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.

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.

Addressing the “bookends of rejection” in Australian history

Australian Jesuit Provincial Fr Brian McCoy has announced a project to bring together the Jesuits’ concerns for Indigenous Australians and asylum seekers, which he describes as “the bookends of rejection” in Australian history.

The first bookend, Fr McCoy said, is the arrival of the First Fleet of convicts and military from Britain in what is now Sydney in 1788.

Working with Vietnamese migrant workers in Japan to help their country

posted in: Migration, Province News, Social Justice | 0

Once a year, the lilt of the t’rung and the rise and fall of the sounds of the danbau transport audiences at a charity concert in Tokyo to the mountain regions of Vietnam. The performers are Vietnamese migrant workers in Japan, and this year’s concert featured a choir called “Cecilia”, that usually serves at the Vietnamese Sunday masses at St Ignatius Church next to the Jesuit Tokyo Social Center.

Learning in Myanmar about reconciliation and justice in natural resource management

“You name it – we have it. Jade, gold, gas, rivers, teak … But this nation is like a blind beggar begging with a golden plate.”  With these words, Charles Cardinal Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, set the stage for the four-day Social Apostolate meeting of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific.

The picture drawn by Cardinal Bo in his keynote address was eye-opening for many of the 38 delegates and it made clear the need for reconciliation and justice in natural resource management, the theme of the meeting.

A mass stole to celebrate Laudato si’

The Jesuit mission in Cambodia has designed a new mass stole to mark the second anniversary of the proclamation of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato si’ on June 18.  Intended for use by priests during Ordinary Time, the green stole is meant to integrate the spirit and teachings of Laudato si’ into the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

Three Jesuits awarded Timor-Leste’s highest honour

posted in: Province News, Social Justice | 0

The Government of Timor-Leste has conferred the country’s highest honour on three Jesuit priests.  Fr Tarcisius Dewanto SJ, Fr Karl Albrecht (Carolus Albrecht Karim Arbie) SJ and Fr Jaime Coelho SJ were awarded the Ordem de Timor Leste (Order of Timor-Leste), in two ceremonies held in May to recognise the contribution of priests, religious men and women and missionaries to the country’s struggle for peace and independence.