During those years he also spent some time in Spain, the home country of the Jesuits' Basque founder, Ignatius of Loyola, on whom he wrote his thesis.
He was a co-founder of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion (1991), its first president (1991–1995) and an honorary member of its advisory board from 1999 until his unexpected death on 27 February 2004.
[1] Schwager's thinking was above all inspired by three sources: First, his deep Christian faith and spirituality in the tradition of Ignatius of Loyola and nourished by the biblical writings; second: a mode of arguing he called "dramatic", a term he took from Hans Urs von Balthasar but to which he gave new meaning in his theology; third: mimetic theory and the friendship he sustained with its author, René Girard.
[1] Also inter-religious dialogue and symbolic actions for peace by world religious leaders ranked high on Schwager's list of important events.
He especially valued Pope John Paul II's activities in this respect: his travels and encounters with other religious leaders, his prayer meetings in Assisi and his confession of guilt for the church on the First Sunday of Lent in 2000.