It was a time of sharing but also an experience of a very real migration issue in the Philippines. As part of their annual meeting, the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) Migration Network travelled from Manila to Marawi where … Continued
The urgency of saving the planet from the greed of its human inhabitants cannot be emphasised enough. The Catholic Church has joined ranks with secular authorities in calling for immediate actions. In August 2016 the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific … Continued
The Jesuit Social Center Migrant Desk in Tokyo is discussing ways to collaborate with the Vietnam Jesuit Province, after seeing a sharp increase in the number of Vietnamese workers entering Japan under the guise of trainees. Within the last three … Continued
Students of Sophia University and the four Jesuit high schools in Japan had the rare opportunity to speak with Pope Francis via a live television hook-up between the Vatican and Japan. Speaking in Spanish, the Pope answered eight questions chosen … Continued
Archbishop Peter Takeo Okada of Tokyo ordained three Jesuits to the priesthood on September 23. The new priests are Fr Aloysius Ōnishi Takao SJ, Fr Joseph Nguyễn Thanh Nhã SJ and Fr John Baptist Phan Ðức Ðịnh SJ. Fr Aloysius … Continued
Once a year, the lilt of the t’rung and the rise and fall of the sounds of the danbau transport audiences at a charity concert in Tokyo to the mountain regions of Vietnam. The performers are Vietnamese migrant workers in Japan, and this year’s concert featured a choir called “Cecilia”, that usually serves at the Vietnamese Sunday masses at St Ignatius Church next to the Jesuit Tokyo Social Center.
Ignatian educators from four countries in Asia Pacific recently gathered in the Philippines to learn how to apply communal discernment as an added dimension to the decision making process in their schools.
The word “discernment” has become all the rage within Jesuit circles following the 36th General Congregation. Fr General Arturo Sosa has even appointed a special counsellor to oversee the process of discernment and apostolic planning in the Society. So it was fitting that the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific’s (JCAP) migration network examined the journey so far and charted a new course at its fourth annual meeting held in Tokyo from March 23 to 26. A new plan for the future was called for.
Gratitude 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.
