Baghdad College - Jesuit Tradition

Jesuit Tradition

In 1931, at the request of the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad and at the direction of Pope Pius XI, a group of four American Jesuits arrived in Baghdad and established Baghdad College as a secondary school for boys. Known as "BC on the Tigris", the school was staffed with priests from the New England Jesuit Province.

While Baghdad's Christians welcomed the Jesuits, Muslims were initially suspicious of their intentions. Muslims eventually embraced the institution as it became clear that the Jesuits' mission was to provide a rich education, and not a wholesale conversion of Muslims. The trust grew as the Jesuits at Baghdad College enthusiastically participated in Muslim and Christian feasts in the homes of their students. The commingling of traditions, cultures, and religions led to an unanticipated infusion of intellectual curiosity into the Baghdad community. Before the establishment of Baghdad College, prominent Baghdad families had sent their sons to Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt. Baghdad College's closer proximity and superior education reversed this trend, and a network of contacts from well-known families grew out of the school.

During the pro-Nazi coup of Baghdad during World War II, the American Jesuits of the college continued their work when other Americans were fleeing. Their behavior was said to have impressed Iraq's Prime Minister so much that he enrolled his two sons in the school after the coup was put down.

Through the 1950s, the make-up of Baghdad College's student body was approximately 50% Muslim, 35% Catholic, and 15% Eastern Orthodox. Before the Jewish exodus of 1948-1951, Jews also constituted a significant proportion of the student body. Over time, the 25-acre (100,000 m2) campus grew to include nine major buildings, a boarding school, a minor seminary, a library, and laboratories. The success of Baghdad College led the Jesuits to establish another Baghdad school in 1956: Al-Hikma University.