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.
The album produced by the Jesuit Music Ministry (JMM) for the Philippine Papal Visit made it to the top 10 of the Original Pinoy Music (OPM) charts in January. This is the first time a JMM album has reached the top 10. “Mercy and Compassion: Songs for Pope Francis” landed in the second spot of the OPM list and in the third spot of the Overall best-selling albums for the fourth week of January.
A copy of the album was presented to Pope Francis when he met with Jesuits in the Philippines on January 16.
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”.
The Australian Jesuits’ Eureka Street and eRenlai published by Jesuit-run Taipei-Ricci Institute are part of a major Catholic media initiative launched recently. Their content will be featured, along with that of three other Catholic publications, in Global Pulse, an online paid subscription magazine conceived by UCAN Executive Director Fr Michael Kelly SJ and his team.
Jesuit Communications in the Philippines is planning its most ambitious project – a full-length feature film on the life of St Ignatius, to be titled “Ignacio: The First Jesuit”. A total of US$675,000 is needed for the project.
It is hoping to raise US$140,000 through a worldwide crowdfunding campaign that was launched on the feast of St Ignatius and closes on August 30.
Being able to adapt to new technologies and seize opportunities when they arise are the keys to a successful media organisation, delegates at the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) Social Communications meeting in Taiwan heard last month.
“Media comes from grabbing opportunities,” said Director of Kuangchi Program Service (KPS) Fr Jerry Martinson SJ, in his presentation to delegates on the first day of the meeting, which was hosted by KPS, the Jesuit production centre in Taiwan.
A documentary produced by Jesuit Communications Foundation (JesCom) in the Philippines was the only Asian finalist out of 74 nominees around the world for Best Documentary Film at the XXIX International Catholic Film and Multimedia Festival in Niempokalanow in Teresin, Poland.
Having made communication one of the Province’s priority missions, the Jesuit Vietnam Province has been sending scholastics to media outlets across the world for the Regency stage of their formation, during which they work for two or more years in a ministry. Stephen Tran Thien Kinh SJ and Anthony Nguyen Van Loi SJ are two of these Vietnamese scholastics. They were assigned to Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), the leading independent Catholic news source in Asia, where they hope to acquire skills in media that will prepare them for ministry in their Province.
With its sprinkling of graffiti and grey, decades-old façade, the head office of Kuangchi Program Service (KPS) looks anything but the home of a pioneer. Yet by religious broadcasting standards, this Jesuit television studio in central Taipei – now 56 years old – remains light years ahead of the pack when it comes to gaining entry to the world’s most populous nation. KPS takes a softly-softly approach with China, and it’s about to do so again.
The British Jesuit Provincial, Fr Dermot Preston SJ, recently delivered a lecture as part of the Faith Matters series in Westminster Cathedral in London.