Posted: April 27

Springtime in Sweden

(Stockholm) ”Yah, sure, you can trust us; the weather is always like this year round.” It was tempting to believe the Swedish Jesuits who had invited me to a two-day retreat focused on communication. We were sitting on the verandah of the diocesan house in the lake area just outside the city. Below us a forsythia bush sang an aria of brilliant yellow. The grass leading down to the lake was bright spring-green. And the warm sun was just right, not too much and not too little. Of course, I also remembered their stories about the long dark days of November when the sun faded to being just a memory. Nevertheless it was magical to be sitting there just then. The entire two days matched the good weather. Every second year the small band of Jesuits slip away from their regular duties to spend time together reflecting on their lives and their work. They invited me to join them and offer some of the bigger picture of the communication apostolate. Since that is the heart of my job description, I was pleased to accept. It was a biting cold day when I arrived, but the Lord soon smiled on us.

The Jesuits here are pioneers of a sort as they develop a Catholic ministry in this former Protestant stronghold. They have a marvellous parish in the center of Stockholm facing on the central plaza where the royal gardens used to be. They are also developing the first stages of a Catholic university which they hope will be formally accepted by the state authorities soon. After all the gloom and doom about the state of the Church in Europe, it is refreshing to listen to hopeful voices who are planning a future and developing things. Many of the Catholics here are immigrants from elsewhere but many are also converts attracted to the rootedness of Catholic faith and practice and the strong community life you see in their parishes.

For our mini-retreat, we began with the roots of the communications apostolate in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and the practice of art and communication that developed from the handful of first companions to the glory of the Baroque era. Communication is very different today, but even this handful of Jesuits who already have more responsibilities than they have hours in the day are looking to see how they can reach more people though the internet. They are a resource for all of Scandinavia, of course, not just Stockholm and Uppsala, the two places where Jesuit communities currently exist. It will be very interesting to watch the development of these early stages, especially if some of the plans we are making to include the Jesuits of Sweden into the growing international network of education that is developing. Yah, sure, spring seems like the right metaphor.