In recent months, Indigenous Peoples in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon in Mindanao have had the opportunity to voice their concerns regarding their rights in a series of gatherings organised by the Philippine Province Jesuit Indigenous Peoples (IP) Ministry, the local government of Cabanglasan, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and other civil society organisations.
This year’s annual report puts the spotlight on two firsts for the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. The JCAP Leadership Development Programme was launched in December 2015 and the fourth (and final) module was held in Seoul, South Korea in mid-May 2017. The Jesuit Conference-wide youth ministry also began in 2015, with the core team pulling off a successful Magis Asia Pacific gathering in Yogyakarta, Indonesia fr
Establishing protocols and procedures for the safeguarding of minors is not as easy as installing a software application. Protecting minors in Jesuit institutions from sexual abuse needs careful evaluation of how Jesuits and collaborators operate in their apostolates, discernment on policies and steps to take when cases arise, reparation when mistakes and harm have been done, and willingness to change and provide structures for children to grow fully.
Fr John Sullivan SJ, noted for his untiring attention to the sick and the poor, was beatified on May 13, 2017 in Gardiner Street Church in Dublin. The ceremony, attended by almost 2,000 people, consisted of a mass during which a formal request for beatification was made publicly. In an unprecedented ecumenical gesture, the request was made jointly by the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Archbishops, reflecting the fact that Fr John was Anglican for the first half of his life and Roman Catholic for the second.
Four centuries after Matteo Ricci arrived in China, Jesuits continue in the way he forged for engaging with the country. Where Ricci shared his expertise in mathematics, cosmology and astronomy, and brought to the Emperor’s court Western clocks, musical, mathematical and astronomical instruments and cosmological, geographical and architectural works with maps and diagrams, today’s Jesuits share their knowledge of philosophy, ethics and history in a university or research setting.
Ignatian educators from four countries in Asia Pacific recently gathered in the Philippines to learn how to apply communal discernment as an added dimension to the decision making process in their schools.
Life in rural Cambodia is hard, especially for small farmers. Each year, they struggle to get a decent yield to provide for their families. This is why the Centre for Research on Optimal Agricultural Practices (CROAP), a demonstration farm located a few kilometres from Pursat City, is introducing to farmers in the village of Keov Mony in Pursat a promising new method of rice farming.
Jesuit Refugee Service Australia has teamed up with Refugee Council of Australia to create a programme that gives young people the chance to meet a refugee and hear first hand the reasons why people are forced to flee their homes.
“We’re seeing the biggest migration crisis since WWII, and yet, it’s not the voices of those being forced to flee their homes we hear, but the voices of the powerful. At JRS we believe this needs to change,” said JRS Australia in its website.
Environmental research and ecological action across the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) takes many forms, as Jesuit works are only beginning to engage these concerns and still have much to learn. Jesuits and their collaborators are moving towards greater environmental awareness and have recognised the urgent need to communicate and work with others strategically and more broadly for the sake of greater ecological accountability and sustainability.
The Education Commission of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) has launched a programme designed to address the various formation needs of Jesuit primary and secondary schools in the region. The “Ignatian Initiative for Teaching Excellence” (IGNITE) programme offers a selection of workshops for faculty and staff to support them in their role as Ignatian educators.
“The IGNITE programme is designed by practitioners for practitioners, in consultation with experts and specialists,” said Fr Johnny Go SJ, JCAP Education Secretary.