2016 at a glance
|
4 FEBRUARY Opening of Instituto São João de Brito, the Jesuit teacher education institute in Timor-Leste 
A mini-forest to offset the carbon footprint of GC 36Across the world from Rome, a mini-forest is growing to help offset the carbon footprint of the 36th General Congregation (GC 36). As the 215 delegates from 62 countries met in the aula of GC 36 last October, members of Jesuit Service Cambodia and Banteay Prieb, a Jesuit vocational school for persons with disabilities, planted 400 seedlings of native hardwood trees, including several locally endangered species, on one-hectare of land owned by the Jesuits near the school. 
Documents from GC 36 publishedThe documents from the 36th General Congregation (GC 36) of the Society of Jesus have been published. The 17 documents which include two formal decrees – one on Mission and the other on Governance – will be the basis of a discussion to be held this week by the JCAP Major Superiors and Directors and Secretaries of Works. They will review and reflect on GC 36 and its implications for the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific at the province level and on its Apostolic Plan 2014 to 2019.&n 
Three images from General Congregation 36It has been almost a fortnight since General Congregation 36 finished on November 12 and three images remain with me. 
General Congregation 36 concludesThe 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus concluded on November 12 with a Mass of Thanksgiving at St Ignatius Church, a parish run by the Society of Jesus in Rome. 
Global collaboration for global challengesCollaboration in the Society of Jesus can be understood in different ways. Often it refers to collaboration with others, with companions, with collaborators or—in general—with those with whom the Jesuits share their responsibility in mission. But in other instances, the Jesuits speak of the necessary collaboration between their own organisations and governance structures in order to respond to global issues that cannot be addressed at the local level. In this latter case, the reference is to interprovincial cooperation (GC 31, D.48) and international collaboration (GC 33, D.1). 
The General Council takes shape with elections and appointmentsOne month into General Congregation 36, the delegates have elected four Assistants ad Providentiam – Fr Fratern Masawe, Fr Vernon D’Cunha, Fr Douglas Marcouiller and Fr John Dardis. Fr Marcouiller was also elected as Admonitor to the Superior General. 
In conversation with Fr General Arturo Sosa SJWithin 48 hours of his election as the 31st Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr Arturo Sosa SJ sat down for an extensive interview with the GC36 media team in Rome. Having received 30 questions in advance, he faced the cameras on the afternoon of Sunday, October 16. 
Pope Francis visits GC 36Pope Francis joined the delegates of General Congregation 36 in the aula on October 24. There is a well-established tradition that on the occasion of a Jesuit General Congregation, the Holy Father meets with the delegates and this has happened as an audience in the rooms of the Vatican. This Jesuit Pope chose to go to the Jesuit Curia to meet his Jesuit brothers. He was greeted upon arrival by Father General Arturo Sosa and the superior of the Jesuit Roman Curia community Fr Joaquín Barrero and led to the aula where he joined the delegates for morning prayer. 
Fr Arturo Sosa from Venezuela is the new leader of the Society of JesusIt did not take the 36th General Congregation long. After celebrating Mass in the Church of the Holy Spirit early on Friday, October 14, the 212 electors were locked into the Aula to vote for the next Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Just before lunch, the first news came that the new Superior General is Fr Arturo Sosa Abascal from the Venezuela Jesuit Province. |