If you want to know, come and talk to the JCEAO Team, what is left of it…
We used to tease Fr. Nico about his staying in Rome; perhaps it was our way of coping with the danger. It was also our way of saying how much we appreciated all that his presence contributed to our work and our lives.
After an arduous search, the Cambodia Mission was able to purchase a piece of land (1,218 square meters) at Phnom Penh Thmey for the building of a Jesuit House in Phnom Penh. The funds were provided by JCEAO last year, but with the escalating property prices in Phnom Penh, the search had to go beyond the city boundary.
The month of December was a month of celebrations, having parties with friends, sharing gifts and joys with others, especially with the poor and needy. It was a month of enormous blessings for each one of us.
On December 3 some scholastics went to St. Francis Xavier School together with Fr Bill Currie (JPN) to celebrate the feast of Francis Xavier.
We all have some difficulty to believe it but the fact is that we are nearing the end of the present Tertianship program. After the Ministries of the Christmas Season, spent by all ten tertians in the mountains of the Cordillera, in the Vicariates of the Mountain Province and of Kalinga-Apayao, January has been dedicated to an intense but still “sapiential” and “spiritual” reading and study of the Constitutions.
In his effort to gain knowledge of the social apostolates in the various units of the EAO Assistancy, Fr Denis Kim (KOR), EAO Social Apostolate Secretary, visited Japan last December 21 – 27. Fr Kim wrote, “The encounter… has become an inspiring refresh for my role as an Assistancy secretariat. Although I have heard that the Jesuit mission is mainly centered on education in Japan, my visit makes me realize that the Jesuit social apostolate is not weak in the Province.
Sch Chrysostom B. Exaltacion will spend his regency with the Chinese Province, while Sch Erik John J. Gerilla is assigned to East Timor. Thank you, Philippines, for sharing your people with other EAO units.
For those who are interested to know more about the Jesuits in Vietnam, you may look up http://www.dongten.net. The site uses the Vietnamese language only.
The day after the election of Fr. Adolfo Nicolas as Superior General of the Society of Jesus, many of us here in Rome find ourselves deeply grateful for the guidance of the Spirit. We believe in faith that it was the Spirit who led us to choose Fr. Nico–as we fondly call him in our part of the world–as the 29th successor to St. Ignatius. This past week, the newspapers in Italy had come out with lists of possible generabili. It is surely significant that Fr. Nicolas was never mentioned!
Fr Matthias Chae, Provincial of Korea Province, made his annual visitation to the Cambodia Mission from December 2 – 8. In addition to the Manifestation of Conscience by the Jesuits in the mission, team members of the Jesuit Service Cambodia also met with him individually. The meetings were held at the Jesuit house in Phnom Penh for those in Phnom Penh and Banteay Prieb, and at the Battambang Prefecture for those in the northern part of Cambodia. This was followed by a general meeting with all gathered at these two places.
On December 15, Fr Paul Pollock wrote, “In January 2008, Fr Tran Van Tro (ASL) will take up his new assignment in Yangon. He will be assigned to the Campion Language Institute and be helping out with the candidates at Canisius House; and also be available for retreats and pastoral ministry as the requests come in.