Community-building, immersion, daily Masses, city tour, academic lectures, periods of reflection, food expeditions, museum visits, efficient train rides, Christmas festivities and lasting friendships – these are just some of the tags that can summarise the 10-day Scholastics and Brothers Circle (SBC) workshop in Taiwan from December 15 to 25.
A total of 37 formands of 15 nationalities (six Vietnamese, five Burmese, four Filipinos, four Indonesians, three Koreans, three Australians, two Thais, two Timorese, two Chinese, an Italian, a Singaporean, a Malaysian, an Indian, a Polish, and a Japanese) participated in the workshop that centred on “Indigenous Ministry and the Mission of the Jesuits in China”. Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific Socius Fr Eric Velandria SJ and Formation Delegate Fr Riyo Mursanto SJ accompanied the participants.
Fr Olivier Lardinois SJ, who combines pastoral work with indigenous peoples and doctoral studies in anthropology, facilitated the meeting. Most of the activities, including residences of the participants, were held in Fu Jen Faculty of Theology of St Robert Bellarmine Community in New Taipei City. Fr David Yen SJ, the Jesuit Delegate to Fu Jen, provided a hands-on tour of the campus and explained the philosophical meanings of the designs and locations of the buildings.
In the morning of December 17, the participants had their team building activities despite the 13°C temperature outside. In the afternoon, at Tien Center at Sacred Heart Parish, Guting, Fr Emmanuel Lim SJ, Delegate for China of the Chinese Provincial, talked about the mission of the Chinese Province. Part of the talk was the introduction to the staff of Magis Center. Chinese Provincial Fr Stephen Chow SJ celebrated the Mass followed by a sumptuous Chinese dinner with the lay and Jesuit community of Sacred Heart. There they met the lively Fr Andres Diaz de Rabago SJ, the oldest member of the Chinese Province at 102 years old! After dinner, Fr Lardinois brought the group to Longshan Temple to witness the faith of many Taiwanese Buddhists. The Temple also serves as refuge for many homeless at night.
December 19 to 21 were days dedicated to living with indigenous peoples, mostly of the Atayal Tribe of Central Taiwan. A day prior, Fr Lardinois oriented the participants about Taiwan Aborigines and the Jesuit indigenous ministry, and took them to Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines.
A two-hour bus ride took the participants from Fu Jen University to the Jesuit Parish in Zhudong, Hsinchu Hsien. They were welcomed by very engaging lay persons who shared about the parish’s pastoral services, particularly the intensive catechetical programmes to young and old.
The formands were divided into four groups for their immersion: one group went with Fr Yves Nalet SJ to Shilei, another to Xinguang with Parish Priest Fr Corneille Heynanns SJ, group three to Qunqquan where Fr Barry Martinson SJ was waiting and group four to Nalou with Fr Lardinois. It took three hours of navigating the zigzag road before they reached their mission stations.
The participants gained plenty of memorable experiences from the immersion, such as the meaningful conversations with indigenous peoples and experiencing their warm hospitality, bathing in hot springs in 10°C weather, tasting sautéed and stewed flying squirrels and house-to-house Christmas carolling.
Italian Scholastic Cesare Gabriele Sposetti SJ, shared: “As a ‘westerner’, I never before had the opportunity to meet indigenous cultures. This kind of encounter helped me to have a wider picture of the cultural and human variety of this part of the world.”
On the way back to Taipei, the participants stopped by St Aloysius Technical School at Hsinpu, Hsinchu Hsien. This Jesuit educational institution has produced several quality technocrats in Taiwan. Many were astonished to realise that behind the school’s success are laypersons led by Principal Jerry Jyh-Lung Tang.
On December 22, Fr Lardinois provided a synthesis of the immersion experience by placing his expertise in anthropology side by side the Ignatian paradigm. This was supplemented by the brief sharing of each group of the fruits of their structured reflections and spiritual conversations. Then it was the participants’ turn to present. Each country reported about their respective province’s or region’s effort in serving indigenous peoples. In the evening, the group held a Christmas party.
The remaining days were devoted to excursions around Taipei. The formands made sure not to miss the National Palace Museum to see the paintings of Br Giuseppe Castiglione SJ, imperial painter to Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong in the mid-18th century.
Although only 10 days, the SBC workshop in Taiwan fortified the formands’ appreciation of the Chinese Jesuit Province and the ministry to the indigenous peoples.
Filipino Scholastic Madz Tumbali SJ participated in the SBC workshop in Taiwan. He is finishing his licentiate in Systematic Theology at Loyola School of Theology in Manila and is currently assigned to the archives of the Philippine Province.
Read Scholastic Cesare Gabriele Sposetti’s reflection on his SBC experience, “God incarnate in the richness of cultures and lives”
Some members of the Scholastics and Brothers Circle share their insights from their gathering: