Villa Loyola

Villa Loyola
Villa Loyola
Location in Ontario
Coordinates: 46°24′16″N 81°00′36″W / 46.404527°N 81.009948°W / 46.404527; -81.009948
Location Sudbury, Ontario
Country Canada
Denomination Roman Catholic
Website VillaLoyola.com
History
Founded 1962 (1962)
Founder(s) Society of Jesus
Dedication Ignatius of Loyola
Administration
Parish St Mathieu[1]
Deanery Sudbury
Diocese Sault Sainte Marie
Province Kingston

Villa Loyola is a centre in Ignatian spirituality run by the Society of Jesus in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. It is the only Canadian French-speaking Jesuit centre outside of Quebec. As well serving as a retreat centre it is also an ecumenical and interfaith conference centre. It is situated on the shore of Long Lake off Municipal Road 80 to the south of Sudbury's urban core.

History

Foundation

Since the restoration of the Society of Jesus in the early nineteenth-century, French-speaking Jesuits ministered to the Franco-Ontarian population of Sudbury. In the 1960s, the Jesuits had to change their ministries. The creation of Laurentian University in 1960 led to the French-speaking Jesuits in Sudbury to move away from higher education. They handed over Sacred Heart College to the newly created university. The parish that they founded in 1883, Sainte-Anne-des-Pins, was handed over to the diocese. The parish was a local French-speaking cultural centre.[2]

Construction

Villa Loyola was built in 1962 by French-speaking Canadian Jesuits. It occupies an area of 12 acres on the southern shore of Long Lake. It was originally conceived as a retreat house. It offers courses and retreats in Ignatian spirituality based on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. Retreats are for a weekend, or a week, or for the full 30 days. It also offers training for prayer guides and spiritual accompaniment.[3]

Renovation

In 1996, the centre was renovated and so that it can offer space for seminars and conferences as well as the original program of retreats. It is also a centre for ecumenism and interfaith dialogue.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Parishes Archived December 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. from Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie retrieved 2 April 2014
  2. ↑ Lucien Pelletier, "Les Jésuites de Sudbury vers 1960: une mutation difficile" from Revue du Nouvel-Ontario, 37, 2012, pp. 13-81.
  3. 1 2 Histoire from VillaLoyola.com, retrieved 2 April 2014
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