by Rachel Amiri
While men often discern a Jesuit vocation in the context the U.S. Central and Southern (UCS) Province, they also commit their lives to an international and missionary order. Like the great Jesuit missionaries who have gone before them, Jesuits today understand that availability for mission and the capacity to go where the needs are greatest remain keys to Jesuit identity.
“We enter for mission, wherever that might be,” said Fr. Provincial Thomas P. Greene, SJ.
Preparing Jesuits who are rooted yet available for mission in an apostolic body that includes more than 13,000 Jesuits in 110 countries is a primary concern of Fr. Greene and Jesuit formators today.
“It inspires me to realize that I’m part of a much larger mission than the UCS Province, and so I want that same inspiration for our men,” he said.
The province approaches the shaping of Jesuits’ minds and hearts to serve in an international Society and global Church throughout Jesuit formation. Opportunities to study, live and minister abroad cultivate talents they may draw upon in the future. The North American institutions where Jesuits typically complete their academic studies welcome students and engage faculty from around the world.
These experiences are essential for understanding where the Church is and where it is heading, Fr. Greene said.
“While we need to be rooted in the local realities and how to minister to the people of God in the United States, we also need to be aware that we’re a pretty small player in terms of the overall picture,” he said. According to 2025 statistics from the Vatican, only 6.6% of Catholics globally are from North America.
In recent years, creating international opportunities has included missioning Jesuits internationally for theology studies. Currently, Jesuit theologians from the UCS Province are in Rome, Paris, Madrid and Manila.
“Exposure to different parts of the world means they’re going to have different teachers and different ways of living the Jesuit life, even though they may come back and work in the province the rest of their lives,” Fr. Greene said.
Some are studying at the heart of the Church in centuries-old institutions, such as the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, while others are at schools where no Jesuit from this province has recently studied. In each context, Jesuits learn how to be available for mission.
Discerning a Mission
The decision about where to send Jesuits to complete their studies is one made by the provincial in consultation with his assistant for formation, as well as the Jesuit himself. Three of the four Jesuits missioned for theology studies last year expressed an interest studying abroad.
“You’re always looking at the balance of the man’s gifts, his own desires and what you want for the province and for the Society,” Fr. Greene said.
“It’s a sincere dialogue,” said Josh Hinchie, SJ, of his experience of this discernment. Hinchie was attracted to Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid for its rigorous academic reputation and connection to Ignatian spirituality, as well as the opportunity to learn Spanish.
“It’s a global Society, so if there’s a need for me to be missioned in a Spanish-speaking context, I’d like to be available for that. There are also many places in the U.S. where there’s a great need for priests who can celebrate the sacraments in Spanish,” Hinchie said.
Jeff Ryan Miraflor, SJ, who is Filipino American, always desired to reconnect with his heritage by living in the Philippines. As a Jesuit scholastic, he was interested in theology that was “contextualized, systematic and not rushed,” and suggested programs in Toronto, Boston and Manila.
“When I mentioned Manila, that kind of caught Fr. Greene’s attention right away. I saw a little sparkle in his eye when I said Manila,” Miraflor said. He was missioned to the four-year program at the Loyola School of Theology at Ateneo de Manila University.
Jorge Roque, SJ, didn’t anticipate he would be sent to France, where he recently completed his first year of theology at Facultés Loyola Paris. For a scholastic already fluent in Spanish and interested in philosophy, the program seemed to be a good fit. Roque, who had spent time in France prior to entering the novitiate, found that the choice resonated with a latent desire to learn the language and culture.
“I love it when something in my vocation unfolds in a way that I didn’t see coming,” said Roque.
Academic Life Abroad
International studies expose Jesuits to different ideas and ways of learning, while fostering a sense of solidarity with others who serve the Catholic Church.
“One of my favorite parts about being here is the international perspective,” said Connor Smith, SJ, a scholastic in the Collegio Internazionale del Gesù at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The cohort format has helped forge relationships.
“We take all the same courses, every semester, for three years, so we really build a sense of solidarity, community and friendship,” he said. “Most of us are in the trenches together, day in and day out. It’s very unlike graduate school in the U.S.”
