Jesuit Communications in the Philippines is planning its most ambitious project – a full-length feature film on the life of St Ignatius, to be titled “Ignacio: The First Jesuit”. A total of US$675,000 is needed for the project.
It is hoping to raise US$140,000 through a worldwide crowdfunding campaign that was launched on the feast of St Ignatius and closes on August 30.
On August 23, 2014, family, relatives, friends, and Jesuits gathered at the Ateneo de Manila University’s Church of the Gesu to celebrate the diaconal ordination of nine Jesuits, one from the Vietnamese Province (Joseph Pham Din Cu), five from the Korean Province (Seokbae Andrew An, Hyungsik Francis Jo, Do-hyun Paul Kim, Min Kim, Jaesang Jason Bonaventura Lee), and five from the Philippine Province (Ambrosio Faustino Flores, Alvin Dagooc Laput, Mark Peter Ledesma Lopez, Arnel Te Ong, Henry Cogal Ponce).
For Jesuit communities across the world, the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus on August 7, 2014, is not only an opportunity for celebration but also for reflection. French Jesuit Father Pierre de Charentenay SJ guided the Philippine Jesuit Province in a Province Recollection centred on the restoration earlier this year.
When Pope Francis canonized Pierre Favre (Peter Faber) last year on December 17, several Jesuits felt that a wrong had finally been made right. Pierre Favre, first companion and co-founder of the Society of Jesus, was for the longest time only “blessed” and Fr Roger Champoux SJ for one couldn’t understand why.
There is no institution so old that it has nothing left to learn – and the Catholic Church must commit to learning about and changing its practices in relation to ecological issues. This was the message from Colombian Jesuit Fr José Mesa, Secretary of Primary and Secondary Education at the Jesuit Curia in Rome and one of the keynote speakers at the JCAP Education Colloquium in Sydney.
Rommel Villanueva is one of the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines. A fisherman in Barangay Binudac in the island of Culion, his boat was destroyed by Haiyan, which was one of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded. With no boat, Rommel, 29, was dependent on other boat owners if he wanted to fish and provide for his wife and two young children. For months he had to look for space on a boat every day in order to fish, and if no boat owner would take him, then he was not able to fish that day.
Fr John Carroll SJ, founder of the Institute on Church and Social Issues in the Philippines which was later renamed after him, died in the afternoon of July 17, 2014. He was 90 years old.
When Fr William (Bill) McGarry SJ, 86, moved from the Jesuit Residence to the infirmary, he knew that this would most likely be his last assignment. When he was first asked by the Father Minister to consider the move, he was reluctant and asked for a day to think it through. Today, he resides at the Lucas Infirmary but continues his pastoral and formation work as a trusted companion, confessor and spiritual father to many.
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.
Being able to adapt to new technologies and seize opportunities when they arise are the keys to a successful media organisation, delegates at the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) Social Communications meeting in Taiwan heard last month.
“Media comes from grabbing opportunities,” said Director of Kuangchi Program Service (KPS) Fr Jerry Martinson SJ, in his presentation to delegates on the first day of the meeting, which was hosted by KPS, the Jesuit production centre in Taiwan.