While writing and keeping the memory of the Society has been a long-standing practice since the time of the generalate of St Ignatius, the Archives remains to be a special mission, for archiving entails some specialisation and a level of discipline in order to relentlessly jot down and preserve the Society’s corporate memory in season and out of season.
For the first time, Province and Regional Archivists, Assistant Archivists, and Socii who are directly involved in keeping the memory of the Society of Jesus in the Asia-Pacific region met on 22 June. The meeting was planned to gather those in the conference involved in this mission, and to get them acquainted with fellow archivists and their archives.
All Asia Pacific provinces and regions were represented along with reports both written and oral. Prior to and during the meeting, the instructions on the Archives from Fathers General Peter Hans Kolvenbach, Adolfo Nicolas, and Arturo Sosa were revisited. The reports affirmed how each of the province and regional archives is unique due to missions and experience of Jesuits per area, the amount of their collections, and number of years since their establishment. Some have been digitally storing and sharing with researchers and historians their records while a few are just starting. The meeting adjourned with openness to further cooperation and sharing of resources among archives.
The gathering was convened by Fr Tony Moreno SJ, JCAP President, and organised by Fr Rene Javellana SJ, Archivist of the Philippine Province, with Fr Greg Soetomo, Socius of JCAP, providing technical assistance.
Conference participants included Fr Michael Head (Australia), Fr Kim Tae-jin and Fr Lee Jae-wook (Cambodia), Fr Howard Lui and Fr Vicentius Haryanto (Chinese Province), Fr Clay Pareira and Fr Windar Santoso (Indonesia), Fr David Wessels (Japan), Fr Kim Chong-uk (Korea), Fr James Tan and Ling Yeo (Malaysia-Singapore), Fr Maurus Irsan Rimawal (Myanmar), Fr Rene Javellana and Fr Madz Tumbali (Philippines), Fr Sigit Setyo Wibowo (Thailand), Fr Joseph Lester Maramara (Timor-Leste), and Fr Nguyen Hai Dang and Br Nguyen Huy Hoang (Vietnam).
The group was joined by Fr Antoine Kerhuel, Secretary of the Society and President of the Administrative Council of Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (ARSI)/Biblioteca in Rome, as well as Salvatore Vassallo, and Fathers Raul Gonzalez and Brian Mac Cuarta of ARSI.
For such solitary work, usually only one person per province, it was so nice and uplifting to see our regional counterparts.
Fr Madz Tumbali SJ was Assistant Archivist of the Philippine Province for seven years before his recent assignment as spiritual director in the Jesuit Retreat House in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, Philippines. A member of the Bishops Conference’s Historical Panel, he teaches Church History online at Loyola School of Theology and in other seminaries nationwide.