Religious Life at Stonyhurst College - Jesuit Tradition

Jesuit Tradition

Stonyhurst is distinguished by the central and distinctive Jesuit ethos "creating men and women for others" that pervades the life of the school. The Jesuit identity is best summed up in its mission statement: "Creating people of Good Judgement, Clarity of Thought, and Principled Leaders for the Next Generation."

The Jesuit ethos has three central components:

Creating men and women for others Stonyhurst has a long and well-developed tradition of voluntary service, helping students to understand the problems faced by disadvantaged people. This tradition had evolved today into the Arrupe programme named after the Jesuit priest Pedro Arrupe from Spain. The programme places students in a wide variety of community settings with the aim that every student will have volunteered during their time at school. Students are encouraged to develop and use their skills to contribute to society; Medicine and the Law are popular career choices for example. One of the opportunities that students have through being part of the wider Jesuit community is the 'Chiwirangwe' (a Shona word meaning 'we will struggle together') project that twins Stonyhurst with the Jesuit school, St Peter's Kubatana (in Zimbabwe). The project is organised by the Jesuit province as part of their Companions programme that twins all nine UK Jesuit schools with Jesuit schools around the world. Stonyhurst leavers also have the opportunity to take a gap year working in Jesuit projects around the world.

Pupils at the College run, under the supervision of adult trustees, their own charity, Learning to Care, raising money for various causes. St Mary's Hall has its equivalent called Children for Children.

Each year the S.C.H.T. (Stonyhurst Children's Holiday Trust) Week takes place at St Mary's Hall. It is funded largely through the sale of Christmas cards and the Poetry Banquet, which is organised and managed by pupils. During the holiday week, as it is known, Poets and Rhetoricians (lower and upper sixth-formers) volunteer a week of their summer holiday in order to look after disadvantaged or disabled children from local schools, giving them an enjoyable holiday, with activities and trips out, which they would otherwise not experience.

Ignatian spirituality This, based on the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, is confident, inclusive and outward looking, encouraging the school and its students to engage with the complexities of modern life. A Jesuit Catholic education provides both a solid grounding in the teachings of the Catholic Church whilst also encouraging a robust philosophical engagement with faith and moral issues. The Jesuit retreats that pupils experience aim to lay the foundations for a lifelong personal relationship with God.

The school also runs a thriving Easter Retreat each year for the Association, parents and friends.

Development of Reasoning Skills Well developed reasoning skills are seen as essential both for students to think through their faith and to be effective in the contributions they make to society. The Jesuits remain at the fore in the intellectual life of the Catholic Church. With many universities worldwide, they run colleges in both Oxford (Campion Hall) and London (Heythrop College) Universities. Stonyhurst aims to develop strong independent, logical thinking skills in students, so that they may be confident in their faith, clear thinking in all aspects of life and so become successful people of good judgement.