Fr Louis Gendron, in his province letter dated October 24, wrote, “Today I was in Beijing for a meeting of the Board of Directors of The Beijing Center, and I am transiting in Macau on my way to Taipei, where we have a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Fu Jen University. I bring with me two new books published by Fr Ron Anton and his collaborators at the Historical Archives of Beijing.
Effective November 1, 2007, Br Gerard Choo Thean Yoon was appointed by the Provincial to be the new Socius of Malaysia-Singapore Region.
The Lekima typhoon on October 3 severely destroyed the center of Vietnam, especially Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Sơn La, Quang Binh, Ha Tĩnh, and Nghe An. Damage was initially estimated to be over USD60 million. About 86 people died. Vietnamese Jesuits organized a campaign to provide relief to the victims. Fr Tam and Sch Thong are collaborating with the bishops of Thanh Hoa and Vinh dioceses to provide the victims food and support in rebuilding their lives.
Father General has approved the establishment of a novitiate in East Timor in 2008, likely in April. He has further approved the appointment of Fr Joaquim Francisco da Silva Sarmento as Novice Master and Fr Leonardus Dibyawiyata (IDO) as Socius to the Novice Master. We will use the house in Lahane for the first two or three years until we have experience to know what we need for a permanent novitiate. We have already begun the search for this permanent site.
The vocational training offered by Jesuit Service at Banteay Prieb (Centre of the Dove) for disabled survivors of landmines and polio has received national recognition. The curriculum of the Centre has been adopted as accredited curriculum by all training centres in Cambodia and the Ministry of Social Action is promoting its use among governors and stakeholders in each province.
East Asia Theological Encounter Program Tentative dates for 2008 are: January 10-February 14, 2008; April 9- May 9, 2008; July 25- August 24, 2008. Programs will go depending on the number of applicants. Visit the website http://www.freewebs.com/johnjshea/ for application forms and syllabus. On the site, you will also find a bibliography with pictures of previous programs and lists of EATEP alumni.
The EAO Tertianship has been on for almost three weeks already. After the closing down of the Sri Lanka Tertianship for this year, the present group has reached its maximum of ten members, with a composition that reflects the colorful universality of the Society: one tertian is from Ethiopia, one from the States, one from Italy, one from India, two from Singapore, two from Korea (one of them is applied to Japan), and two from the Philippines.
Schol Richard Anthony (MAS) will be ordained a deacon on October 20, 2007 (Saturday), 10:00 a.m., at St. Augustine’s Church, Oakland, by Archbishop John R. Quinn.