Indian Jesuit Fr Alexis Prem Kumar SJ has been released by the Taliban after eight months in captivity. Fr Prem had worked for three years as Afghanistan country director for Jesuit Refugee Service in Herat province when he was abducted by gunmen in June last year.
A global movement of Catholics working together on climate issues was launched on January 14 with a statement presented to Pope Francis during his papal visit to the Philippines.
At our annual meeting with Fr General in Rome this month, the six Jesuit Conference presidents identified significant strategies that are bearing fruit for greater solidarity among Jesuits and our colleagues globally, and planned new cooperative measures. Since the primary goal of conferences concerns mission, we dealt with questions such as restructuring of governance arrangements, solidarity in sharing resources across the Society, cooperation in the formation of Jesuits and promotion of studies in Ignatian spirituality.
During this month of September, many celebrate the World Day of Peace. At the same time we Jesuits and friends continue to give thanks that the Society of Jesus was restored 200 years ago. Both events would encourage us, despite seeming evidence to the contrary, that hope can be maintained even in the face of death.
Pope Francis has appointed Fr Robert J Geisinger SJ Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this role, Fr Geisinger will serve as the Vatican’s chief prosecutor and is charged with investigating canon-law offences that are regarded as being the most serious, including crimes against the sanctity of the Eucharist, violations of the seal of confession and allegations of the abuse of minors by clergy.
Fr Geisinger takes over from Fr Robert W Oliver, who has been appointed Secretary to the Vatican Commission for the Safeguarding of Minors.
Australian Provincial Fr Brian McCoy SJ and former Provincial Fr Steve Curtin SJ presented Pope Francis with a special gift of Sevenhill wine at a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Restoration of the Society. Fr McCoy and Fr Curtin were in Rome for the Tertian Directors Meeting, which coincided with the anniversary celebration on August 7. They were joined by another Australian Jesuit, Fr Minh-Uoc Pham.
Spanish Jesuit missionary Blessed José de Anchieta was declared a saint by Pope Francis on April 3. His canonisation was celebrated with joy in churches in Brazil, where he is known as the Apostle of Brazil.
The new St Anchieta was a highly influential figure in Brazil’s history and one of the founders of the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In a Mass to celebrate St Anchieta, Cardinal Orani Tempesta, Metropolitan Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, said it was “impossible to write about the history of Brazil without mentioning the presence of Jose de Anchieta”.
Jesuits across Asia Pacific have planned various activities to commemorate the bicentennial of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus. In 1814, Pope Pius VII ordered the restoration of the Society, which had been suppressed in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV.
Globally the year-long celebration of the bicentennial began on January 3, at the mass for the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which Pope Francis celebrated with fellow Jesuits at the Church of the Gesù in Rome.
This month we remember Pedro Arrupe, the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus who died on February 5, 1991 aged 83. An incredibly charismatic general, he spent the last 10 years of his life confined in the infirmary, patiently enduring the debilitating effects of a cerebral stroke.
More than 140 years after he was beatified, Peter Faber is now a saint. The announcement was made on December 17, Pope Francis’ 77th birthday, and is something of a gift to his fellow Jesuits for whom Faber is a well-loved role model.
With Faber’s “equivalent canonization”, the pope extended his devotion to the universal Church and inscribed him in the catalogue of saints, bypassing the Vatican’s typical procedures for sainthood which include ascertaining two miracles to their intercession.