The Jesuit educational project in Timor Leste is well underway. The original plot of 7.1 hectares has been extended to 8.44 hectares with the purchase of an adjacent piece of land. A solid fence surrounds the property located in Kasait, in the village of Ulmera, 18 km from Dili. The time spent sourcing for water yielded excellent results that will ensure that Instituto de Educação Jesuíta has more than enough fresh water to meet its needs.
Education continues to be a priority for Jesuits in Asia Pacific, as the recent JCAP meeting of Province delegates for pre-secondary and secondary education revealed.
Several new initiatives in education are underway or proposed within the Conference.
French Jesuit Thierry Meynard SJ takes over as the International Director of The Beijing Center (TBC) from August 1, 2012. He will succeed Fr Roberto Ribeiro SJ, who is stepping down after completing his three-year term as international director.
Scholastic Sidelizio Pereira SJ shares with us a reflection on his regency spent in his home country of Timor Leste. Side did his regency in the Colégio de Saõ José, the secondary school set up and managed by the Jesuits for the diocese of Dili for 18 years. Although the school was transferred back to the diocese in December 2011, Side’s reflection on what is unique about Jesuit education is significant for Timor Leste as the Society intends to build an educational institution in the country for secondary level as well as the training of teachers.
The Society marks 450 years in Macau in 2012. On August 24, 1562, Frs Luís Fróis SJ and Giovanni Battista Del Monte SJ arrived in Macau to take up residence and embark on apostolic work. The two Portuguese Jesuits helped the two diocesan priests who were ministering to the 5,000 inhabitants of Macau, among whom were 600 Portuguese.
The Metta Karuna Reflection Centre provided a sacred space for reflection for Hindu, Muslim and Christian peace seekers from Pakistan and Indian Kashmir in March.
“Many said the time of reflection they spent in our inter-faith sacred space helped them crystallise their desires and arouse their imagination for a peaceful way forward,” said centre founder and director of Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia Sr Denise Coghlan RSM. “It was a special moment as Hindus, Muslims and Christians gathered around a very concrete and specific peace challenge in Kashmir.”
Jesuit Service Cambodia continues its Storybook Effect with its two latest books written by its authors Seap and Ponkhaka.
While he was in Australia in January, Fr General Adolfo Nicolás SJ responded to questions on vital areas for the Society in the country, including refugees, communications and social justice.
Refugees
How can we advance and expand the educational work that is being done to foster peace-building and reconciliation in post-conflict settings?
A Jesuit brother in Vietnam has highlighted several areas he feels the government should focus on in the coming years – education, corruption, legislation, ethnic minority groups and the environment.
Brother Anthony Ba SJ of the Jesuit-run Alberto Hurtado Center for Pastoral and Social Service in Ho Chi Minh City said this after completing a PESTLE analysis on Vietnam in 2011.
Xavier School was blessed with the unexpected gift of a 17th century painting on its 55th anniversary. The oil painting, The Madonna and Child in Glory with Saints Ignatius of Loyola and Xavier, is by Italian master Francesco de Rosa of the Baroque era.