From 11 – 14 July Father General will visit the Philippine Province to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the return of the Jesuits to the country (see further on) and the founding of what is today the Ateneo de Manila University. In 1768, the Jesuits of the Philippine Province, 154 in all, were expelled by order of King Charles III of Spain. They returned almost a hundred years later, in 1859, with the intention of evangelizing the southern island of Mindanao. Besides undertaking this pioneering missionary work, in December of the same year they assumed responsibility for the Escuela Pia, later renamed Ateneo Municipal. The present day Ateneo de Manila University has a student population of over 18.000. The Sesquicentennial Anniversary Eucharistic celebration will be held on July 12; Father General will be the principal celebrant. About 4.000 people, including 200 Jesuits, are expected to participate. The next day Father Nicolás will deliver the keynote address on: “Issues and challenges in Jesuit education today” before a group of Jesuits and their lay collaborators from the five universities, one college and other schools of the Philippine Province.
That evening Father General will stay at Arrupe International Residence; the international scholasticate houses more than one hundred men in formation, coming from all the provinces of East Asia as well as the novices of the Philippine and Chinese Provinces. On July 14 he will meet Jesuits and lay partners working in spirituality and social centers, seminaries, parishes and chaplaincy programs. Time has been set aside for him to visit friends in Manila: the staff of the East Asian Pastoral Institute, where he was director for six years, and the staff of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania, which he led as president for three years before his election as Superior General of the Society.
On July 15 Father General will leave Manila for Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where he will stay until July 21. From July 16 to 19 he will attend the meeting of the Major Superiors of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania, and on July 17 he will meet the Brothers’ Circle of the Assistancy who will be having their biannual gathering at that time. The visit will be also celebrate the 150th anniversary of the “modern” Jesuit presence in Indonesia (“modern”, since Saint Francis Xavier had already served in what is today Indonesia in the 16th century). In 1859, two Dutch Jesuit missionaries landed in Batavia (today known as Java). Those humble origins have blossomed into the largest Province of the Assistancy with 348 Jesuits as well as 77 Jesuits in the two dependent regions of Malaysia-Singapore and Thailand. The official celebration of the event will be held on July 20th, and will be presided over by Jesuit Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, archbishop of Jakarta; The Eucharist will be celebrated in Bahasa Indonesia, the local language, while Father General will deliver the homily in English. The previous evening he will have dinner with nearly 500 Jesuits and friends, family members and collaborators, and will address them on the themes of mission and collaboration. On the evening of July 20th Father Nicolás will meet about 200 Indonesian Jesuits. On July 21st he will meet with the Provincial of Indonesia and his consultors before returning to Rome.
(Source:Electronic News Service SJ,Vol. XIII, N. 13 | July 6, 2009)