Newly appointed Jesuit Conference for East Asia and Oceania (JCEAO) President Fr. Mark Raper, SJ bikes around the Ateneo de Manila campus and understandably, speaks with a distinctive Australian twang. Father Raper, in an interview with The Windhover’s Frank Savadera, SJ speaks to us about his experience of the 35th General Congregation, his work with the refugees and the evolving challenges being faced by the entire East Asia and Oceania Assistancy.
How did you receive news of your appointment as President of the JCEAO?
During the 35th General Congregation the decision was made by Father Nicolas, who of course knew the position well, and who obviously had to vacate this role immediately on his election. It went through a process. We, the various provincials, put in names. Apparently, in the discussions that followed, mine was one of the names. I was a little surprised. We had qualified candidates from the Asian region who were ending their terms as provincial superiors. Some belong to the bigger provinces and with bigger challenges. They seemed fit for the job yet were perhaps understandably exhausted from their previous assignments. I was also ending my term as provincial of the Australian Province — although for a few months I had to do both jobs. During the Congregation around 40 different mission assignments were handed to fellow Jesuits either to members of Father General’s council or as new provincials. My turn came at the end of a very long line of appointments. It was like being put straight in the frontline again. I’m delighted to take up this role and for the opportunity to succeed Father Nicolas as JCEAO President.
How do you find your role thus far?
So far, it has been good. The Philippine Province, the Arrupe Residence and the EAPI communities have all received me warmly. Everyone’s been very kind to me. The first few months were rather gentle. In fact, I didn’t really know where to begin. I’d come to the office and look around the four corners of the room and wonder where to get started. Little by little, however, my time is being filled up. The six-monthly meetings with the provincials generate a considerable range of interesting international projects too.
What do you see are the JCEAO’s current priorities?
Certain priorities for the region had already been set when we were together in Rome for the last congregation. At the top of the list come Jesuit formation and planning, then come our own communications and a review of our basic education so that it serves the poor. We are looking at the formation of Jesuits as a project of the whole Conference. In 4 or 5 provinces in the Conference the formation of Jesuits appears to be handled adequately within the province. Today however, remaining within one cultural or province setting is not good enough. There are moreover, a number of other important units, specifically China, East Timor and Myanmar where resources are lacking. The Conference needs to support these with apt formation programs. These are precisely the places where our numbers are growing. As it is, we already have some 20 East Timorese Jesuit scholastics here in Arrupe International Residence and a similar large number of Myanmarese. The demographics of formation change through time. A lot of solid planning has to be done. We have to cooperate across the region, sharing resources much more thoroughly. We’re the only conference in the Society which doesn’t have yet a formation delegate and a coherent common conference plan for formation.
Our second priority involves greater planning for the smaller units. Cambodia, Myanmar and the East Timor are all regions in transition. To this list, we can perhaps add Thailand and Micronesia which are somehow also in transition. These are areas that need the help of the larger units. Cambodia has recently been given into the care of the Korean Province. A lot of exciting developments are evolving in Myanmar. East Timor has had a major superior appointed recently. A significant number of scholastics are soon to return there for work experiences (regency), and the region is planning for a new educational initiative. The Jesuit numbers in Micronesia, on the other hand, are fast diminishing. Thailand, which has operated as a region the past 54 years, has undertaken to redefine its mission. These areas rely on the entire conference for personnel and financial support. Of course, it is difficult to give proper support if there is no clear plan. Moreover a plan requires some advance study of what is feasible, so one task for the Conference is to ensure that planning is properly done. A lot of partners have already expressed their wish to help us, but their efforts and generosity need the guidance of a well discerned plan for each mission. The great thing for the president of the conference is to know that there are people responsible in every place. My job is to support, to guide and to act as sounding board, to mentor and to bring together the energies of all the concerned groups.
What are the distinguishing characteristics of our East Asia and Oceania region?
We’re the one conference that grew in our numbers last year. We have recently entered in a number of new geographic areas. We have Jesuits who are young, energetic and diverse. We may not always have the long established or popular institutions available in other areas. In some places we lack the senior, wisdom figures. But we take pride in our diversity in this immense and culturally rich part of the world. There’s also good communication amongst us despite the many languages and cultures. This should lead to good synergy around apostolic projects undertaken together. Our cultures of harmony and the desire to reach a consensus serve as strengths. While certain cultural formalities should be observed, these also often help towards harmony. When we come together, we notice always a natural respect for the cultures of others. Nevertheless we still have a long way to go in terms of real supra-provincial cooperation. It’s quite a job to find people on the ground who are actually undertaking the services from which effective international networks can be built. For instance, who is working on the ground on migration, with AIDS, with the trafficking of women and children? We’re still looking for the Jesuits and partners engaged in these ways.
How do we approach the non-geographical mission areas implied by GC35?
On a recent visit to Thailand, I was delighted to meet Father Puspobinatmo, an Indonesian Jesuit already well integrated in Thai society and culture. His doctoral thesis is a comparison of a Buddhist monk’s spirituality and Ignatian spirituality. Here, a frontier comes to mind. It is not simply about inter-religious dialogue. Many westerners find the religions of the east very attractive. Unlike Christianity which can be pretty concerned about giving answers, the many eastern religions simply offer us help along ‘the way’. How do we pursue dialogue and evangelization given that many are not really looking for answers, but rather for a way to live? When he was in this role, Father Nicolas frequently talked about this particular theme. To find the richness of our own tradition and to communicate it in ways that may fit other’s culture… this can be a new and real frontier.
