Francis Gonsalves

Ignatius of Loyola. Know him? Perhaps not! Jesuits? Know them? Perhaps not! Xavier’s School or Loyola College? Surely, you’ve either studied in one or you’ve heard about this brand and the brand that runs institutions north-south from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and east-west from Kolkata to Khambhat. They call themselves Jesuits and owe their origins and existence to one man: Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) whose feast is celebrated on July 31.
Have you seen the A.M.D.G. abbreviation on emblems of Xavier or Loyola institutions and wondered what that meant? I too wondered when I entered a Jesuit school. Seniors told me that it stood for “Aunty Mary, Dirty Girl!” — a mentally-challenged woman nicknamed “Aunty Mary” who begged near our school-gate. Later I learnt that A.M.D.G. wasn’t coined by Aunty Mary but by Ignatius who, in fact, had sometimes been considered mentally-challenged, but was an expert in challenging, mentally.
Ignatius was considered mentally “different” since he always thought out of the box. A vanquished Basque warrior, after an arduous pilgrimage, he started a multinational religious organisation, the Society of Jesus. Ignatius loved stargazing and dreamt how his group could be “up there”, gooder than the good and better than the best. That’s why he hit upon the Latin A.M.D.G. — Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, meaning, “For the greater glory of God”. Ignatius summed this up in another Latin word: magis, meaning, more!
To grasp the import of “more” let’s take an example. Suppose you’re merely “good”, you’d want to be “better” or something “more”. Hence, Ignatius desired that his disciples always seek the “more”, the greater — so that, pumped up by a holy restlessness they’d strive to love God, and all God’s children, with that “more” would make them athirst for excellence.
True to the dreams of Saint Ignatius, some Jesuits were extraordinary men, like Francis Xavier who came to India, and Matteo Ricci who so impressed the Chinese Emperor Wan-li that he was called “Sage of the West”. In India, we’ve had Jesuits like Camile Bulcke who compiled the best English-Hindi dictionary, Carlos Valles, acclaimed author in Gujarati literature and an expert on Jainism, Jerome D’Souza, who was a member of the constituent Assembly and S. Ignacimuthu, former vice-chancellor of the University of Madras and an accomplished scientist.
What makes Jesuits tick? In his book Heroic Leadership, Chris Lowney reveals the values that have guided the Jesuits for more than 450 years: self-awareness, ingenuity, love and heroism. Ignatius taught his shishyas methods of prayer famously known as “Spiritual Exercises” aimed at making one aware of inner dispositions and spiritual depths.
Ingenuity is about keeping pace with a fast-changing world. Describing himself as a “pilgrim”, Ignatius wanted Jesuits to be ever on the move — dreaming impossible dreams and building new bridges. The ideal Jesuit was to be one with one foot raised, ever ready to respond to emerging exigencies.
Ignatius, the mystic, saw all of creation emerging from the God of Love, and finding their fulfillment by responding to God’s love. He desired that everyone be animated by love, for sans love, service is sterile and servile. This love, Ignatius believed, would drive his disciples to undertake heroic tasks demanding great sacrifice, even martyrdom.
In sum, Lowney concludes, by knowing themselves, by innovating to embrace a changing world, by loving God-self-others, and by aiming high, Jesuits make leaders of themselves and others. Self-awareness, ingenuity, love and heroism are not four disparate ideals, but integral values for effective leadership.
The name Ignatius derives from Ignis, the Latin equivalent of Agni, fire. Like mythical Prometheus who gifted humankind with fire, Ignatius inspired Jesuits to be fires that would enkindle other fires. Obviously, that doesn’t always happen. One often sees thanda Jesuits who mouth magis slogans with “minimus” output. Jesuitical, indeed!
Though I’m not for adding prefixes and suffixes to names, were I to choose one to add to my name, I’d pick the suffix S.J.: Society of Jesus. Jesuit adversaries teasingly take S.J. to mean “Society of Jokers”. Jokes apart, anyone familiar with the Loyola or Xavier brand will look up with pride at that man — nay, that “more” than other mortals, Ignatius — who did everything A.M.D.G — for the greater glory of God!

— Francis Gonsalves is the principal of the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi. He is involved in interfaith dialogue and peoples’ initiatives for fostering justice, harmony and peace. He can be
contacted at fragons@gmail.com