In 2014, the major superiors of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific decided that the youth had to be a priority for the Jesuit Conference. They saw a clear need to accompany young people in the way of St Ignatius, which is marked by cura personalis (personal care), discernment and magis (more).
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.
Are leaders born or made? This question has long been debated by experts around the world. Some claim that some people are natural leaders while others insist that becoming a leader is a process. Whichever the case, it cannot be denied that there are no perfect leaders and that, whether you are a born leader or had to learn how to lead, there is always room to become better at leading. This is the premise that grounds the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific’s Leadership Development Programme (LDP) launched in December 2015.
General Congregation 36 (GC 36) dominated Jesuit life during 2016. The theme, “Row into the deep”, was derived from a message of Pope Francis to the Society of Jesus in 2014, echoing Jesus’ call to his disciples to “put out into the deep”. In the Congregation logo, the IHS represents the Society’s boat in the Church; the waves are the troubled seas of our times into which Jesuits are invited to row with faith.
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4 FEBRUARY Opening of Instituto São João de Brito, the Jesuit teacher education institute in Timor-Leste 
New Regional Superior for the Jesuits in Timor-LesteFr General Arturo Sosa SJ has appointed Fr Joaquim Francisco da Silva Sarmento SJ as the new Regional Superior of the Jesuit Independent Region of Timor-Leste. He will take over from Fr Mark Raper SJ who has served as Acting Regional Superior for more than six years while concurrently serving as President of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. 
A gift of joy from GodGratitude and joy for the love of God recently inspired two young Jesuits to write a song. Deacon Soo Young Theodore Park SJ from Korea and Scholastic Jun-G Bargayo SJ from the Philippines say the song Kutafuta Mungu (“Finding God” in Swahili) was a gift for them as 2017 began. The inspiration to compose the song came the night after Soo Young’s diaconate ordination. 
Providing villagers with access to clean waterIn the two years since it was set up, Jesuit Social Service (JSS) in Timor-Leste has embarked on several projects to promote community development and empower the poor to become self-sufficient. Water and sanitation is one of four priority areas and a key project aims to provide communities with access to clean water. 
Building a community of Jesuit schools#sfxjcap2016. In October this hashtag began appearing in Instagram as students, faculty and staff of Jesuit schools in Asia Pacific posted photographs of themselves and their friends in front of the Educate Magis map in their schools. The photos were entries to the St Francis Xavier Global Network Instagram Competition. Educate Magis is an online community that connects educators from more than 2,000 Jesuit and Ignatian schools all over the world and the map shows the rich diversity and wide reach of the global network of Jesuit schools. 
Responding to ecological challenges in Asia PacificDrought and flooding are the two most significant ecological challenges in Asia Pacific, according to participants in the first Reconciling with Creation Reflection Workshop. According to the workshop report released in October, drought was foremost in the minds of the participants, named by 11 people from eight countries. Flooding was a close second, named by 10 participants from six countries. But these are just two of the host of ecological challeng |