Go, set the world on fire! On January 3, 70 young people, set out to do just that in their home countries – Cambodia, Korea, Myanmar, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Indonesia – after nine days spent in the first Magis JCAP, held at Omah Petroek in Kaliurang Yogyakarta.
Loyola University Chicago and its Board of Trustees have approved the implementation of the Magis Scholarship Fund, a student-led initiative to support undocumented undergraduate students in the United States. The Board of Trustees finance committee voted unanimously earlier this month to approve the initiative, which will raise approximately USD 50,000 each academic year.
A group of prominent legal, human rights and social services organisations has urged Australia’s Attorneys-Generals to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.
The first Magis event for the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific begins in a month. On Boxing Day, youth from seven provinces and regions in the Conference will converge in Yogyakarta for the nine-day workshop. Organised by the newly formed JCAP Youth Ministry team, Magis JCAP will help encourage Ignatian Magis formation in Asia Pacific. It is patterned on the Magis formation programme that the Jesuits in Indonesia have been running for youth since 2008.
Although the Jesuits do not have any parishes, schools or universities in Vietnam, they have found a way to reach out to young Catholic students. In what they call their “pastoral ministry of/for students”, they provide, in church-based settings, classes on catechism, Ignatian spirituality, and leadership to help Vietnamese Catholic students become rooted in and widely apply Ignatian spirituality in their lives, and live a life of faith.
After almost 30 years, Shakespeare returned to the stage in Kuching thanks to the students of St Joseph’s Private School, a Jesuit-run institution in Malaysia. The 100-strong cast and crew dazzled audiences at the Archdiocesan Curia and Cathedral Parish Centre (ACCPC) of St Joseph’s Cathedral with their performance of a modern English version of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”.
For a long time Africa has been considered as a “hopeless” continent, a continent whose story is that of wars, violence, injustice, dictators, poverty, disease and a lot of other misfortunes. However, there are clear signs across Africa that this “story” is about to change as we witness a new generation of young Africans taking action. Young people in Africa constitute the majority of the population of the continent. This young population of Africa, armed with the determination to make a difference and “yes we can do” attitude represent a new dawn and hope for a better future.
The British Jesuit Provincial, Fr Dermot Preston SJ, recently delivered a lecture as part of the Faith Matters series in Westminster Cathedral in London.
Fr Thierry Meynard SJ, director of the Beijing Centre, spoke to Erenlai Magazine about his interest in China, the importance of learning about China and the services provided by The Beijing Centre for Chinese Studies, a Jesuit work founded in 1998.
Xavier University undergraduate Mary Joy Conquilla never dreamt that she would ever build a house as a gift, but she recently did just that in a Jesuit education programme conceived to encourage students to apply Ignatian pedagogy in their everyday lives.