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.
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