Appointment : Louis Lourme, new Rector of Facultés Loyola Paris
A recognized player in the network of Jesuit universities and faculties of higher education, Facultés Loyola Paris today announces the appointment of their new Rector, Louis Lourme. He will succeed Fr. Étienne Grieu sj, Rector of Facultés Loyola Paris since september 2017 from August 26.
Louis Lourme holds a doctorate in philosophy from Bordeaux Montaigne University and is a research associate at the Sciences, Philosophy and Humanities (SPH) laboratory at Bordeaux Montaigne University. He has taught at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Montaigne University and Facultés Loyola Paris. Since 2016, he has been director of the Saint-Joseph de Tivoli Jesuit school in Bordeaux, which has 2,200 pupils.
“Joining Facultés Loyola Paris is an extraordinary opportunity to combine my long-standing attachment to the spiritual and pedagogical tradition of the Society of Jesus with the academic dimension of my career“, he said.
A teacher-researcher committed to the Ignatian charism of education
Louis Lourme’s research work covers a number of fields, mainly contemporary political philosophy, on the current relevance of the notion of world citizenship, and philosophy of education. In the latter field, his work has focused in particular on Catholic education, and more specifically on the Ignatian educational tradition and charism, on which he is frequently invited to speak as a lecturer. In 2022, he also co-organised an international conference on Jesuit schools after the re-establishment of the Society of Jesus, and edited two collective works published by Bayard on the links between Christian anthropology and education.
Louis Lourme, 44, is married, and has three children.
“I am doubly delighted by the appointment of Louis Lourme as the new rector. I can see the energy and creativity that he will bring to the Facultés Loyola Paris through his academic status and management experience. Furthermore, having a lay person at the head of a Jesuit institution is in line with a strong orientation of the Society of Jesus, whose mission is carried out together by Jesuits and many lay people“, emphasised Fr Thierry Dobbelstein sj, Provincial Superior of the Jesuits of French-speaking Western Europe.
A burgeonning activity
Louis Lourme’s appointment comes at a time of strong growth for Facultés Loyola Paris, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. His dual academic and managerial expertise, rooted in a fruitful dialogue between Church and society, directly echoes the founding intuition of the Jesuit institute of higher education and research in French-speaking Western Europe : to mobilise multiple and complementary skills to help shed light on the fundamental questions of our contemporaries, with a hopeful look.
Offering a university education that is recognised throughout the world, Facultés Loyola Paris has seen its activities intensify and become spectacularly international since its creation in 1974. It is now one of the leading centres of formation for the Society of Jesus in the world, regarding the number of Jesuits trained and the diversity of their backgrounds.
Each year, it welcomes over 350 students from more than fifty nationalities, including around a hundred Jesuits from all over the world, and thousands of auditors. In addition to its 50 teaching staff (half of whom are Jesuits, and 70% of whom are religious members of Ignatian spirituality congregations), 130 visiting professors are involved in research in France and abroad. The continuous diversification of formats (canonical and university cycles, new diploma course for Ignatian formators, but also short sessions, free lunchtime lectures and online courses, for instance) reaches a wide audience : Jesuit students, religious from other congregations and lay people involved in Church and society in various capacities.
This diversity of profiles is also reflected in the Governing Board, which is made up of equal numbers of Jesuits and lay people. The Vice-Rector in charge of international relations and the Secretary General of Facultés Loyola Paris will work closely with the new Rector, and with the entire board of Directors: the Directors of the first two cycles and the Deans of the faculties of philosophy and theology. Together, they will pursue the mission of Facultés Loyola Paris in the service of the Church and the world.
Copyright photo : Bruno Levy
