Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ has appointed Fr Benedictus Hari Juliawan SJ as the new Provincial of the Indonesian Province of the Society of Jesus. He takes over from Fr Petrus Sunu Hardiyanta SJ who has served as Indonesian Provincial since 2014.
Fr Benny, as he is called, holds a doctoral degree in Development Studies from Oxford University and is well known in the social justice movement. He is currently a lecturer at Universitas Sanata Dharma and the Superior of Robertus Bellarminus community in Yogyakarta.
The third of four children born to Catholic parents, Fr Benny entered the Society of Jesus in 1994 at age 19 after four years of minor seminary formation. He pronounced his First Vows in the Society on 3 July1996 and completed his philosophy studies in 2000 at Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta. During his first cycle of studies, Fr Benny became actively involved in the student movement known as Reformasi Movement.
His personal commitment to social change and his high degree of intellectual capability landed him a Regency in Birmingham at Warwick University in England to do graduate studies in Sociology, and in Betun, West Timor, with Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia helping East Timorese refugees. After completing theological studies, he was ordained a priest in Yogyakarta on 26 July 2005.
Fr Benny proceeded to do his graduate and postgraduate studies at Oxford University. His choice to write his dissertation on the labour movement in Indonesia for showed his passion for and commitment to social justice. After earning a doctorate from Oxford University, he returned to Indonesia and started his teaching assignment at Universitas Sanata Dharma in 2010, while also later serving as House Minister of the Robertus Bellarminus community in Yogyakarta. In 2011, he did his Tertianship at Girisonta.
In 2013, he was appointed Secretary for Social Ministries and Coordinator for the Migration Network of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP). After finishing his roles as JCAP Coordinator in 2017 and JCAP Secretary in 2018, he returned to Universitas Sanata Dharma to resume his teaching post. That year, he was also appointed as the Local Superior of Robertus Bellarminus community.
Fr Benny pronounced his Final Vows on 30 July 2019, the year of his silver jubilee in the Society of Jesus.
