The role of Sophia University as a Jesuit educational institution is highly significant in today’s transforming world. Administrators, teachers, professors, students, and other collaborators participating in a common mission, ought to ceaselessly reflect on what it means to be involved in the Jesuit educational tradition. That is to say, the word “Jesuit” should not merely be an adjective as in some luxury brand name. In 2000, Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, while addressing the commu-nity of the Jesuit University of Santa Clara in California, declared that the true measure of our Jesuit universities lay in who our stu-dents turned out to be. Echoing his words, I addressed delegates who gathered last year for the Jesuit universities meeting at Loyola in Spain, and stated that we aspire to be recognized for the human quality of our graduates. We seek to educate men and women to feel a sense of responsibil-ity for themselves, for others, and for this earth we all inhabit. I personally believe a Jesuit university of the 21st century is one that views itself as a source of reconciled life. A Jesuit university sees itself as part of the apostolic commitment of the Society of Jesus, to effectively contribute towards enabling a dignified human life for each and every individual, both in the present and in the future. We need to think about the next generations, as well. There is a clear objective in our studies. The analysis of human so-cieties and their problems eventually leads to the discovery and per-ception of the roots of injustice and inequality, making it possible to propose real alternatives to economic and social transformation. This is a key perspective in our classroom teaching, namely to convert universities into projects of social transformation, that engender “full” life. Universities promote processes of knowledge, creation, and human education, through which the meaning of a reconciled and peaceful life is transmitted. Not all Jesuits are called upon to work for the Intellectual Apos-tolate. Nevertheless, each and every one is called upon to contem-plate and pursue work in whatever field he is involved, including the pastoral and social areas. In this sense, the Intellectual Apostolate is not a mere sector, but a characteristic of the Society of Jesus. The goal of the Intellectual Apostolate is to seek wisdom, literally “Sophia.” Wisdom succeeds through its embodiment in wise indi-viduals. The term “wisdom” refers to a “wise person,” and not some abstract concept.Wisdom is not just an accumulation of knowledge. It is the intel-lectual and affective maturity that enables people to see beyond the ordinary, in their surroundings and within themselves. Our universities, which are the responsibility of the Society of Jesus, are called upon to create real value. Such value is exhibited in full when one seeks to anticipate issues. It enables people to move several steps ahead of the present, which is what is expected of universities. Our current age is marked by tension between religion and secu-larism as well as ideological fundamentalism, in which the Catho-lic presence in universities acquires a new significance. It can be viewed as a new opportunity. A university is a setting typified by di-versity, wherein conditions for dialogue and in-depth understand-ing of historical, personal, and intellectual processes are produced. It is a favored stage for the exercising of human freedom, a space wherein the message of liberation in the Good News of the Gospel can continue to propose better ways to live amidst the difficulties and uncertainties of the world. All who are involved in universities are collaborators with regard to achieving the complex mission of providing higher education and sharing this responsibility with many others. JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXTFr. Sosa’s July 31 Lecture9Special Talk
元のページ ../index.html#9