On what particular aspects of a Jesuit’s character must we constantly rely?
It is important that intellectual rigor be applied to our services of the poor. Recently, I was talking to a Jesuit from Belgium about the intellectual apostolate. He remarked that so many Jesuits after finishing their doctorates don’t write. He said that when he talks to Jesuits, particularly from Asia and Africa, they say they feel ashamed that their articles do not qualify to get published in learned Western or North American journals. But this is not what European scholars are looking for, he said. They want Jesuits to publish articles in their local journals and in their own languages. These would more closely reflect their local situations. We have to acknowledge that a big chunk of our theology and our intellectual teaching in Asia is borrowed. Our people have been well educated in Europe and in the United States. The challenge now is to build our capacities from within our own cultures, experiences and traditions. One of our immediate and overdue projects is to build up our own international theology program. Father Kolvenbach asked for this explicitly in 2002.
How must we pool our resources?
One of the visions of GC35 is to bring us to a higher level of identity that capitalizes on our unique friendships and capacity for international cooperation. We seek to identify those human needs to which many may respond with the resources that we can muster. Father Arrupe constantly returned to this theme. During GC31, he spoke about this cooperation, identifying two alternative approaches. In the first approach, he said, we may want to identify what we want to do, and then ask each province to sacrifice personnel for the endeavor. In this case it is difficult for provinces to let go of their important capital. It is better he urged, to begin the discernment as one body that is united, and which says, "Together we have a common mission. Here are our challenges. Here’s the mission of the Society. How can we best respond in the spirit of the magis? Who are the best people whom we could send for this mission?" From such a perspective, responding to the need becomes much easier. Moreover, the responses are more innovative. This is how Father Arrupe started the Jesuit Refugee Service. The JRS continues to impact positively the lives of many in over 60 countries around the world.
How was it for you working with the Jesuit Refugee Service?
For 20 years, I was privileged to be engaged with the refugees. It really seemed to be my life work. The vision of Father Arrupe placed this specific work at the heart of the Society’s mission. Personally, it was a great Jesuit experience to be assigned by Father General to a mission that is so appealing to so many people. Clearly, the job corresponds to the criteria we find in our Constitutions that is, to be where there is the greater need and to be available for the more universal good. Many faces of people come to mind, the stories of refugees with extraordinary resilience, whom I have met. At the same time, it’s always possible to romanticize the refugees. This is not at all helpful. Nevertheless, refugees tell us a lot about ourselves, our societies, our own hypocrisies and the many distinct ways people different from ourselves are marginalized. The refugees function as a wonderful mirror helping us understand ourselves more clearly.
Have you been made aware of the plight of refugees in the Philippines?
It is not present much in conversations, and there are only vignettes in the newspapers. Yet a number of reports are available, for example the International Crisis Group published a useful account of the recent displacement of around 390,000 people in Mindanao, following the breakdown in talks with the government. These forcibly displaced persons are among the groups that the Society of Jesus would normally wish to accompany. JRS normally focuses efforts on the people who have been displaced by local wars and violence around the world. In most cases refugees are prone to social exploitation. The Ateneo de Zamboanga University helps in this crisis, although curiously I don’t know if there is any link to the JRS there. It is asserted that the humanitarian needs of these people are reasonably well catered for, and that already a number of agencies contribute to assisting them. But humanitarian assistance is not the only or indeed the main preoccupation of JRS. The sheer fact that the situation in Mindanao remains one of the longest running conflicts in Asia indicates for us how that conflict can be a natural mission area for Jesuit involvement. Further to the forcibly displaced persons, there are in the world over 200 million migrants, many of whom suffer from violence and discrimination. Many Jesuits have indicated their desire that the Society assists and defends these migrants too.
How do you remember Father Arrupe?
They say that a prophet is someone who tells us about the future. In essence however, a prophet is someone who knows how to read the present time. Father Arrupe seemed to have had a very good appreciation of his time. He had real insights into the modern world, enough to be able to say where it is leading us. He evolved a vision for the Society of Jesus which we continue to discover even to this day. GC35 is but our way of catching up with the vision which Father Arrupe had already begun to expound since his term as General began in the 1960s. It seems no accident also that the Society has elected for its last three generals—Frs. Nicolas, Kolvenbach and Arrupe—three men who left their own homes and immersed themselves deeply in cultures quite different from their own. The elections are a clear statement about how the Society of Jesus sees itself and its mission today.
How does it feel taking over the former job of Father Nicolas?
It helps me a lot to know that the General understands our local situation. Happily too, sitting on this same chair that he occupied somehow gives the office extra authority to call on people and ask for greater cooperation.
The documents of the congregation on ‘governance’ mention the role of the conference only briefly. But it is clear there has been a big shift to a sense of ‘universal mission’, for the implementation of which, the conferences are crucial. The real challenge however is to discover and to constantly impress on all how in the Society the universal needs take priority over local needs. The implications of this principle can be quite phenomenal. This of course, is easier said than done. We continue to require each Jesuit to make a rigorous study of the local languages and cultures of the place where he lives and works. At the same time we ask every Jesuit constantly to look outwards, to be attentive to universal needs. This message is given through the kind of formation that Jesuits receive today. Practically speaking, many must go to another country as a part of their formation, learning at least one new language and be immersed in multicultural and multilingual activities. This is now becoming typical of the life we live. We enter into this experience of being dispersed yet constantly being challenged to be united in new and more profound ways.
Source: Windhover, December 2008