Learning from the Experiment
Fr Benny Juliawan SJ, Social Apostolate Coordinator of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific, shares a reflection on the recent Networking for Justice meeting in Loyola, Spain.
Celebrating 25 years as an international house of formation
This year marks the 25th year of the establishment of Arrupe International Residence (AIR) as a formation house in Manila for Jesuit scholastics across Asia Pacific. The house was built in 1990 when Fr Daven Day SJ was President of what was then the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania. It grew from a felt need for a common Juniorate in this part of Asia and began as a house for philosophers, theologians and a couple of juniors.
General Congregation 36 begins
A Jesuit General Congregation is a rare event. This month, the 36th General Congregation to be held since the Society of Jesus was founded 475 years ago begins with the first meeting of Electors in the six Jesuit Conferences across the world. For the Jesuits in Asia Pacific, this meeting was held in Manila from October 19 to 22.
What can we expect of GC 36?
With General Congregation 36 commencing this month with meetings of Electors in their six respective Conferences, there is much curiosity about what a new Superior General will bring to the Society.
Recalibrating our response to the call of the Eternal King
Recently I was called to Rome for two meetings, the first was a two-week meeting of the Coetus Praevius (Preparatory Committee) for General Congregation 36, and immediately following that, the six Conference Presidents stayed on for our annual meeting with Fr General. The backdrop to our time in Rome could not have been more apt – Syrian refugees were arriving in Europe by the tens of thousands. What I heard from JRS Syria director, Fr Nawras Sammour, about the conditions in Aleppo, Homs and Damascus remains with me still today.
To be with, to think with, to act with, to pray with
What does it mean to serve the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised? For starters, it means more than providing them with services. It also means more than giving handouts – monetary or in kind. It means more than helping to give the poor a voice.
Jesuit universities boost green initiatives
Jesuit schools in Asia Pacific are committed to growing green campuses in response to the Society’s growing ecological concern. As a group, the members of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Asia Pacific (AJCU-AP) recognise the need to develop ways to reduce consumption of waste material and to find a means to recycle them. They deem it essential to lessen the consumption of energy, paper and water, and instead make use of clean energy to minimise the emission of greenhouse gases.
GC 36 – Responding to new calls and urgent needs
The Preparatory Commission (Coetus Praevius) for GC 36 met in Rome from Monday, August 31 to Saturday, September 12. The task of the group, which included Fr General Adolfo Nicolás SJ and the Conference Presidents, was to draw up an agenda for the upcoming General Congregation.
Postulates
The group examined the 146 postulates that had come in from all over the Society of Jesus. Topics included the renewal of our community and individual lives, our mission, and governance of the Society.
The Asia Pacific face of the promotion of justice
A black and white photograph caught the eye on entering the meeting room for this year’s Social Apostolate meeting in Kuala Lumpur. It showed six men, all Jesuits and all Caucasian, deep in thought. The photograph was taken sometime in 1971 when the Committee for the Development of Socio-Economic Life in Asia (SELA), the predecessor of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific social apostolate office, had a meeting.
My God becomes bigger and bigger
Taiwanese Scholastic Aloysius Hsu SJ shares his experience of Vipassana Meditation and the 2015 East Asia Theological Encounter Programme (EATEP) held from July 22 to August 17 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. EATEP is a programme of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific that provides Jesuits in formation with opportunities to deepen their dialogue with other faiths, particularly Buddhism, and to enrich their perspectives on theology in Asia.