It was announced this week that Fr Frank Brennan (ASL) will lead a public consultation on Australia’s opinion on human rights. The consultation will ultimately decide if Australia will have its own bill of rights. The announcement, made by Attorney-General Robert McClelland, came with high praise from many circles, including the legal profession and all sections of the media. (Source: Social Apostolate Headlines, December 2008)
Special congratulations to Sister Mary Denise Coghlan, AM, who was officially presented with the Order of Australia at a ceremony at the Australian Ambassador’s residence on Wednesday.
Australian ambassador Margaret Adamson presented the award on behalf of the Governor General of Australia to Sister Denise for “service to international humanitarian aid.”
The Ignatian Advocacy Workshop, held in El Escorial, Spain from November 10 – 16, was described as a success by Fr Fernando Franco, director of the Social Justice Secretariat. He said: "The fruits of the Workshop have gone beyond our expectations.
In Myanmar, 2.3 million people were affected by cyclone Nargis. Millions lost their shelter, especially the ‘squatters’ who did not have a land and occupied some of the unhealthy lands as their shelter base.
There were many others who lost their near and dear ones killed in the cyclone. Where the parents died, the children have aged overnight, thrust with the responsibility of surviving and supporting other siblings.
From May 26 to 31, the Assistancy coordinators of the Social Apostolate were gathered in Rome for their annual meeting.
After re-establishing itself in Dili, East Timor in October 2007, the Jesuit Refugee Service embarked on a journey to provide emergency community assistance to the internally displaced people (IDP) in Dili. It was decided to start small due to the instability of the political and security situation. JRS selected six camps for the displaced people hosted by the religious congregations/Catholic Church, namely, the Fransiscan’s Convent in Taibesi, the San Jose Jesuit High School, Canossian’ s Convent and the Minor Seminary all in Balide, and the Canossian’s and Salesian’s School in Comoro.
The office’s operations in Manila will be closed by the end of December 2008. Its services will continue to be rendered by the St. Alberto Hurtado Center for Pastoral and Social Service in Vietnam, with r Truong Thanh Tam (VIE) as the Director.
In his effort to gain knowledge of the social apostolates in the various units of the EAO Assistancy, Fr Denis Kim (KOR), EAO Social Apostolate Secretary, visited Japan last December 21 – 27. Fr Kim wrote, “The encounter… has become an inspiring refresh for my role as an Assistancy secretariat. Although I have heard that the Jesuit mission is mainly centered on education in Japan, my visit makes me realize that the Jesuit social apostolate is not weak in the Province.
Nine Jesuits, together with sixteen lay partners, attended the weeklong gathering of Jesuits working with indigenous peoples in Asia. It was held from October 29 – November 5 at the Dominican Retreat House, Shrine Hills, Matina, Davao City, Philippines. The Jesuit participants were Bro Dominic Tran Van Tan (VIE), Sch Francis Lim (MAS) and Frs Yves Nalet (CHN), Jojo M.
A consultation was held at the office of the JCEAO on November 16. Eight Jesuits participated: Frs Adolfo Nicolas (President), Danny Huang (Philippines Provincial), Roberto Yap (PHI), David Holdcroft (ASL), Tom Steinbugler (JCEAO Treasurer), Fernando Azpiroz (CHN), Pham Minh-Uoc (Socius), and the newly-appointed Secretary for Social Apostolate Fr Denis Kim (KOR).