Ignite café, Jesuit Social Services’ new hospitality training space, officially opened on November 19 with a full house gathered for this and the formal launch of the Mount Druitt Hub community space. The guests included Tony Burke, the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Water, Population and Communities; the Member of Parliament for Chifley, Ed Husic; and Blacktown Mayor Alan Pendleton.
Abaca, coffee and rubber are three very different crops that can make a difference to the indigenous communities in Mindanao – both economically and socially.
In October, 30 youth from Upper Pulangi, Bukidnon in northern Mindanao spent 10 days learning about these crops, how to produce them and how to do so with a sense of environmental stewardship. Jesuit research institute Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) conducted the training, in partnership with the Malaybalay City Agriculture Office and the Fibre Industry Development Authority.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has conferred the rank and title of National Scientist on Fr Bienvenido Nebres SJ, for his outstanding contributions to science and mathematics education and social reform. The title of national scientist is considered the highest honour given to a scientist in the country.
President Aquino paid tribute to Fr Nebres, who was president of Ateneo de Manila University from April 1993 to May 2011, in a ceremony in Malacañang, citing his achievements as “educator, mathematician, mentor and administrator.”
Refugees and asylum seekers now have the opportunity to get a degree in European universities in 2012 with the launch of applications to the AREAS scholarship on November 1.
The Academic Relations between Asia and Europe (AREAS) is a mobility and scholarship project financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 – Strand 1 programme.
“AREAS want to ensure that vulnerable populations under Target 3 category are well-served,” said Project Coordinator Bianca Buttiglione.
An online programme that provides refugees on the Thai-Burma border with the opportunity to study for a university degree is the subject of a chapter in a new book called Ethnicity and Race. The programme is the brainchild of the Refugee Tertiary Education Committee (RTEC), which was formed by Fr Michael Smith SJ from the Australian Province.
Spirituality is a vital part of campus life at Kolese De Britto in Jogjakarta, and the health of the spiritual life of the Kolese De Britto family is the main focus of its Campus Ministry.
So, when Fr Robert Rimmin SJ was assigned to work in the Campus Ministry in August, he asked himself “How do we give and share our Ignatian heritage to the member of Kolese De Britto family?”
He began by learning from others, spending three months in Pymble, Sydney to learn how to give and share Ignatian spirituality with different groups of people.
Videos from The Ricci Legacy Symposium held in Hong Kong in December 2010 are now available online.
The four-day symposium on inculturation was collaboration between Xavier House Spiritual Formation Centre in Hong Kong and Georgetown University in the United States. The 300 participants – about 100 from mainland China – heard 10 international experts, including Georgetown’s Fr Howard Gray, SJ, reflect on cultural adaptation of the Gospel and Ignatian Spirituality.
Jesuits need to be “real bridges between the young and the Church”, said Father General Adolfo Nicolás in a letter to the Society written as a synthesis of the ex-officio 2011 letters.
The ex-officio letters are the annual letters from every Province on a subject which Father General indicates each year. Last year, he asked for information about Jesuit work for youth.
Fr Pedro Walpole SJ and Fr James Reuter SJ provide the narration for a mini-documentary that provides a quick 14-minute tour of the universe. They describe in simple terms how the Big Bang really occurred and the discovery of neutrinos, galactic super-clusters, cosmic voids, and dark galaxies. Dramatic Hubble space photos are also featured.
The new President of President of Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Fr Roberto “Bobby” Yap SJ began his term with a strong message regarding man’s need to reconcile with recreation.
In his Inaugural Address on August 15, Fr Bobby declared that “care for the environment is certainly one of the most crucial and most challenging” frontiers a university can strive to reach, and announced two environmental stewardship projects he will focus on – making the campus green and adapting to climate change.