Communicators from across the Asia Pacific region had a first-hand look earlier this month at the vital role the Jesuit film production studio, Casa de Produção Audiovisual (CPA), is playing in telling the story of one of the world’s newest nations within the country. Twice a week, CPA produces Tetum language programs that appear on prime time television in the country, each reflecting on East Timorese culture and history.
In late June, Singapore suffered from the worst ever haze in its history. The haze came from forest fires in Sumatra, across the Malacca Strait. A row broke out between some government officials in Singapore and Indonesia.
A year after its maiden full-length film, SOEGIJA, premiered to widespread acclaim in Indonesia. Puskat Pictures is busy with its second film, “Di Tepian Sungai Elo” (At the edge of the River Elo). The new film is about the boarding school run by Franciscan nuns in Mendut, Magelang, Indonesia from 1908 to 1943, and the impact of its alumnae, many of who become prominent figures and played important roles in the Church and nation.
There was much delight at the recent JCAP Education meeting in two significant developments.
Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ, JCAP Education Secretary and meeting chairman, shared that the group learnt a good deal from inaugural Principal, Fr Plinio, about the beginning in January of the new school in Timor-Leste, Colégio de Santo Inácio de Loiola.
On World Refugee Day in 2013, JRS Asia Pacific calls for renewed hospitality by host governments towards refugees and asylum seekers in order to respect refugee rights to sanctuary, sustenance, and education.
Jesuits in Southeast Asia will be taking a more active role in the fight against human trafficking, which Pope Francis recently called “a despicable activity, a disgrace for our societies, which describe themselves as civilized”.
“To be man of the Spiritual Exercises and of the Constitutions” is the grace asked by those participating in the Cardoner Week, a new on-going formation programme in the Indonesian Province.
The Province members of batches 1963 to 1999 (the year they joined the Society of Jesus) participate in this Monday to Friday programme to better understand their lives in the dynamic of St Ignatius’ life, to practice more creatively the Spiritual Exercises, and to be personally more familiar with the Jesuit Constitutions and related documents.
The torrential rain that hit the Indonesian capital and its surrounding areas for two consecutive days (January 16 and 17) caused massive flooding in Jakarta, Bekasi and Tangerang. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 32 people have died and 33,502 people have been displaced.
The Jesuit Conference Asia Pacific (JCAP) continues to seek venues to strengthen reflection, and network through participation in formation programmes, and institutional and province reviews. In Asia Pacific, there are continuous challenges of social and environmental injustice, limited basic education for the poor, and the needed revision of values in a culture of consumerism.
Reconciliation with Creation is a priority for the Society of Jesus and a key concern of the Indonesian Province. Scholastic Billy Aryo Nugroho SJ reports on a Go Green course that was conducted for Jesuit scholastics in Jakarta.