Ignatian Spirituality as Mythopoesis

Abstract

The Jesuit Order, a religious order within the Catholic Church, conducts a wide variety of educational institutions throughout the world. The order believes that there is a characteristic Jesuit educational vision, based on the spirituality of its founder, St Ignatius Loyola. The communication of this vision is a challenge to the order, especially with the growing number of lay staff in its schools and universities. Experience and research has shown that this vision is more effectively communicated through narrative and story (myth or mythopoesis) than traditional conceptual presentation. In this chapter, some of the programs to communicate this vision are described, together with the reactions of a variety of participants in them, illustrating the mythopoetic approach outlined in earlier chapters.