provide wisdom and guidance for all Jesuit schools. Their collective experience is documented in the Characteristics of Jesuit Education, a publication prepared by an international commission of the Society of Jesus in 1986.