At Kanyintabin village, a community nestled on the bank of the vast Pyamalaw River, Jesuit Scholastic Cyril Nay Myo Htet, better known as Phocho, sat down with a group of farmers on a hot December afternoon, a mug of sweetened instant coffee in his hand. This was the time of the year when they harvested the yields of their toil and sweat.
A multitude from the remotest edges of Myanmar converged on Yangon to celebrate 500 years of Christianity in the country. According to Fr Chinnappan Amalraj SJ, Delegate for the Jesuit Myanmar Mission, they occupied all the empty spaces in and around the churches, halls, even Hindu temples.
Fr Joseph Aik Maung SJ, who was ordained in May, led one group of the Kachins who came from the northernmost dioceses. Fr Aik Maung is one of only three Myanmar priests in the Society of Jesus.
The recent Jesuit Companions in Indigenous Ministry meeting in Myanmar provided its participants with fresh opportunities to reflect on their own contexts. There are 135 ethnic communities in Myanmar, who constitute one third of the country’s population of 56 million. The largest minority groups are the Shan (9%), the Karen (7%), and the rest combined constitute less than 5 % of the population.
Solid formation of Jesuits is critical for the Society of Jesus to effectively carry out of its mission. It was with this uppermost in mind that 20 Jesuits came together in the annual JCAP Formators’ Circle meeting held in Singapore from June 27 to 30. The Jesuits were mainly Formation Delegates of the provinces, regions and missions within the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific as well as rectors of colleges and other key personnel in the area of formation.
St Aloysius Gonzaga English Language Institute (SAG) marked a major milestone on July 5, with the granting of its first diplomas in education to 22 students who had successfully completed its three-year full-time Integrated Program. The graduating students received their diplomas from principal guest Bishop Basilio Athai of the Archdiocese of Taunggyi and Fr Mark Raper SJ, Major Superior of the Jesuits in Myanmar.
In the mathematics of synergy, 1 plus 1 does not equal 2, but 3 or more. The sum total of the experience and practical know-how of the group is greater than just the added up experience and contributions of the individuals. This was the case at the recent Development Officers meeting, which brought together representatives from Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Timor Leste, and Australia with Karen Goh from JCAP and Fr Jorge Serrano SJ from the Curia in Rome joining as resource persons.
The recent ordinations of Titus Tin Maung SJ and Joseph Aik Maung SJ were moments of joy and unity for the hard pressed ethnic communities that claim them as their own. They were also cause for celebration for the Society of Jesus as the two new priests are only the second and third Jesuit priests from Myanmar.
How can young Jesuits prepare themselves for future mission? How can they develop leadership and management skills? To begin to address this concern, the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific organized, in collaboration with the Ateneo Centre for Organization Research and Development (CORD), an Essential Management workshop for scholastics.
Having made communication one of the Province’s priority missions, the Jesuit Vietnam Province has been sending scholastics to media outlets across the world for the Regency stage of their formation, during which they work for two or more years in a ministry. Stephen Tran Thien Kinh SJ and Anthony Nguyen Van Loi SJ are two of these Vietnamese scholastics. They were assigned to Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), the leading independent Catholic news source in Asia, where they hope to acquire skills in media that will prepare them for ministry in their Province.
As Myanmar emerges from decades of military dictatorship, the scramble is on among young Burmese to educate themselves so that they might take advantage of the economic growth that is already transforming the country.
Myint Myint Maw is acutely aware of the advantages that education can bring: she was one of the few children lucky enough to complete their high school education in the village of Popa near the ancient, pagoda-dotted city of Bagan; and she emerged from university a few years later with an engineering degree.