For over 400 years, Jesuits and their colleagues have had a presence in Canada. Today they work coast to coast – from Vancouver to St.John's. In this series igNation invites you to join us as we travel across Canada stopping at cities where there are Jesuit apostolates to read personal reflections about the city and the work being done there. Today's stop is Ottawa, Ontario – Canada's capital city.
My Ottawa is a city where, not surprisingly, much of life revolves around the federal government. Last October, on the day Corporal Nathan Cirillo was fatally shot at the War Memorial, amidst all the other chaotic goings-on, it seemed like everyone had a friend or family member in “lockdown” in the city centre. Even though it is the nation’s capital, it seemed surreal to see images of staid Ottawa beamed around the world.
Like the wider city itself, the Jesuit community of Ottawa is something of a “mixed bag.” Although it is primarily a house of studies, it isn’t a house of studies in the usual sense. It isn’t peopled with scholastics completing an essential stage of formation like philosophy or theology. It is a house of “special studies” where the students are already priests or are about to be ordained.
At the moment three of us are doing doctorates in canon law and two others are doing masters degrees in conflict resolution and Christian ethics. We are nine Jesuits from six countries of birth: Egypt, Japan, Madagascar, Syria, Viet Nam and Canada. In addition to the revolving door of students who typically stay for shorter assignments of a few years there are the – how shall we say this delicately – more experienced Jesuits who do a variety of other ministries such as ministry to the homebound, the deaf, parish relief work as well as historical research and writing.
The students too assist in other ministries in addition to their studies. In addition to these, an adjunct member of the community passes his days by serving the local Catholic community as their archbishop!
Because we are in the nation’s capital, we have the pleasure of welcoming a fascinating array of Jesuit guests who find themselves here for any number of reasons, though rarely (and wisely), not in winter.
We can also boast that many young men have found their vocation to the Society here in Ottawa, whether because this is their hometown or they came here for university. If someone had the patience to do the math, no doubt they would discover that Ottawa has given more men to the Society in recent years than any other city.
Despite Ottawa’s reputation as being something of a grey city, the Spirit is clearly making things happen in this town on the banks of the Outaouais.