Conscience of a Nation: Jesuits in English Canada 1842–2013 by Jacques Monet (review)

Conscience of a Nation, edited by Jacques Monet, is the third volume of a history of the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in English Canada. As the Jesuits of English Canada begin a new era in their history—joining with the Jesuits in French Canada to form one province—Conscience, with its accompanying volumes, Teachers of a Nation (2015) and Builders of a Nation (2015), offers a detailed history of the life and work of Jesuits in English-speaking Canada over the past 170 years. The first volume of the trilogy authored by Joseph B. Gavin reviews the history of Jesuit colleges and universities in English Canada. The second volume focuses on the Society's ministry with Indigenous Peoples, in parishes, and in the specialized areas of social ministry and communications. Conscience completes the series by reviewing Jesuit formation, its secondary school ministries, and Canadian Jesuits' contributions to international ministries.

The five chapters of Conscience of a Nation, in addition to reviewing additional ministries, illustrate the Canadian Jesuit contribution over the years to the contemporary preferences of the Society: to show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises (1548) of St. Ignatius; to walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice; to accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future; and to collaborate in the care of our common home.

In the first chapter, Philip D. Shano briefly describes the work of the Exercises that are the spiritual foundation of Jesuit ministry. Their intention is to foster a deepening relationship with God in all things: creation, the gospel, and everyday existence. Shano describes the work of key Canadian Jesuits in presenting the Exercises for the contemporary world: David Asselin, John Veltri, and John English, using the work of Ignatian scholars, pioneered the presentation of the Exercises in a manner that Ignatius intended. Their work was furthered and implemented by the founding of retreat centres: Manresa Jesuit Spiritual Renewal Center in Pickering, through the efforts of James O'G. Fleming, and Loyola House in Guelph, where English and Veltri shaped the use of the Excercises for the twentieth century.

Following this study of foundations, Monet, in chapter 2, on Jesuit formation, offers a primary example of how the Exercises benefited men in Jesuit formation. English made a double contribution to this updating effort as the director of novices. Monet traces the influence of the Exercises through the course of Jesuit training—in the study of philosophy and theology, in teaching in high schools, in working with Indigenous Peoples, and in specializing in a variety of graduate studies—until the time of Tertianship, the second novitiate, when once again Jesuits experience the thirty days of the Exercises.

Winston Rye, in his review of Canadian Jesuit high schools (chapter 3), presents the history of the seven Canadian Jesuit schools from Loyola in Montreal, the oldest, to Gonzaga in St. John's, the youngest. These seven schools were not only a ground for Jesuit scholastics (Jesuits in formation) to learn and practise pedagogy, but they focused on the Jesuit preference of accompanying young people, preparing them for a hope-filled future with the help of the spirit of the Exercises.

By reviewing the work of Canadian Jesuits, especially in India, Zambia, and Jamaica with the impoverished, the outcast, and the uneducated, John Meehan, in the fourth chapter, documents the Jesuit preference of working with the poor. In these countries, the major work was that of education: for the privileged, to instill an awareness of those in need, and for those in need, schooling and training that could help them change their roles in society.

The final essay, chapter 5, of the collection is by John McCarthy. Appropriately, he reviews the work of Canadian Jesuits in the fourth preference, the care of our common home. In India and Zambia...