Catholics should be using cinema and culture to dialogue with other faiths, and we should be doing so in the market place, said President of SIGNIS World Augustine Loorthusamy in his keynote address at the SIGNIS Asia Assembly in Nepal in October.
At the height of the floods in Thailand in October and November, the Jesuit Foundation Prison Ministry continued to reach out to the many prisoners it has befriended in the country’s overcrowded prisons. Vilaiwan Phokthavi, Director, Jesuit Prison Ministry tells us how the floods affected prisoners in three prisons.
For the members of the Jesuit Prison Ministry team, continuing to visit prisoners took will, determination and faith. The pictures below show the road leading to Pattum Thani Prison, Central Correctional Institution for Young Offenders, on Nov 22.
The Philippines island of Mindanao will soon launch a major island-wide undertaking that shall focus on ensuring integration of Mindanao’s economy and environment to achieve sustainable development. Jesuit research institute Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) is a partner agency and one of only two non-governmental groups working with the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) on this flagship programme.
Abaca, coffee and rubber are three very different crops that can make a difference to the indigenous communities in Mindanao – both economically and socially.
In October, 30 youth from Upper Pulangi, Bukidnon in northern Mindanao spent 10 days learning about these crops, how to produce them and how to do so with a sense of environmental stewardship. Jesuit research institute Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) conducted the training, in partnership with the Malaybalay City Agriculture Office and the Fibre Industry Development Authority.
The International Postulator General for the Society of Jesus has called for information about the life and holiness of Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ, to determine whether a cause for sainthood can be made.
In a letter to the Society on November 17, Fr Anton Witwer SJ said the General Curia had received a number of enquiries about the introduction of a case for beatification for Fr Arrupe, the former General of the Society who died on February 5, 1991.
Two leadership roles – Director and Executive Producer – are open in Casa de Produção Audiovisual (CPA), the first non-profit audiovisual production house in Timor-Leste.
Probably our most decisive formation occurred at home when our mothers and fathers encouraged us to take our first steps. Jesuits are no different from anyone else in our stages of growth. We are each responsible for the values and patterns of behaviour we appropriate to ourselves. Yet since much is demanded of them, a Jesuit’s personal formation is necessarily long and deep.
The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific has released a detailed document on formation for Jesuits for this part of the world.
Entitled “Forming a Contemplative in Action: A Profile of a Formed Jesuit for Asia Pacific”, the document addresses three major questions – What does a formed Jesuit look like? What specific issues does initial formation need to address? What competencies a formed Jesuit for Asia Pacific needs to have mastered?
An estimated 20 million people across Southeast Asia have been affected by flooding since June. Most are in Thailand, but typhoons struck the Philippines in October, and Laos was hit by cyclones in July and August. About 1.8 million people in Cambodia and Vietnam are also suffering from the worst flooding in a decade. Myanmar also is experiencing flooding, though the extent is unclear because little information has been released from the country. Local media there reported some 30,000 people were hit by flash floods last month that killed more than 160.