What does it mean to serve the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised? For starters, it means more than providing them with services. It also means more than giving handouts – monetary or in kind. It means more than helping to give the poor a voice.
Jesuit schools in Asia Pacific are committed to growing green campuses in response to the Society’s growing ecological concern. As a group, the members of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Asia Pacific (AJCU-AP) recognise the need to develop ways to reduce consumption of waste material and to find a means to recycle them. They deem it essential to lessen the consumption of energy, paper and water, and instead make use of clean energy to minimise the emission of greenhouse gases.
Seven Jesuits were ordained to the priesthood in Thu Duc, Hồ Chí Minh City on Saturday, August 20, 2015.
Peter Nguyễn Xuân Anh SJ, Joseph Phạm Đình Cư SJ, Anthony Nguyễn Hoàng Dũng SJ, Matthias Nguyễn Kim Đoàn SJ, Francis Javier Nguyễn Thanh Hùng SJ, Peter Đào Kim Sơn SJ, and Paul Nguyễn Thái Sơn SJ received the sacrament of Holy Orders from Bishop Stephen Tri Bửu Thiên of the Cần Thơ Diocese in a ceremony concelebrated by Vietnamese Jesuit Provincial Fr Joseph Phạm Thanh Liêm SJ and more than 120 local and visiting priests, including other Jesuits.
Dear friends,
At last week’s assembly of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific the major superiors reflected on Laudato si’ and issued a declaration that seeks to animate a lively response in Asia Pacific. We urge all Jesuits in our Conference, our colleagues, and all those we seek to serve, to make a thoughtful and generous response to Pope Francis’ plea to reconcile with creation, which is one of our apostolic priorities.
Delegates from across Asia Pacific gathered in Melbourne for a three-day meeting recently, sharing experiences and building bridges between the diverse social communication works in the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific.
Timorese Scholastic Edgerio Martins SJ spent five years in India studying for his undergraduate degree in visual communication and graduate degree in philosophy at Loyola College, Chennai. He recently returned home for his Regency. He shares here some of the challenges he faced during his time in India and how he found beauty and strength in his struggle.
As Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence this year, a Jesuit from the Malaysia-Singapore Region of the Society of Jesus has written a mass for the anniversary. Fr Mark Aloysius SJ wrote the Mass of Freedom with Corrine May, a Singapore singer-songwriter who is perhaps best known among Christians for her song Five Loaves and Two Fishes.
Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer who has won multiple awards for his film soundtracks, including The Mission, debuted the first mass he has written on June 10 at the Church of the Gesù, the main church of the Society in Rome.
Named “Missa Papae Francisci” in honour of the first Jesuit pope, Morricone composed it, at the request of the Jesuits, to mark the 200th anniversary (1814 to 2014) of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus. The mass was to have debuted on the actual bicentenary date but this was postponed when Morricone fell ill.
American Jesuit scholastic David Romero began his Regency in the Philippines, working with Casa Bayanihan and living in the Arrupe International Residence where the community comprises Jesuits of 15 nationalities. His year in AIR left him with a profound sense of gratitude to God for giving him and the others in the community the chance to share their lives together and for what he has learned from these relationships.
The Loyola School of Theology (LST) in Manila recently announced its partnership with the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in offering one of its graduate programs in pastoral ministry beginning in August 2015.