About us

The Alfred Delp Studiennetzwerk supports young, motivated, and talented women and men through education during their studies, aiming to develop their personalities, deepen their religious quest, and grow into responsibility for others.

The study network enables its fellows to connect internationally and worldwide. In response to the yearning for a more authentic life, the network offers the cosmopolitan spirituality and humanistic tradition of the Jesuits.

The Alfred Delp Study Network is supported by the Central European Province of the Society of Jesus, headquartered in Munich.

Prof. Dr. Patrick Zoll SJ

Head of the Alfred Delp Studiennetzwerk

Professor for Metaphysics at HFPH Munich

patrick.zoll(at)hfph.de

Cornelius Wilke

Responsible for the office of the Alfred Delp Studiennetzwerk

Political Scientist in Berlin

cornelius.wilke(at)jesuiten.org

Dag Heinrichowski SJ

Jesuit on the Leadership Team

Doctoral Candidate in Pastoral Theology and Spiritual Director at the St. Georgen Seminary in Frankfurt

Dr. Christian Lischka SJ

Jesuit on the Leadership Team

Teacher at Kolleg St. Blasien

Sophia Hirt

Alumna on the Leadership Team

Social Worker in Rosenheim

Lisa Seeger

Alumna on the Leadership Team

Studies in Catholic Theology (Magister) in Freiburg

Jakob Leide

Alumnus on the Leadership Team

Doctoral Candidate in Electrical Power Engineering in Darmstadt

Dominik Hansen

Alumnus on the Leadership Team

Computational Social Scientist

Simon Kolter

Alumnus on the Leadership Team

Teacher in Bonn

Benedikt Freystetter

Alumnus on the Leadership Team

Ordensklinikum Linz

History

The Alfred Delp Studiennetzwerk was established in 2024 by the Central European Province of the Society of Jesus. It sees itself as the successor to the Ignatian Youth Pastoral Foundation (SIJ), which was founded in 2012. However, the focus of the Alfred Delp Studiennetzwerk is more on students and young men and women in higher education. Graduates of the SIJ are also alumni of the Alfred Delp Studiennetzwerk.

The support of young people in their personal and spiritual development is one of the four central preferences of the Jesuit Order worldwide, as promulgated by Father General Arturo Sosa SJ for the decade 2019-2029. The accompaniment and support of students have a long tradition for the Jesuits. The Central European Province is responsible for student pastoral care, university communities, and student residences in Zurich, Basel, Göttingen, Munich, and Innsbruck. In Frankfurt and Innsbruck, they each have a "Zukunftswerkstatt" that accompanies young men and women. In Innsbruck, Munich, Frankfurt, and Uppsala, the Jesuits offer theological and philosophical studies. In Geneva, the province is responsible for Jesuit Wordwide Learning, which provides online studies for young people in refugee camps or remote areas who would otherwise have no access to tertiary education.

Spirituality

According to Ignatius of Loyola (1492-1556), the spirituality of the Jesuits is called Ignatian spirituality. At its core are spiritual retreats called "Exercises" (Exerzitien). Through meditation, the senses are trained, perception is sharpened, and deep reading is encouraged. The Exercises constitute a school of life that helps to align everyday life with work, leisure, and everything it entails towards God and to live in the spirit of Jesus. Initial information about the Exercises, Ignatian spirituality and Ignatian pedagogy can be found here.

Jesuits

The Jesuit Order is an international order of the Roman Catholic Church and is officially known as the "Society of Jesus" (Gesellschaft Jesu). It was founded by Ignatius of Loyola (1492-1556) and has been led by Father General Arturo Sosa SJ since 2016. The headquarters is in Rome, and the Provincialate for Central Europe is in Munich. Since 2024, Father Thomas Hollweck SJ has been the Provincial. Detailed information about the province, the worldwide Jesuit Order and how to become a Jesuit can be found here.

Father Alfred Delp SJ

Alfred Friedrich Delp was born in 1907 in Mannheim and entered the Jesuit Order in 1926. He was ordained as a priest in 1937. He worked as an educator at the Jesuit College in St. Blasien in the Black Forest, as a pastoral counselor in Munich, and contributed to the cultural magazine „Stimmen der Zeit“ (Voices of the Time). From 1942, he was part of the Kreisauer Kreis around Count von Moltke, which worked on a new societal order for the post-war period and after National Socialism. Alfred Delp was executed by the Nazis on February 2, 1945, in Berlin-Plötzensee.

Prevention and Protection

In all institutions of the Central European Province of the Jesuits, there are now prevention and protection policies in place to prevent any form of abuse. Ombudspersons are easily accessible, and complaint procedures are transparently designed. Find further information here.