Building a Conference team was the reason for gathering the apostolate coordinators together with the JCAP consultors and the JCAP core team for the annual “enlarged consult” in Manila last October. 20 participants examined the commitments each sector will make to Conference wide projects and priorities. The group was not at risk of starving during these days, thanks to the care of Anne Noche of the Conference office.
Mario Francisco (PHI) added historical memory to the meeting, since he had been a consultor to both Ismael Zuloaga (CHN) and Adolfo Nicolas (JPN) as Presidents. Whereas Riyo Mursanto (IDO), Louis Gendron (CHN), Paul Pollock (TAI) were named to the role more recently to advise Mark Raper (ASL) after his appointment in 2008. The JCAP team of Formation Delegate Matthias Chae (KOR), Socius and Treasurer Benedict Jung (KOR) and Secretary Tata Cadiz also participated.
JCAP officials present included Heru Prakosa (IDO) and Cyril Veliath (JPN) for Relations with Islam and Buddhism respectively; Nono Alfonso (PHI) the recently appointed JesCom AP coordinator; Etsuo Sekine (JPN) who represents the education ministry, JEC-AP; Arthur Leger (MIC) as Director of EAPI and an advisor for JCAP on planning and formation for leadership. JCAP tertian instructors Roger Champoux (PHI) and Priyono Marwan (IDO) spent time with the group. Denis Kim (KOR) as coordinator for the social ministries and Christina Kheng as a resource person together presented three important projects. First, the mapping study on “The Context of Jesuit Mission in Asia Pacific”, which a team led by Christina has prepared over 18 months of interviewing around 100 Jesuits and close collaborators, and which will soon be available on our website jcapsj.org. Next, together with Bernard Arputhasamy (MAS) of Jesuit Refugee Service, they outlined preliminary plans for the “Migration” project requested by the major superiors as a common Conference project. Similarly Denis and Christina introduced the “Reconciliation with Creation” priorities and core strategy. Once again this project on environment is commissioned by the JCAP provincials and they intend it to be taken up in all provinces. A newcomer in the consultation was Jojo Fung (MAS), representing the Jesuit Companions in Indigenous Ministry.
Matthias Chae gave a briefing on developments in Formation. Mark Raper reported on the recent meeting of the Conference Presidents with the General in which clear changes in the Society’s way of proceeding are emerging, especially noting the desire of Fr General to delegate ordinary governance so that he can give more weight and time to mission. Stressing over and again the triple themes of universality, creativity and depth in the Spirit, Fr General is both restructuring his core Curia team, but also looking to the Conferences to give a lead in discerning and choosing mission “frontiers”.
Creative and effective new ways in which the secretaries are now working were shared in the enlarged consult. It was noted that some secretaries now have teams to help them, each team member having clear roles. For example Nono Alfonso, replacing Jerry Martinson (CHN) who had been 20 years as JesCom coordinator, has a team of four, each assigned a task: technical, PR, training (referring to our collaborators) and formation (oriented to Jesuits). They will meet soon to refine their strategies and to schedule tasks. For example the training sector has taken East Timor and Thailand as priorities for upgrading skills. Similarly, the most active of the sectors, the social ministries, has a number of personnel working both as consultants, eg for research, and as team leaders, such as for the migration and reconciliation with creation projects. Sekine reported on the large gathering of secondary school educators, Jesuit and lay, who gathered in Fukuoka recently, and on their commitment to support the new educational program being planned for East Timor when the diocese takes back Colégio de São José in Dili at the end of 2011.
The results of the recent Communications Audit were examined, with a resolve to strengthen JCAP’s communications capacity as a major arm of its service to members. Following the request of Fr General that all provinces have protocols regarding sexual abuse, the consultors were asked about the progress in educating people within their ministries about these protocols as well as the ways in which they are setting in place codes of behaviour for their institutions concerning professional standards.
Unfortunately several key players could not be present. Because of his illness, Koichi Matsumoto (JPN) could not be present to represent the Arrupe International Residence. Joel Tabora (PHI) of AJCU-AP was in Rome for the meeting on the intellectual apostolate and commitment to justice. Pedro Walpole (PHI) of the Reconciliation with Creation project was in Belgium for the international meeting of the Global Jesuit Ecology network in which he also participates. John Shea (NYK) was not present to explain the successful EATEP program run in Chiang Mai each year and focussing on Buddhism and Hinduism, but Heru Prakosa was able to explain and enlist support for APTEP which will run for one month in Yogyakarta next January, offering exposure to Southeast Asian Islam. Heru has his minimum number of participants, but can still accommodate more.
Following the packed day and a half with the Conference Secretaries, the consultors bravely continued for another day and a half of business, which included preparing a short list of candidates for the Rector of Arrupe International Residence, as well as picking up the advice and reflections of the larger group. The result of discernment on the Rector of Arrupe is now with Fr General for decision. Consultors considered the desire of the major superiors to establish a Conference Common Fund for apostolic works, and embraced the implications for a stronger presence of the Conference in decision making affecting the Society’s life and work in Asia Pacific. Of special interest was the initial report from the commission on the formation of provinces. The implication for regions that will not in the foreseeable future become provinces is that they should not therefore remain autonomous units, clearly something that would impact not a few of our 6 regions. The restructuring of some regions was indeed a serious topic of the consult.
In all the three days sketched out the agenda for the Conference for the coming year. Indeed the Conference calendar for 2011 is quickly filling up. So if you plan events or activities that could impact on Conference personnel, do inform Ms Tata Cadiz <sec1 at jcapsj.org> very soon.