Fr Paul Pollock attended the meeting of the JCEAO Arrupe Board last July 18. This semester, Thailand-Myanmar has 17 members at AIR (second largest group, after East Timor). During his stay at Arrupe, Fr Pollock had a chance to meet all the scholastics of Thailand and Myanmar (and have a pizza together), and to share a bit of what is going on in both regions; and to see each of the new juniors (Gabriel, Michael, Paul, and Chawalit), and to meet with the scholastics who will be finishing their studies in 2007/2008 (Jimmy, Yoht, Titus, Stephen, Htjaru, and Aik Maung).
Fr Pollock went to Myanmar for a friendly visit (as always) from July 30 – August 4. He visited both Taunggyi and Yangon. He found Fr Peter Kim (MAS) (Major Seminary) and Fr Tom O’Gorman (PHI) (Campion and spiritual direction) fully involved in their apostolates and keeping themselves busy.
The Gonzaga Language Institute has been officially registered as a private tuition center. The school is setting records for enrollment. There are over 300 students enrolled for the new courses. Director Irene Ho and the team of teachers, including Fr Tran Van Tro (ASL), have their hands full. In addition to the regular day students, there are seven young men who are “pre-candidates” living in the Institute, learning English and helping in the ground maintenance.
There are 15 candidates at Canisius House, under the guidance of Fr Ipong Purwantoro (IDO): six second-year candidates and nine first-year candidates. All candidates take full time classes at Campion Institute. Like its elder sister in Taunggyi, Campion Institute is breaking enrollment records, too. For this new intake, there are over 220 full time students registered for the four-hour-per-day class programs. Fr Lorenzo Yom (KOR) and his group of 18 teachers have their hands full, too.
Two new Jesuits will be coming to Myanmar to join the mission: Bro Johann Park (KOR), who is finishing his term with JRS/Thailand, will be arriving within the next month or so. Fr C. Amal (MDU) will be arriving in Bangkok on September 15, to get his first visa into Myanmar. Their assignments will be published soon. We gladly welcome them!
As we mentioned last month, the Jesuit Residence has a new street address. To clarify, the community did not only move to another location but is now occupying a really new house! The Jesuit residence, called Berchman’s House, has a new street address: 17-H, Thalawaddy Road, 7 miles, Mayangone Township Yangon, Myanmar. The phone number is +95 (1) 660 728.