European Association of Jesuit Alumni/ae

Working for others
"En Todo Amar Y Servir"

Presidents' Conference, Madrid, 19-21 October 2006

Report by the President  -  Minutes

---

European Confederation: Suggestions for its programme of actions

(Following Namur-Bruxelles's meeting in March, 2006)
(Working document for the Madrid meeting - October, 2006)
 

A. ELEMENTS OF DIAGNOSIS

A.1 The main activities of the alumni are essentially carried out at the local associations level.

A.2 The majority of the alumni have a more developped sense of belongings to their local association than to other structures like the EC, which is a structure widely unknown from them (in its goals and activities), not visible, distant...

A.3 The lack of Jesuits in schools makes problematic the transmission of the Ignatian spirituality to the pupils and therefore makes more difficult for the associations to set out ongoing education programmes in that field for young alumni/ae.

A.4 In many associations, there is no good communication even between the alumni of small difference of age; young people do not want to join an organization, they do wish to meet they do meet but do not need an organization as such.

A.5 ...
 

B. WISHES / CONVICTIONS

B.1 Building up an action programme which " sticks to the reality of our current world”

B.2 " Being stronger " (e.g. being more numerous, better organised?): of our “force” (and also of our activities) will depend the fact that the others will ask us more likely and more often for services to be done by us.

B.3 Developing our communication tools.

B.4 Sharing our associative experiences.

B.5. Discovering and assessing the associative projects which are successful, organizing a mutual co-operation between the these projects’ promoters and the associations which need help and their expertise to implement them.

B.6 Making a recommendation for the associations/national federations foresee in their statutes provisions contributing to their permanent rejuvenation (e.g. provisions concerning points like the executive mandate duration, the responsibility or functions to be given to the young...).

B.7 Programming the future European Confederation events, along with the setting-up of task-forces for the organizing of these events.

B.8 The European Confederation should mainly focus on the preparation of the next European congress.

B.9 The European Confederation should devote one of its annual meetings to chose an annual theme to be studied or an action programme to be implemented, during the current year.

B.10 Caring about the alumni who have lost Christian values.

B.11 What the young seem to need: to be listened to, to be heard in their needs, which means that our organizations must adapt to them rather to expect that the young adapt to the organizations.

B.12 .....
 

C. PROPOSALS FOR THE 2006-2008 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION ACTION
PROGRAMME

C.a. Internal methods of work

C.a1 Working by using more internet.
C.a2 Updating the European Confederation statutes.
C.a3 Setting up an annual budget with the breaking down of the main expenses. C.a4 ..

C.b. External communication

C.b1. Developing it:
C.b.1a setting up a press kit presenting our activities;
C.b.1b writing articles for the magazines (or the websites) issued by the
associations, the national federations, the european confederation, the
World Union, along with those of the Society of Jesus.
C.b2. Issuing a newsletter (once a year) to be sent, preferably via internet, to all our European associations and federations.
C.b3 Developing links with Jesuit European (or worldwide) NGO network working in various fields such as the educative one (e.g., with inYgo), the medical one, the social one (e.g., with JRS-Europe, the Javier network, the Pedro Arrupe World Association)...
C.b.4 …

C.c. Solidarity

C.c1 Inspiring our actions through a better knowledge of the the social doctrine of the Church.
C.c2 Promoting and backing a solidarity action in connection with other Jesuit
structures (cf. C.b3) or backing an urgent solidarity cause in accordance with our goals (for instance, presently, the Catholic education in Lebanon the General
Secretary of which has just launched an urgent appeal to his French
counterpart......)
C.c3 ….

C.d. Actions of the young people / towards the young people / for the young people

C.d1 Trying, each of us, to be accompanid at the European meetings by, at least, two young, one from its local association, another one working at the federation level.
C.d2 Writing a kind of a guideline featuring the place and the participation of the
young alumni within the Confederation (in terms of structure, financing aid,
responsability, activities...).
C.d3 Having a young as the European Delegate to inYgo association.
C.d4 ..

C.e European Building-up

C.e1 Paying attention to the events related to the European building-up in close relation with Ocipe.
C.e2 Backing Unaec-Europe actions (annual fees, participation to its meetings, presence at Council of Europe meetings in Strasbourg...).
C.e3 Offering, as a network, information, contacts, addresses in order to help contacts and programs of exchange for the pupils of the European Jesuit schools ( cf an appeal from the Director of Tivoli High School (Bordeaux), which has just been relayed by the President of the local alumni association).
C.e4 ...

C.f Education

C.f1 Backing the presence of every local association in their belonging colleges (through its executives or delegates (as educative community members) in order to give all kinds of services allowing the colleges to implement their educative project, along with that of the national federation executives to the national educative structure, if any, in charge of the national college network.
C.f2 Backing a recent initiative for having the European Confederation President and spiritual Counselor to be invited to the Jecse (Jesuit European Committee for
Secondary Education) congress as associate members.
C.f3 ..

C.g Collaboration with the Society of Jesus

C.g1 Stimulating all the associations to develop contacts, services, projects aiming at creating or strenghtening the cooperation with the Society of Jesus, according to their mutual objectives " (cf en todo).
C.g2 Drafting a specific "message" (postulates) - to be adressed to the Jesuit President of the Conference of European Provincials (CEP) - amid the prospect of the next General Congregation of the Society of Jesus.
C.g3 …

---

[Top] [Alumni/ae homepage]