Fr. Lucas Lecture- "Staking Out the City"

On Wednesday, February 21, 2007, I attended the lecture by Fr. Thomas Lucas, a professor at the University of San Francisco. His lecture “Staking Out the City- St. Ignatius & Jesuit Urban Strategy” was enjoyed in the 4th Floor Programming room by students and faculty of Loyola College.

I felt that this lecture, although mostly a historical overview of the Society of Jesus, was very appropriate for the ongoing Year of the City campaign because it touched upon the importance of the Jesuits of St. Ignatius’s time period. Such members of the Society of Jesus truly set up the framework for the rest of humanity to follow and help others by residing in the hearts of cities and through the use of “forward thinking”. There were many interesting facts about the beginning of the Society of Jesuits that I never knew prior to the lecture; one that I found most interesting was: The Society of Jesus was the first religious group to make Rome their “headquarters.” At that point in time, 1537, Rome was home to only 50,000 people, 25% of which were native Romans. The city was nothing like it is today; however, the Society of Jesus saw the potential in Rome to be a great city of Jesus’ followers. Within the heart of Rome was the Pope, City Hall, Jewish ghettos and prostitution ghettos. The Society knew that by surrounding themselves very closely to such urban conditions they could help those in need. Jesuit society was believed to have “forward thinking,” according to Lucas, for several reasons. One was the Society’s decision to strategically settle directly in the heart of a city- surrounding themselves with people of all social, religious and economic backgrounds. Another example of the Society’s “forward thinking” was their idea to open a home for the daughters of prostitutes, in order to provide them with the opportunity aside from following in their mother’s footsteps.

I see a definite parallel between the “forward thinking” of the Society of Jesus from the 1300’s and the Jesuits walking around Loyola’s campus today. The biggest similarity between the past and present is that the Society of Jesus is found residing in the heart of the city of Baltimore. The Society can even be found in the heart of Loyola College’s campus, represented by our chapel found on the Quad. The mission statement of Loyola’s Jesuit education is also similar to the “forward thinking” of the very first Jesuits. Every day, the college’s leaders (both Jesuits and non- Jesuit faculty and students) provide possibilities to follow in the “forward thinking” mentality and help others in need. Just like the surrounding areas of Rome in 1537 were urban and in some parts corrupt, so are the surrounding areas of Baltimore. The endless amounts of community service and awareness lectures Loyola’s community provides exposes everyone with the reality of the surrounding urban streets of Baltimore.

On the Year of the City website, Fr. Kolvenback wrote, “Every Jesuit academy of higher learning is called to live in a social reality…and to live for that social reality, to shed university intelligence upon it and to use university influence to transform it.” I believe that through the frameworks of the very first Jesuits, everyone has the capability to live for the social reality that we can make a difference in our community.