A short film produced by Indonesian Jesuit production house SAV Puskat has won first prize in the 5-minute video category of the SIGNIS Asia Media Awards. “Dancing of Life” is about inter-religious dialogue in daily life as lived by the villagers of Demangan, Wedomartani and Sleman in Yogyakarta Province. The film’s central message is “Many faiths, but one mission: love each other”.
Deacon John Joseph Zhang SJ from the Chinese Province shares his experience of the East Asia Theological Encounter Programme (EATEP) 2014 held in Chiangmai, Thailand from April 28 to May 17.
The Loyola School of Theology (LST) in Manila has begun offering a theology programme through which students, especially Jesuit scholastics, can engage with Asian contexts.
The Jesuits in Cambodia are finding that planting trees is more than an act of reconciling with creation. Planting trees can foster peace and build bridges by bringing people of different cultures and beliefs together.
Fr General Adolfo Nicolás has called for a gathering of Provincials from around the world. The meeting will be held from January 18 to 25, 2015 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which is the world’s most populous Islamic country. The location provides a “unique opportunity to become aware of the challenges that interfaith dialogue presents to the Society in its service to the whole Church and to mankind,” said Fr Nicolás.
Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia marked World Interfaith Harmony Week with an interfaith event at Mindol Metta Karuna on February 8. The event gathered people of different faiths who want to work together for justice, peace and a development that sustains all especially the poorest and most excluded.
During the event, participants were asked to think about what they could do for a world of justice and peace, and make a promise by choosing one of the following and placing it in the Interfaith circle.
July 31 is the feast of St Ignatius Loyola, who died in 1556. Ignatius is known as the founder of the Society of Jesus but, as his feast day approaches, I am reminded that he founded the Society in concert with two others – Francis Xavier, who we in this Conference hold especially dear for he crossed the known world to Japan and reached the shores of China, and Peter Faber (Pierre Favre). The three – Ignatius, Francis and Peter – shared a room during their studies at the University of Paris, and co-founded the Society of Jesus.
A year after its maiden full-length film, SOEGIJA, premiered to widespread acclaim in Indonesia. Puskat Pictures is busy with its second film, “Di Tepian Sungai Elo” (At the edge of the River Elo). The new film is about the boarding school run by Franciscan nuns in Mendut, Magelang, Indonesia from 1908 to 1943, and the impact of its alumnae, many of who become prominent figures and played important roles in the Church and nation.
In June, a group of Jesuit scholastics and priests spent a week in a Islamic boarding school in East Java, as part of the Indonesian Province’s efforts against religious radicalism, one of three concerns the Province has made a priority. Scholastic Billy Aryo Nugroho SJ recounts his experience.
From June 17 to 23, 16 Jesuit scholastics and two priests lived in Islamic boarding school, pesantren in Indonesia. The pesantren was named “Tebu Ireng” and is located in Jombang, East Java.
A group of 20 – 19 Jesuits and a Protestant pastor – gathered in Tokyo in August to explore the links between Ignatian Spirituality and Buddhism in the third Buddhist Christian Dialogue Workshop. Held in Tokyo from August 14 to 16, the workshop was themed “Buddha and Ignatius”.
Dialogue with people of other faiths is particularly important for Jesuits working in Asia, which is home to several major religions such as Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism, and inter-religious dialogue is a major dimension of the Jesuit commitment to be companions of Jesus and servants of his mission.