Explaining St Ignatius’ ‘Spiritual Exercises’

Dr James Hanvey SJ explains the origin, history and development of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, in this first of a two-part interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications. The Spiritual Exercises were devised and written by Ignatius in the 16th century, but as James Hanvey says, they can be implemented in a variety of innovative ways suited to today’s world.

Dr Hanvey is a theologian who is currently serving as Secretary for the Service of Faith office in the Jesuit Curia in Rome as an advisor to Fr Arturo Sosa, the leader (Father General) of the Jesuits worldwide. He outlines the functions of his role in this interview.

In part two of his interview », he unpacks the meaning of ‘Mission of Creation’ as Ignatius refers to it in his Spiritual Exercises.