Fr Pham Minh-Uoc (ASL), JCEAO Socius and Vice Superior of Theologians in Arrupe International Residence, and Fr Pham Van Ai (ASL), Vice Superior of Juniors in Arrupe, will take their final vows on April 21, to be received by Fr Mark Raper, at the 4:30pm Eucharist in the Chapel of the Holy Name, St Ignatius’ College, Athelstone, Australia.
It seems we just started a few days ago, and it is already time to think of departure. After the Christmas Ministries spent in the Mountain Province and in the coastal towns of Isabela Province, the Tertians spent the whole month of January for the Study of the Institute—difficult and challenging but rewarding work that confronts us both with the ideals set forth for us by Ignatius and with the realities of today’s world.
On January 06-07, the staff of the Arrupe International Residence met with Fr. Adolfo Nicolas (JPN), JCEAO President, at the Jansens Spirituality Center on the planning for the future of Arrupe International Residence.
On March 05, Sch. Roy Cenon Ragas (PHI) was appointed Coordinator of the Scholastics and Brothers-in-Formation Circle for the coming year. We are grateful to Sch. Alvin Ng Sze Syn (MAS) for successfully leading the group last year. And our thanks and prayers for Sch. Ragas for his availability in accepting this new responsibility.
The past holiday season was celebrated by the Arrupe community in several ways. For some, the Christmas season was a time for rest, while for others it was a busy season for many different reasons.
Before the Christmas break, some of our Philosopher brothers had to write a synthesis paper, in an attempt to answer in their own terms the question, “What is Philosophy?” While some of our brothers had to write several papers during the Christmas break as assignments.
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”.
On October 21, Fr Jim Meehan (PHI), departed for Chiang Mai, Thailand to attend a four-day meeting of the Asian Liturgy Forum. This forum brings together representatives of various local churches to discuss the progress of liturgical renewal throughout Southeast Asia. About fifty persons attended the meeting, including delegates from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand. After the meeting, Fr. Jim made his eight-day Annual Retreat at Seven Fountains, the Jesuit Retreat House in Chiang Mai.
The Jesuit Youth Commission of the Chinese Province is very happy to announce that the well-crafted documentary Life to the Full: The Jesuits of East Asia and Oceania, a production of JESCOM Foundation and Jesuit Conference Of East Asia and Oceania, is finally released in Chinese subtitles!
The content describes the apostolic works of the Jesuits of East Asia and Oceania. The program includes the following segments:
On October 28-29, the Secretaries of our Assistancy came together for a two-day meeting at JCEAO Office with Fr. Adolfo Nicolás. Frs Pham Minh-Uoc and Tom Steinbugler also joined them.
The first edition of the EATEP was held last July 27 – August 30, 2006. There were seven Jesuit scholastics in the program who are all in theological studies with varying degrees of previous exposure to other religions: Danang Bramasti (IDO), Anthony Cao Thang (VIE), Peter Do Quang Dung (VIE), Hiroshi Katayanagi (JPN), Joseph Ngo Viet Tan (VIE), Bei Witono (IDO), and Taiju Yamanaka (JPN). The participants had positive comments about the program. The Vietnamese profited from the exposure to another (Thai) culture and to Theravada Buddhism (in contrast to Hinayan Buddhism in Vietnam).