St Ignatius, humility and the art of conversation

by Grant Tungay SJ

As we celebrate the feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola, I am thankful to God for this great saint. However, this year I find myself thinking of two ‘spiritual children’ of Ignatius. These are people who were profoundly touched by his spirituality. They met this man from Loyola, their lives were transformed, and they left the world a better place than they found it. 

The first spiritual child I am remembering is Pope Francis. It has been just over three months since he passed away. We are still coming to grips with this loss. But we can take this time to consider what he did for the world. In one of his first interviews in 2013, Antonio Spadaro asked the Pope at the outset:   Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio? His response was as beautiful as it was authentic—I am a sinner whom God loves. In saying this, he was expressing what would come to characterise his whole ministry as Pope—the mercy of God. 

We could learn a lot from the honesty of Pope Francis, a man conscious of his woundedness and fragility. To stop the war in Ukraine and Russia, and the genocide in Palestine, we need leaders who are in touch with their vulnerability and the exposure of people to the devastation of conflict. We are all invited to come to the table to discuss peace. We can look to Pope Francis and the humility he modelled for us.  

The second spiritual child of St Ignatius that I cherish today is St Peter Faber. He was one of two roommates with Ignatius in Paris, where he was studying. He was also one of the spiritual heroes of Pope Francis, who canonised him in 2013. He taught us how to listen and speak with spiritual depth. An early Jesuit, Simon Rodriguez, wrote of St Peter Faber in 1577 that he was so gentle in conversation with people, he ‘stole into their souls’ with his words – leading them to love the Lord. 

What great need we have in the world today, marked as it is by violence, to have tender-hearted people who can ‘speak us into love’. We can all learn the art of compassionate encounters, treating others with dignity and patience. Our conversations can be impacted by this son of Ignatius, who followed Christ, who “consoles, helps, delivers, heals, liberates, saves, enriches and strengthens.” 

The self-awareness of Pope Francis, and the peace-loving conversations of St Peter Faber—enduring legacies of a great man. On this, your feast day, St Ignatius, my heart is filled with gratitude.