Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ has appointed Fr Gregorius Soetomo SJ as Socius to the President of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP), and Fr Vidal J Gornez Jr SJ as Treasurer of the conference. Fr Soetomo and Fr Gornez take over from Filipino Jesuit Fr Eric G Velandria SJ who has been serving in both roles since 2014. The new appointments will take effect on 1 July.
Fr Soetomo is an Indonesian Jesuit based in Manila. He is currently the JCAP Coordinator for Dialogue with Islam and Director of the Asia Pacific Theological Encounter Program (APTEP). Besides these roles, he is Co-coordinator of the residential programme at the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI), as well as Editor of EAPI’s Asia Pacific Mission Studies journal, and Assistant Professor of Asian Religions at the Loyola School of Theology in the Ateneo de Manila University.
Now, aside from being Socius, he will also serve as Consultor and Admonitor of the JCAP President, while remaining as Coordinator for Dialogue with Islam, APTEP Director, and Editor of EAPI’s journal.
Fr Gornez is a Filipino Jesuit serving as Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Parish of the Archdiocese of Cebu. In addition to his new role as JCAP Treasurer, he will also serve as the Prefect of the Apostolate at Arrupe International Residence, and JCAP Development Officer starting 1 January 2021.
JCAP President Fr Tony Moreno SJ thanked Fr Soetomo and Fr Gornez, as well as their respective Provincials, Fr Petrus Sunu Hardiyanta SJ and Fr Primitivo E Viray Jr SJ, for their readiness to serve the mission of the conference. He also thanked Fr Velandria who will leave Manila for Rome by the middle of July for his new mission at the Jesuit Refugee Service.