Some 30 Jesuits from five continents gathered at Boston College in April for a three-day conference on networking within the Society. Also at the conference were lay people, who along with the Jesuits are from various levels of Jesuit governance and apostolic works.
The Society is now at a new stage brought about by a couple of converging factors – the demographic realities and how we can best serve the universal mission today.
Our numbers have been in decline for the last 40 years – from over 30,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 18,000 today. The steep declines in Europe and North America and consistent decline in Latin America have not been offset by the significant increase in South Asia and a small rise in Africa.
Two Jesuit organisations collaborating on eco-justice recently had the opportunity to learn from one of the world’s leading experts on managing the impact of climate change. At a meeting in Australia in March, Professor Ottmar Georg Edenhofer shared his insights on the impact of induced technological change on mitigation costs and mitigation strategies, as well as the design of instruments for climate change and energy policy with Julie Edwards, CEO of Jesuit Social Services (JSS) in Australia, and Iris Legal of Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) in the Philippines.
The Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro in northern Mindanao, Philippines, Antonio J Ledesma SJ, has called for environmental protection and good governance to be part of the post disaster response in Mindanao. He did so in his homily at the opening of a forum for Bishops and Diocesan Clergy of Mindanao on the challenges of Tropical Storm Washi for Mindanao in February.
Following the launch of A Profile of a Formed Jesuit in late 2011, Jesuit Houses, especially houses of formation, have been studying how they can incorporate it into their programmes. Arrupe International Residence (AIR) is one of these.
The 10 tertians in the Asia Pacific Tertianship completed their six-month tertianship in early March. One of them, Fr John Sullivan SJ, contributed this reflection on the experience.
Xavier School was blessed with the unexpected gift of a 17th century painting on its 55th anniversary. The oil painting, The Madonna and Child in Glory with Saints Ignatius of Loyola and Xavier, is by Italian master Francesco de Rosa of the Baroque era.
Almost two months after Tropical Storm Washi hit, the devastation it wreaked is “old news” for the media, but for the many people, the devastation it caused is very much a reality from which they are trying valiantly to recover.
Housing and the loss of income are major issues. In the villages of Ponod and Pantar, the villagers have found a way to derive an income from the debris.
British Jesuit scholastic Stefan Garcia was in the Philippines when Tropical Storm Washi struck, and witnessed the destruction it caused. Stefan is half-Filipino – his mother is English and his father is Filipino – and he grew up in Cebu.
He reflects on his recent visit home.