Today, 17 October, marks the 28th death anniversary of Richard “Richie” Fernando SJ, the Filipino scholastic who died from a grenade blast in Cambodia. He was only 26 when he gave up his life completely for others. I am 26 … Continued
Let us not forget the poor. This was the main message of Fr Totet Banaynal SJ to an international group of Jesuit regents and young priests gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from 29 to 30 August. Fr Banaynal recalled his … Continued
I have been living in Sereisophon, a small town in Cambodia, for nearly two years now. Although I was sent here as a missionary, I honestly had never had any prior experience of leading people to church to accept the … Continued
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.
Often, our mission is not only the aim of our efforts, but also the instrument of our own formation. We are formed for the mission, by the mission, in the mission. At least, that was how I felt about my regency in East Timor.
Filipino scholastic Richard Fernando SJ lived in Arrupe International Residence (AIR) from 1994 to 1995. He went to Cambodia for his Regency, and died in Banteay Prieb at the age of 26 while trying to prevent a student from releasing a grenade at the vocational institute. As AIR celebrates its Silver Jubilee, we remember one of the house’s martyrs.
Australian scholastic Andy Nguyen SJ is putting his training as an architect to good use in Timor-Leste, where he is doing the second year of the Regency stage of his formation. He is coordinating the various Jesuit design and construction projects in the country. He shares this reflection of his experience since arriving in the country in April this year.
Timorese Scholastic Edgerio Martins SJ spent five years in India studying for his undergraduate degree in visual communication and graduate degree in philosophy at Loyola College, Chennai. He recently returned home for his Regency. He shares here some of the challenges he faced during his time in India and how he found beauty and strength in his struggle.
American Jesuit scholastic David Romero began his Regency in the Philippines, working with Casa Bayanihan and living in the Arrupe International Residence where the community comprises Jesuits of 15 nationalities. His year in AIR left him with a profound sense of gratitude to God for giving him and the others in the community the chance to share their lives together and for what he has learned from these relationships.
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.