Development Officers’ Workshop, JCEAO Manila, 22-24 February 2010

As old ways fail, new paths open. Financial crises of recent years demonstrate that the Society can no longer rely on single sources of income such as investments, to fulfill its mission. Asia Pacific development officers, gathered for a workshop in Manila recently, explored alternative sources of support for the Jesuit mission. Being a new Conference network, they engaged in the exercise with enthusiasm and revealed considerable knowledge and skills. Many people in Asia, whether they are Christian or otherwise, do wish to contribute to our efforts, they affirmed. The challenge, and this is the core task of development offices, is to reach out to them and invite them to share in our mission. The workshop explored the practicalities of making and sustaining contact with our partners in mission.

On 11 January Jean-Yves Calvez died at the age of 82. He was a Jesuit priest, an influential social thinker whose engagements responded exactly to the large movements in the Catholic Church and the world over the last 50 years.

In early July 2009, eighteen Jesuit scholastics studying philosophy in Jakarta travelled twelve hours by road to an Islamic boarding school in Salatiga in the Province of Central Java. Accompanied by two Jesuit priests – Frs. YB Heru Prakosa and Greg Soetomo – they were on their way to living in that boarding house with Muslim Clerics. Is this kind of engagement significant? What is the purpose of involvement in the Muslim community?

Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia reports that the International Convention on Cluster Munitions has now been ratified by 30 countries, which means that it will become binding international law on 1 September 2010. The director of JRS Cambodia, Sister Denise Coghlan, had been lobbying tirelessly governments as part of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). (Source: Headlines 2010/02 News from the Jesuit Social Apostolate)

Last 25-28 January, the Jesuit Community in Phnom Penh hosted the JCAP meeting of Major Superiors. This was a chance for the community to welcome participants of the meeting to their new home, Prieb So (The White Dove) in Phnom Penh Thmey.

The Korean province assembly was held in the newly consecrated Jesuit Apostolic Center in Seoul last January 15 – 17. The assembly stemmed from the ardent desire to implement the spirit of GC 35 so that the spirit infiltrates into every fibre of its apostolates and communities. Since March 2009, a total of 12 preparatory meetings paved the way for Jesuits to get together as a part of the preparation of the assembly.

Effective mid-June 2010, Fr Maurus Irsan Rimawal (IDO) becomes the Novice Director of Santa Maria della Strada Novitiate in Taunggyi. It is expected that four new novices will be coming in by April 30. Fr Irsan has been called to final vows in the Society, with the date to be announced soon. Fr Wardi Saputra (IDO), the current director, will take a deserved break. Thanks so much, Fr Wardi, for the 11 years you have dedicated to our Jesuit Myanmar and Thai novices.

An abridged version of the Philippine Jesuit magazine The Windhover is now available online. By subscribing to the magazine, you will help support the mission and ministries of the Jesuits in the Philippines. For inquiries, you may write to: editor.magazine@gmail.com

From February 3 to 7, Tinnah, Amity, and I joined around 3,500 young people in the Manila Meeting of the Taizé Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth. Young people from all over Asia and other continents attended, to pray and share about their faith and life experiences with others. It was really an experience—praying for an hour or even more three times a day, being in silence with thousands of people, conversing with different people about one God, and listening to the reflections of the Taizé Brothers.