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| