Jesuit History and a Little Nunsense
By Kaedyn Murphy
Hello from Granada! Students were very grateful to have a late start this morning, most of us using the time to catch up on sleep. We met in the lobby at 11:20am to drive to our excursion of the day: the University of Granada! After a quick twenty minute drive we arrived to the gorgeous campus and were greeted by Professor Gonzalo Villagrȧn, a Theology Professor (fun fact: Professor Villagrȧn got his PhD at Boston College!). He gave us a brief tour of the faculty building and an overview of the school. The University of Granada is a public university with 60,000 students, however the Faculty of Theology is part of a private Catholic university named Loyola (not the one in Chicago). They have twenty-one professors at this college who teach a range of different classes including Latin and Greek, history of philosophy, social sciences, specific books of scripture, and morals/ethics.
After looking at the incredible view the university offers, we made our way inside to a classroom where Professor Villagrȧn prepared an amazing presentation on Jesuits and theology. Before he began, he invited his colleague, Professor Jaime Flaquer Garcia, who discussed his research and expertise in the dialogue between Christians and Islam in modern-day Spain. It was a fantastic experience for us to be able to see what research is being done on the modern relationship between these two religions in contrast to our learning on this trip of their relations in the past. We said goodbye to Professor Garcia as Professor Villagrȧn began his presentation. Professor Villagrȧn is a Jesuit priest as well as a Theology Professor, and his presentation outlined the history of the Jesuit religion. We watched a short video on Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1441-1556), a Spaniard who dedicated his life to finding God in everyday life after an accident in war left him immobilized for a year. He journeyed to Jerusalem and discovered his relationship with Jesus and God, then decided to dedicate himself to his studies and created the Jesuit religion with a few other scholars. He spent time at Barcelona, Alcalȧ, Salamanca and Paris where he studied theology. What I really enjoyed about this presentation is that Professor Villagrȧn explained what it was like to study theology at a university in the 16th century, and even compared it to what he teaches now by showing his the university catalog. In the 16th century it was necessary you knew Latin in order to read texts, you even had to pass an entrance exam before you were allowed to study. You were also required to study classical literature before you entered university. Professor Villagrȧn then went into detail about learning theology at the University of Paris in the 16th century, providing context to the environment that Saint Ignatius was in. The University of Paris was divided theologically into into four schools. Sorbonne was the main institution, it mainly defended orthodoxy but tensions among scholars were present. Navarre was the more ‘modern’ college in comparison, it was open to new languages and exegesis, but also came with tensions among the scholars. The last two institutions were taught by the Franciscans and Dominicans, who mostly taught within their respective religions. Throughout his time at University Saint Ignatius took courses in philosophy, which mainly followed the work of Aristotle, as well as theology from the Dominican approach.
Lastly, Professor Villagrȧn explained the Jesuit theology. It focuses on individual experiences with God but also emphasizes the importance of remaining connected with one’s community, praises learning and constant development of theological ideas, and stresses not to talk too much about faith that you forget about freedom. The idea of freedom was stressed a lot in Professor Villagrȧn’s speech, which makes sense given the presence and strictness of the Catholic Church during the time period Saint Ignatius founded the Jesuit order. He also stressed the idea of discernment: finding the voice or spirit of God speaking to you in your everyday life.
After the presentation was over, we went upstairs to meet the library experts and see some old books from the 16th century! We learned about the history and how these books were kept and passed along through Jesuits until their expulsion in 1931. When Jesuits were forced to leave, family friends kept good care of them until their return, and now they live in good hands at the university.
Professor Villagrȧn lecturing and rare books at the Faculty of Theology. Photographs by Kaedyn Murphy.
After the library, we had to say goodbye to our friends at the Faculty of Theology and returned back to the hotel. We had an hour and a half long break before class, where Professor Rabinovitch, Katherine, and I took a quick 30 minute walk to a nunnery to buy some cookies! These cookies have been talked about since we made our way to Granada; I was very happy that I was able to be a part of the experience. Once we made it up the steep hill to the nunnery, we rang the doorbell. A few seconds passed before we heard a voice inside telling us to open the door (we think). There we saw a menu, picked out a few different cookies to try, placed the money inside, and closed the door. A few anxious minutes later we heard another voice and opened the door with our cookies there! We tried sweet empanadas, shortbread, and madeleines, with the shortbread ones being the best (in my opinion).
We rushed back to the hotel to share with the rest of the students and ended our day with an interactive class about Hebrew poetry. Some students were able to share their poem analysis out-loud followed by a group discussion. After class, students dispersed to have dinner on their own and get to bed in order to wake up early tomorrow and go to the botanical gardens! Overall, it was a very educational day where we certainly feel smarter than we were yesterday.
The full nun-cookie experience below.
