No more dancing houses

A dancing house. This is how many survivors of Typhoon Haiyan describe the substandard relocation houses that have been built. “If you shake them, they will move,” said one survivor.  Four years after the disaster, building infrastructure that is able to withstand extreme weather conditions better remains a challenge in the Philippines.

Malaysian Jesuit ordained priest in Sabah

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Barely two weeks after a new Jesuit priest was ordained in Singapore, the Malaysia-Singapore Jesuit Region marked another red letter day on September 1 as Leslie Joseph Bingkasan SJ was ordained priest in St Catherine’s Church, Inanam, Sabah, Malaysia.

Archbishop John Wong of Kota Kinabalu Diocese presided at the ordination Mass with 18 concelebrants, including eight Jesuits. Some 500 people, including Fr Bingkasan’s family, relatives and friends witnessed the occasion.

A new Jesuit priest in Singapore

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The Jesuits in Singapore-Malaysia celebrated the ordination of Fr Jerome Leon SJ on August 19 in the Church of St Ignatius in Singapore. Archbishop William Goh celebrated the Mass and presided over the ceremonies. He reminded the new priest to “depend on the Lord” in his priestly ministries, saying, “in your imperfections and inadequacy, this is where people will see the glory of God”.

Fr Leon entered the Society of Jesus in 2007 at the age of 40. “I am what you might call a late vocation,” he said, “but I am also a ‘young’ Catholic, as I was baptised only in 2004.”

Putting the person back into the dynamic cycle of life

“If you think climate change is bad, you’re not prepared to live in this world at all,” said Fr Pedro Walpole SJ in an interview recently, pointing out that climate change is but one of nine factors that can push the earth out of circulation. The other eight are ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, land-system change, biogeochemical flows, stratospheric ozone depletion, freshwater use, atmospheric aerosol loading and chemical pollution.

New hymn evokes First Companions

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Two Australian Jesuits have composed a hymn about the first companions in Venice, an important image in the deliberations of General Congregation 36 and one that runs through Decree 1 (nn.4, 6, 7, 39).

As Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ has said in reflecting on the General Congregation, it is an image that “conveys beautifully” the reality that “life and mission are inseparable for those who choose to follow Jesus Christ in the Society of Jesus in the service of the Church”.