The Lekima typhoon on October 3 severely destroyed the center of Vietnam, especially Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Sơn La, Quang Binh, Ha Tĩnh, and Nghe An. Damage was initially estimated to be over USD60 million. About 86 people died. Vietnamese Jesuits organized a campaign to provide relief to the victims. Fr Tam and Sch Thong are collaborating with the bishops of Thanh Hoa and Vinh dioceses to provide the victims food and support in rebuilding their lives.
Fr Paul Dass (MAS) has been assigned to the migrant and Bahasa ministries in the Melaka-Johor Diocese. He continues to be the Assistancy’s secretary for Social Apostolate, but the Conference is now actively looking for his substitute.
From the 8-18 February 2007, Fr David Holdcroft (Country Director, JRS Australia) and Fr Bernard Arputhasamy (Regional Director, JRS Asia-Pacific) visited the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga, Papua New Guinea. The Diocese of Daru-Kiunga is in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Bishop of the Diocese, Gilles Cote, SMM, invited JRS to consider assisting him in the service of refugees in the Western Province, sharing the border with West Papua. There are about 10,000 West Papuan refugees in here.
On December 22 to January 3, the 10th Scholastics and Brothers-in-formation Circle (SBC) Meeting was held at the Good Shepherd Catholic Seminary in Melaka, Malaysia. The theme of the meeting was “Migration, Urbanization: Our Vision, Passion, and Compassion in the Jubilee Year of the First Companions”.
Monday 29 May 2006. Greetings from Yogya in agony. Most of the worst devastation occurred south of the city while our Jesuit residence is located on the north side. Our newly constructed house was able to handle the severe shaking and there was very little damage to our building, thank God. The nearby new campus has had some damage and we are awaiting advice on whether some of the buildings can be entered.
Wedi, Gantiwarno and Bayat have been "totally forgotten" by rescue teams and by the solidarity of fellow citizens and the news media.
A quite strong earthquake, registering as high as 5.9 in the Richter scale, rocked Yogyakarta and the surrounding small villages in the eastern part of Yogya early Saturday morning at 6 a.m.
The casualties number more than 5000 dead, and around 15.000 buildings are damaged. Our Jesuit school, de Britto College in Yogyakarta, and the Jesuit Parish, St. Antonius Kotabaru, are severely affected. The roofs of some buildings in the school compound have collapsed. The church is still standing, but its broken walls make it unsafe for further services.
Fr. Paul Dass, JCEAO Coordinator of the Social Apostolate Secretariat, and lay partner Margaret Martinez, attended the Meeting of Assistancy Coordinators held in Rome May 15 – 21, 2006. Two main items on the agenda were: Reflections with the Commission on Social Justice – to review Decree 3 of GC 34 and prepare specific recommendations for GC 35, and Reflections and sharing on Jesuit – Lay Partnership. For the latter, Fr. Paul Dass sent out questionnaires to Jesuits and their lay partners in the Social Apostolate.