Jesuit response to Mindanao crisis
24 Sep 2013

Jesuit response to Mindanao crisis

by | posted in: Education, Social Justice | 0

The Jesuits in the Philippines have called for support for the people affected by the recent standoff between the Philippines government and a Muslim separatist group in Mindanao.  In a letter dated September 13, Philippine Provincial Fr Antonio Moreno SJ said, “I strongly appeal to our Jesuit communities, ministries and partners in apostolates to pray for peace, perhaps organizing or joining prayer assemblies, initiating or participating in discussion groups and inter- faith initiatives that promote solidarity.”

The value of a good education
18 Sep 2013

The value of a good education

by | posted in: Education, Social Justice | 0

Isaías Caldas knows the value of a good education. The Jesuit scholastic grew up in Timor Leste and was one of a privileged few who attended St Joseph College, a Jesuit-run senior high school. But most of his peers had no such luck: their country’s education system had been rendered broken and ineffective by decades of Indonesian occupation and centuries of Portuguese colonisation; their parents were eking out a living in a country on the cusp of independence – surviving from one day to the next took precedence over planning for their children’s future.

The Spiritual Exercises in installation art
24 Aug 2013

The Spiritual Exercises in installation art

by | posted in: Education, Spirituality | 0

Three Filipino Jesuits came up with an interactive version of the Spiritual Exercises for Ateneo de Manila University’s Ignatian Festival in July.  Using installation art, Br Eric Esteba SJ, Sch Alvin Laput SJ and Sch Eric S Escandor SJ developed CONTEMPLATIO, a 45-minute prayer exercise designed mainly for young people who want to deepen their faith and enrich their Ignatian identity. 

Bringing Battambang, Cambodia to Singapore
23 Jul 2013

Bringing Battambang, Cambodia to Singapore

by | posted in: Education, Social Justice | 0

In the early hours of June 18, 73 Cambodians, a mix of students from the Arrupe Welcoming Centre for the disabled and St Joseph’s Parish Tahen, boarded a plane to Singapore for a two week cultural dance tour. A mixture of excitement and anticipation flowed through the aircraft, as teachers and support staff tried to complete the Singapore immigration documents before landing.  The Battambang Arrupe Tahen Dance Troupe had been invited to Singapore to perform at the CHARIS humanitarian forum on June 22.

Making new friends, and opening up new horizons
23 Jul 2013

Making new friends, and opening up new horizons

by | posted in: Education | 0

Xavier Catholic College Hervey Bay student Julie-Anne Doan’s face lights up as she talks about the experience of meeting and chatting with the young people she’s encountered on the Timor-Leste Immersion Program.

“We’ve been looking at the history, and seeing how much they’ve gone through,” she says. “Yet they’re able to smile and to give to others just as if we’re part of the family. I don’t really want to leave to be honest.”

Centre for young adults opens in Sydney
8 Jul 2013

Centre for young adults opens in Sydney

by | posted in: Education | 0

Young adults will be able to continue their Ignatian formation as they enter university life with the opening of Jesuit House in Sydney. In this letter to the Province, Australian Provincial Fr Steve Curtin SJ says the house, part of The Cardoner Project, now has a community of young men living there and has begun functioning as a venue for formation and prayer, as well as socialising.

A Jesuit school for Cambodia
21 Jun 2013

A Jesuit school for Cambodia

by | posted in: Education | 0

Father General Adolfo Nicolás SJ has given his permission for the establishment of an education project in Cambodia.   The school, as proposed in the report Discerning a Major Focus for our Education Project in Cambodia, comprises a medium sized secondary school with four classes in each grade and a small primary school with two classes in each grade.  It will include a teacher training resource centre (which will also function as a community learning centre) and a hostel for trainee teachers. 

JCAP Education on the move
21 Jun 2013

JCAP Education on the move

by | posted in: Education | 0

There was much delight at the recent JCAP Education meeting in two significant developments.

Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ, JCAP Education Secretary and meeting chairman, shared that the group learnt a good deal from inaugural Principal, Fr Plinio, about the beginning in January of the new school in Timor-Leste, Colégio de Santo Inácio de Loiola.

Ignatian themes in Pope’s address to students
18 Jun 2013

Ignatian themes in Pope’s address to students

by | posted in: Education | 0

Pope Francis drew on some Ignatian themes in his prepared text for his meeting with students from Jesuit schools on June 7.   His message was as much to Jesuit educators as to the students. 

The Pope spoke of interior freedom, of being men (and women) with and for others, of finding God in our daily life.  He wrote: “learn to read the signs of God in your life. He always speaks to us, also through the events of our time and of our everyday existence. It is up to us to listen to him.”