Fr John Carroll SJ: Requiescat in pace
Fr John Carroll SJ, founder of the Institute on Church and Social Issues in the Philippines which was later renamed after him, died in the afternoon of July 17, 2014. He was 90 years old.
Creating a JCAP migration network
A network on migration has been formed within the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific, comprising Jesuit institutions working on the issue – Tokyo Migrant Desk in Japan, Yiutsari in Korea, Rerum Novarum Centre in Taiwan, UGAT Foundation in the Philippines, Sahabat Insan in Indonesia, JRS Asia Pacific, and Jesuit Social Services Australia.
Transformative education and social engagement have great synergy
How we manage our natural resources on this planet, and do so in an inclusive way, is the challenge of present and coming generations. A three-day conference on Transformative Land and Water Governance held in the Philippines in May sought to address this challenge.
Syria: daily heroism witnessed by Caritas Switzerland
On June 19, Jesuit Refugee Service Syria was honoured with the 2014 Prix Caritas award in a ceremony in Lucerne, Switzerland. Nawras Sammour SJ, JRS Middle East North Africa Director, received the award on behalf of JRS Syria.
The award honours JRS for its “tireless and courageous commitment for the benefit of the persecuted and suffering people in Syria. For bearing witness in the form of humanitarian aid, standing by people in need irrespective of their religious and ethnic affiliations”.
On our mission and new initiatives
Happy Feast of the Ascension of our Lord!
In today’s Gospel from Matthew, our Lord sends his disciples to the ends of the earth with a mission of love and service. Within their lifetime those disciples, despite their simple backgrounds, had overcome all obstacles to tell their story and to share their dramatic message of conversion with peoples at the very edges of the known world. What courage and initiative they showed, strengthened by his parting words – “know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time”.
Planting trees to build bridges and peace
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 Lombardi on refugees: Pope Francis shows us the way
Amongst those present for the publication of the 2014 Centro Astalli Annual report in Rome, was the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ.
The event took place as yet another rescue effort by the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean lent assistance to an overcrowded boat in difficulty carrying some 200 people, many of whom women and children. Amongst them, at least one person has reportedly died.
Remembering Fr Frans Van der Lugt SJ, who was killed in Syria
On the morning of April 7, 2014, Dutch Jesuit Fr Frans Van der Lugt was beaten by armed men and killed with two bullets to the head in Syria. Fr Frans had worked in Syria since 1966 and, despite the dangers, insisted on remaining in the city of Homs in solidarity with the people who could not leave the city. “I don’t see Muslims or Christians,” he said a couple of months before his death. “I see, above all, human beings.”
Fr Frans worked hard to bring Syrians of different backgrounds together and encourage dialogue between them; his favourite word had been “forward.”
A Jesuit carbon offset programme in Cambodia
The Jesuits in Cambodia have initiated a carbon offset programme in conjunction with the modest seedling nursery set up in Banteay Prieb, the Jesuit-run vocational school for people with disabilities, in late 2012. Primarily intended for Jesuits within the country, volunteers and visiting friends, the carbon offset programme provides an opportunity for air travellers to counterbalance the carbon emissions from their flights to or from Cambodia.
JSS establishes international Jesuit prison network
Jesuit Social Services (JSS) in Australia has formed an International Jesuit Prison Network (IJPN) to facilitate collaboration and support among Jesuit organisations and individuals around the world who are working in prisons or with former prisoners. Set up late last year, the network already has the support of all the Jesuit Conferences and various Jesuit organisations including Jesuit Networking, which has offered to assist in connecting interested people.