From July 28-30, Jesuit Theological College in Melbourne sponsored a conference on Evangelisation and Culture in a Jesuit Light at Australian Catholic University (ACU) in Melbourne. It was a major jubilee event for the Australian Province, co-sponsored by ACU and the Melbourne College of Divinity.
Fr Andrew Bullen from St Ignatius College in Sydney set the context for the conference, offering an opening talk on Ignatius, Xavier and Favre as they have been represented in by artists over the centuries. Fr Dan Madigan of the Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures at the Gregorian spoke on the current state of teaching on the idea of salvation outside the Church. Fr Frank Brennan also gave a keynote address on how believers can operate out of a faith-based conscience in pluralist democracies. There were also workshops on dialogue with Asian religions, with Western culture and with indigenous peoples. Another aspect of the conference was the display of artwork produced by students from Xavier College on the theme of evangelisation, focusing particularly on Francis Xavier.
All in all, 158 people registered for all or part of the conference, a tribute to the large amount of planning and organizing done by various members of the JTC community and faculty, under the guidance of Fr John Martis, Principal of Jesuit Theological College.