New JECSE Director - Mrs Ilse Dekker
Mrs. Ilse Dekker has been nominated as the new director of JECSE, The European Jesuit Schools Network. She has been the coordinator of Christian identity and Ignatian ethos in the Stanislas-network of six colleges for secondary education in The Netherlands since 2011. She will take office on the 4th of June.
Dear Colleagues,
I’ve been working with most of you for many years, but for those of you who do not know me yet, I’m happy to shortly introduce myself. My name is Ilse Dekker. I was born in the Netherlands in 1963 and I now live and work in the surroundings of Delft. My husband Erik and I are the proud parents of three fine, now adult children, and the (very) happy grandparents of three amazing grandchildren. Apart from my being with my family, especially being in nature – God’s beautiful creation – is a source of joy to me. As a cultural anthropologist - specialized in religious anthropology (after a period of working as a free-lance journalist) I worked as a teacher in religious education at Stanislascollege for 16 years. During that time I was also trained as a school counsellor; the cura personalis is also very important to me. Since 2011 I am the coordinator of Christian identity and Ignatian ethos in our Stanislas-network of six colleges for secondary education. In 2012 I became the delegate for education, succeeding father Bert ten Berge sj, who has been my mentor for many years.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT JESUS? – Jesuit schools in a multi-faith context
"Jesuit schools are to create opportunities for students to ‘bump into’ the person of Jesus." Over 120 Jesuit school principals gathered in the Loyola Retreat Centre from 27th February to 2nd March to discuss the challenges and opportunities that the religious plurality in Europe pose for their schools in the countries they serve. The objective of the Jesuit Secondary Education Conference (JECSE) this time was to discuss the question “Can we talk about Jesus – Jesuit schools in a multi-faith context?” P. Ferenc Holczinger SJ, Hungarian delegate and member of the steering committee noted that education is a priority and significant structure for the Society of Jesus in fulfilling their mission, as it was emphasized by Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ at the congress for Jesuit education delegates held in Rio de Janeiro in October 2017. ( PHOTO GALLERY) (VIDEOS)
Delegates
List of JECSE delegates (19 countries)
|
Country |
Delegate |
|
1. Austria |
P. Thomas Neulinger SJ |
|
2. Belgium North |
Peter Knapen |
|
3. Belgium South |
Arlette Dister |
|
4. Czech Republic |
P. František Hylmar SJ |
|
5. Egypt |
P. Michel Nader SJ |
|
6. France |
P. Olivier Barreau SJ |
|
7. Germany |
P. Klaus Mertes SJ |
|
8. Hungary |
P. Ferenc Holzinger SJ |
|
9. Ireland |
Brian Flannery |
|
10. Italy |
P. Vitangelo Denora SJ (Until Dec) |
|
11. Lithuania |
P. Artūras Sederevičius SJ |
|
12. Italy, Albania + Malta |
P. Jimmy Bartolo SJ |
|
13. Lebanon |
P. Charbel Batour SJ |
|
14. Holland |
Ilse Dekker |
|
15. Poland |
P. Pawel Brozyniak SJ |
|
16. Portugal |
P. Lourenço Eiró SJ |
|
17. Slovenia |
P. Silvo Šinkovec SJ |
|
18. Spain |
P. Antonio Allende SJ |
|
19. United Kingdom |
P. Adrian Porter SJ |
Our four priorities
In this fast-changing post-modern culture we need to walk with young people, learning from their generosity and compassion so as to help each other grow through fragility and fragmentation to joyful integration of our lives with God and others. (2008 GC 35 D3)
01. Faith and Ignatian Spirituality:
What unites us is Christ and the desire to serve him: not to be deaf to the call of the Lord, but prompt and ready to do his most holy will. (2008 GC 35 D2)
02. Commitment to Social Justice:
Establishing right relationships invites us to see the world from the perspective of the poor and the marginalised, learning from them, acting with and for them. (2008 GC 35 D3)
03. Reconciliation and Peace in a Diverse Europe:
In this global world, there are social, economic, and political forces that have facilitated the creation of new relationships among people, but there are other forces which have broken the bonds of love and solidarity. (2008 GC 35 D3)
04. Responsiveness to the Dynamics of Change:
The person of competence is capable of creating, understanding and using knowledge and skills to live in his/her own context and transform it. (2014 SIPEI Vision Statement)
OUR VISION
JECSE’s dream and vision is that European Jesuit schools become places of hope, peace and reconciliation, in a context of cultural diversity and secularization.
Our Mission
Being connected to be more committed
Founded in 1986, JECSE is the European organization that promotes Jesuit education in creative fidelity to the ignatian spirit through Ignatian Spirituality, pedagogy and leadership.
It seeks to improve and develop the network of Jesuit schools throughout Europe helping them at forming free human beings eager to serve God and the world in the spirit of the Gospel.
• Contact with Delegates to help each other to experience innovations (through personal and group meetings).
• Foster a feeling of belonging to a wider group of schools.
• Facilitate an agreed set of priorities at the JECSE level to enable a sense of shared purpose.
• Pool resources and find ways of making resources available to others (bank of key topics, task forces work, expert seminar, assessment tools,…).
• Strengthen the consciousness of a European vision.