That community has grown through the university’s daily school-wide coffee break, an opportunity for conversation with peers and professors. During that time, students also make their way to the chapel.
“There are no fewer than 20 students in the chapel during any given coffee break. We’re praying together, not just studying together, and the rhythm of prayer and study is beautiful,” Smith said.
In Manila, peers from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe bring a range of perspectives into the classroom, said Miraflor. “I think there’s an appreciation for where everyone’s coming from, and less hesitation or suspicion of popular piety than I’ve experienced in the U.S.,” he said.
A sense of common mission underpins Hinchie’s experience at Comillas, where he is part of a smaller cohort of predominately religious in formation.
“All of us are being formed for ministry, and there’s a sense of common goal,” he said. When peers have struggled, he’s organized study sessions to support them. “I’ve found myself wanting to help my classmates learn for their future ministry.”
Living the Spirit of the Presupposition
Language barriers and differing customs can make community life abroad challenging. But these difficulties provide opportunities to presume the best of one another and forge fraternity, Smith said.
“One of the great graces is that guys are very forgiving, very patient, and really live a spirit of the Ignatian presupposition: ‘We’re going to misunderstand each other, and it’s going to be OK,’” Hinchie explained.
In Manila, Miraflor found a welcoming community of Jesuits who helped him feel at home. “While this is a new place for me, I could recognize this is a Jesuit community, even though faces are different and it’s on the other side of the planet,” he said.
Monthly community recollections, or in-house retreats lasting about a day and a half, are a key element of the shared life of prayer for Miraflor and the 40 other international students in his community.
An almost universally surprising aspect of Jesuit life abroad has been how much time community members can spend with one another, often around the meal table.
Roque says it’s typical for meals to be spent discussing coursework and customs from their home countries – all in French, a language he has learned since arriving in Paris. Like his brother Jesuits in Spain and Rome, his first month was spent in an intensive language course. Language immersion has proven an integral part of their experiences.
“The best fruit of learning a new language is a deepening sense of encounter, of letting people show you their home culture and their sense of humor, their specific way of being kind,” said Roque.
“The fact of being the foreigner, that feels pretty different,” said Roque, who grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border and was familiar with the blending of languages and cultures in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. “It’s made me think a lot about what hospitality is, and what it is for someone to leave their home to start a new life, even within the Society.”
Integrated Formation
For Jesuits, time in theology studies is not only about intellectual formation, but also apostolic ministry. Formators in each community assign apostolic work that will round out their experiences. Toward the end of his studies, a Jesuit preparing for priestly ordination is ordained to the transitional diaconate and is typically assigned to a parish.
Josh Hinchie is a parish catechist for children who are preparing to receive first holy communion. It’s quite a shift from teaching undergraduate philosophy courses at Loyola University New Orleans last year, he said.
“I think my superior deliberately assigned me to that group, because I can be very heady, very intellectual, and he recognized the need for me to be able to bring that down a few levels,” Hinchie said.
In Rome, Connor Smith accompanies members of the Community of Sant’Egidio in bringing hot meals to the homeless. “I’m learning from them how to befriend the neighbor on the street, because most of the Sant’ Egidio community have been doing this every week for decades,” he said.
“I feel like being here is a gift from God in more ways than one, to be living and studying in Rome,” Smith said. “The beauty, the history, the saints – all these things nourish me personally. But hopefully, that helps me preach the gospel in the future, too.”
These experiences have broadened horizons and fostered an understanding of how availability for mission requires adaptability to new needs.
“It can be a little scary to admit, but really there’s a lot of ways to go about things,” said Roque, as he reflects on the Jesuit presence in France. “It gives me hope to think we are meant to be adaptable, and it gives me faith that we really can adapt, whatever that might look like in the future.”
That creative openness to the work of the Spirit is what Fr. Greene hopes will shape these Jesuits for decades into the future.
“My hope is that this enriches our province, makes us better ministers, and also makes us feel a little more solidarity or fraternity with the people of God and Catholics around the world,” Fr. Greene said.
Featured Photo: Connor Smith, SJ, (left) with some friends from class enjoying the views of Rome.
