ABOUT ECJA

The European Alumni Confederation (ECJA) of Schools and Universities held by Jesuits was founded in September 1954 in Italy, during the Congress of Rome. It followed a preparatory meeting held in Germany, in Frankfurt, on the initiative of a group of friends including the Presidents of the national associations of Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and France. This group of Alumni, coming from Western Europe, felt the need to meet regularly to share ideas, discuss the delicate historical phase that marked Europe in those years, develop common projects, starting from Ignatian spirituality and the social doctrine of the Church. They wanted to create the conditions so that, on a European horizon, the Alumni of the Jesuits could recognize themselves and cultivate the Ignatian method of permanent formation. Among the founding fathers of the European Confederation, a decisive role was played by Enzo Sala, from Leone XIII Institute in Milan, jurist, eminent lawyer, to whom we owe the drafting of the first Statute, and Pietro Adonnino, trained at the Massimo Institute in Rome, also a jurist, lawyer expert in international taxation, who later became a European Parliamentarian. Standing out with them, in this important founding phase, was Theo Lombard, who was Deputy Mayor of Marseille, father of the friend dear to many of us, due to his commitment to the ECJA which is still ongoing, Francois Lombard.