Xavier University undergraduate Mary Joy Conquilla never dreamt that she would ever build a house as a gift, but she recently did just that in a Jesuit education programme conceived to encourage students to apply Ignatian pedagogy in their everyday lives.
The Jesuits in the Philippines have called for support for the people affected by the recent standoff between the Philippines government and a Muslim separatist group in Mindanao. In a letter dated September 13, Philippine Provincial Fr Antonio Moreno SJ said, “I strongly appeal to our Jesuit communities, ministries and partners in apostolates to pray for peace, perhaps organizing or joining prayer assemblies, initiating or participating in discussion groups and inter- faith initiatives that promote solidarity.”
Isaías Caldas knows the value of a good education. The Jesuit scholastic grew up in Timor Leste and was one of a privileged few who attended St Joseph College, a Jesuit-run senior high school. But most of his peers had no such luck: their country’s education system had been rendered broken and ineffective by decades of Indonesian occupation and centuries of Portuguese colonisation; their parents were eking out a living in a country on the cusp of independence – surviving from one day to the next took precedence over planning for their children’s future.
After his visit to Lampedusa, Pope Francis again made a call in favour of welcoming refugees at a visit to the soup kitchen of Centro Astalli (Jesuit Refugee Service Italy).
Refugees endure terrible journeys fleeing violence and conflict in their countries of origin in the hope they will be able to offer a better life to their children, the Pope told those gathered in the Chiesa del Gesù, a Jesuit church in the centre of Rome where the headquarters of JRS Italy is located.
Since several days Manila is gripped by Typhoon Maring (Trami), resulting in widespread displacement and hardship. The help given by the Jesuit-led Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan to many families made homeless by flooding reminds me of a story, told reputedly by the Hindu philosopher Radhakrishnan.
Sogang University undergraduate Sol Jee Ahn was at MAGIS and World Youth Day 2013 with a group of 27 pilgrims from Korea. She shares with us how MAGIS helped her feel closer to God and loved as a child of God.
This is Fr John J (Jack) Carroll’s 70th year as a Jesuit. At 89, he has spent most of his priesthood in the Philippines, where he was assigned just three years after entering the New York Province in 1943. The Philippines was then a mission of the New York Province. Fr Jack says, “I saw my life’s work here.” When he took his final vows in 1960, it was as a member of the Philippine Province.
It was his experience as an ethnic minority in Thailand that prompted JRS Asia Pacific staff member Sanan to devote his life to helping Burmese refugees and migrants who had fled their homeland and come to settle across the border in the town of Mae Sot. As a member of the Thai-Karen group, Sanan knows what it is like to be marginalised: the equal rights he shares with his compatriots have not always been fully respected in practice, he says.
In the early hours of June 18, 73 Cambodians, a mix of students from the Arrupe Welcoming Centre for the disabled and St Joseph’s Parish Tahen, boarded a plane to Singapore for a two week cultural dance tour. A mixture of excitement and anticipation flowed through the aircraft, as teachers and support staff tried to complete the Singapore immigration documents before landing. The Battambang Arrupe Tahen Dance Troupe had been invited to Singapore to perform at the CHARIS humanitarian forum on June 22.
The Jesuits in Timor-Leste have established a new organisation called Jesuit Social Services to coordinate and expand its work in a country still struggling to establish itself following decades of occupation by Indonesia and centuries of colonisation by the Portuguese. The organisation is a natural successor of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), which was established in Timor-Leste in 2006 following a period of intense internal conflict and displacement.