Province News

Fr. Janez Poljansek, SJ, Provincial of Slovenia, Bringing Gospel Values to the Free Market
Wednesday, May 15, 2002

Fr. Janez Poljansek, SJ, Provincial of Slovenian Province (right) and Fr. John Costello, SJ
Bringing Gospel Values to the Free Market
Fr. Janez Poljansek, SJ, Provincial of the Slovenian Province of the Society of Jesus

On April 16, 2002, Rev. Janez Poljansek, SJ, provincial of the Slovenian Province of the Society of Jesus, visited Chicago and spoke to a group of Jesuit friends and benefactors at a mission luncheon at the Union League Club.

The Society of Jesus first came to Slovenia over 400 years ago, and the Slovenian province has existed for just over 30 years. In that time the province —which had previously been part of the Croatian Province and before that the Austro-Hungarian Province— has seen dramatic change.

According to Fr. Poljansek, the road for the Slovenian Province has not been particularly easy. Until 1991 Slovenia existed as part of communist Yugoslavia. During those years, Fr. Poljansek says, religion suffered greatly. Initially Catholics were persecuted and Jesuits jailed. Then religion slowly faded from the public consciousness.

Fr. Poljansek grew up attending public schools. Religion at that time, he says, “was very private.” His family was unable to attend mass, though they did make a yearly effort to recognize Christmas and Easter.

But after attending a Jesuit retreat in high school he found himself called to the priesthood. He joined the Society 21 years ago, and helped maintain the small resilient province until 1991 when the ties with Yugoslavia were severed in a bloodless revolution.

One major challenge for the Slovenian Jesuits today, Fr. Poljansek says, is maintaining gospel values, and caring for the poor in a free market economy. “The culture of consumerism is new for us. It has its own values, and the challenge for us to remain true to gospel values.”

Fr. Gregor Gorsic, SJ, and Fr. Poljansek
The 60 Jesuits of the Slovenian Province seek to support these values through a number of ministries. They currently run three parishes and do extensive retreat work. Additionally, Slovenian Jesuits work with the Jesuit Refugee Service, caring for and advocating for refugees who have come to Slovenia from places like Iraq, Turkey and Asia.

The Slovenian Province sponsors formation programs for lay Catholics teaching in the Slovenian public school system. They also publish VZGOJA, a journal on education, which is widely read and respected. Jesuits in the province are also involved in marriage counseling.

The epicenter of the province is the Spiritual Center of St. Joseph. During the communist rule of Slovenia this property was confiscated from the Society and used as a state-run hospital and abortion clinic. The Jesuits there have recently reopened the center at a new location. They’re waiting for the government to return the land upon which the Center once operated. Most of the lay formation programs and the bulk of the retreat work are based at the Center. Interestingly, Fr. Poljansek was born in the hospital that had once been the Spiritual Center. The hospital has since been shuttered, but the property has not yet been officially returned to the Society.

The Spiritual Center of St. Joseph is a powerful metaphor for the larger change which continues to take place in Slovenia. Though the Jesuits haven’t yet retrieved their once seized building from the government, they have managed to maintain their figurative and literal Spiritual Center. The spirit which first inspired the Spiritual Center of St. Joseph is still at the center of everything the Jesuits in Slovenia are doing.