Jesuits from different parts of the world gathered in Cambodia recently to dialogue with Buddhist monks, engaging them on three levels – academic, spiritual and practical. This holistic approach to inter-religious dialogue is one that has prevailed in the regular Christian-Buddhist Workshop of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific for many years.
Landing in Siem Seap on the second leg of his first trip to Asia Pacific, Fr General Arturo Sosa quickly found himself in completely different setting. From Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country with about 350 Jesuits and many institutions and collaborators, he was now in a largely Buddhist country, with a small cohort of 26 Jesuits working with a modest number of collaborators.
Fr Arturo Sosa SJ kicked off his first official trip to Asia Pacific as Superior General of the Society of Jesus with a visit to the world’s most populous Muslim nation – Indonesia. Fr Sosa, who spent most of his three-day visit from July 11 to 13 in Yogyakarta, stressed that he was there “to learn and not to teach”.
Jesuits in two Jesuit Conferences have agreed to collaborate on a research project to promote better understanding and dialogue among Muslims and Christians in Asia. The 10 Jesuits from the Conferences of Asia Pacific and South Asia came to this decision during the meeting of the Jesuits among Muslims in Asia (JAMIA) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from December 26 to 30, 2016.
Religious extremism has been on the rise in Indonesia. Recently, Muslim hardliners have been staging massive protests in Jakarta demanding the arrest of the city’s governor, a Christian standing for re-election, for allegedly insulting the Koran. These protests can be viewed in part as a test of religious tolerance for Indonesia, a land of diverse cultures and religious plurality. In this context, dialogue is all the more important, and here Fr Franz Magnis-Suseno, an 80-year old Jesuit missionary, excels.
Indonesian scholastic Tiro Daenuwy SJ shares what he learnt from his immersion experience in an Islamic boarding house in Garut, West Java, Indonesia. The five-day immersion held from July 29 to August 2 is a vital part of the Asia Pacific Theological Encounter Programme, a formation programme in contextual theology with a focus on Islam that is conducted annually by the Jesuits in Indonesia. Part 2.
Indonesian scholastic Tiro Daenuwy SJ shares what he learnt from his immersion experience in an Islamic boarding house in Garut, West Java, Indonesia. The five-day immersion held from July 29 to August 2 is a vital part of the Asia Pacific Theological Encounter Programme, a formation programme in contextual theology with a focus on Islam that is conducted annually by the Jesuits in Indonesia. Part 1.
One might have thought they would be exhausted after two long days of immersion, talks and group work, but the third and final day of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) sustainability conference saw ideas coming fast and furious on how sustainability in Asia Pacific can be increased. A bright flame had been lit in the approximately 140 participants from across Asia Pacific.
Indonesian Jesuit scholastic Advent Novianto reflects on his experience of the East Asian Theological Encounter Programme, a Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific formation programme that provides an opportunity to experience Buddhism in the context of theology in Asia.
A group of 17 consisting of 10 Jesuit scholastics, one priest, five Religious sisters and one lay woman came together recently to learn, re-learn and unlearn with our Indigenous sisters and brothers in Tarlac, Philippines. Their two-week immersion was part of the Asia Pacific Contextual Theology for Engagement Programme (ACOTEP) planned for students of the Loyola School of Theology but Religious sisters and lay students of the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies and Institute for Consecrated Life in Asia were invited to participate.