A dancing house. This is how many survivors of Typhoon Haiyan describe the substandard relocation houses that have been built. “If you shake them, they will move,” said one survivor. Four years after the disaster, building infrastructure that is able to withstand extreme weather conditions better remains a challenge in the Philippines.
The Jesuits have joined other Church voices in the Philippines in decrying the summary killings in the fight against drugs in the country. In a statement issued on August 24, Philippine Provincial Fr Antonio Moreno SJ said, “We cannot fight … Continued
“If you think climate change is bad, you’re not prepared to live in this world at all,” said Fr Pedro Walpole SJ in an interview recently, pointing out that climate change is but one of nine factors that can push the earth out of circulation. The other eight are ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, land-system change, biogeochemical flows, stratospheric ozone depletion, freshwater use, atmospheric aerosol loading and chemical pollution.
When Sana Mariam from Pakistan encountered the indigenous Aeta communities living in the mountain range of Central Luzon in the Philippines, these words from Genesis came to her mind, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
The Jesuits have begun working on the cause for the beatification of a Filipino Jesuit Scholastic, Richard “Richie” Fernando SJ, who died saving several people from a grenade blast in Cambodia in 1996.
In a letter to the Province on July 31, the Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, Philippine Provincial Fr Antonio Moreno SJ announced that Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, had endorsed his proposal to formally initiate the cause of Richie Fernando.
In 2014, the major superiors of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific decided that the youth had to be a priority for the Jesuit Conference. They saw a clear need to accompany young people in the way of St Ignatius, which is marked by cura personalis (personal care), discernment and magis (more).
Justin Claravall SJ, a scholastic from the California Jesuit Province, now part of Jesuits West, spent a year as a prison chaplain with the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service Foundation as part of the Regency stage of his formation. He shares this reflection.
Are leaders born or made? This question has long been debated by experts around the world. Some claim that some people are natural leaders while others insist that becoming a leader is a process. Whichever the case, it cannot be denied that there are no perfect leaders and that, whether you are a born leader or had to learn how to lead, there is always room to become better at leading. This is the premise that grounds the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific’s Leadership Development Programme (LDP) launched in December 2015.
Four Jesuits from the Philippine Province were ordained on June 3 at the Oratory of St Ignatius of Loyola, Loyola House of Studies. Fr Roseller L Atilano SJ, Fr Martin A Licup SJ, Fr Harvey C Mateo SJ and Fr Felipe B Yohan Jr SJ were ordained by His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila.
In recent months, Indigenous Peoples in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon in Mindanao have had the opportunity to voice their concerns regarding their rights in a series of gatherings organised by the Philippine Province Jesuit Indigenous Peoples (IP) Ministry, the local government of Cabanglasan, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and other civil society organisations.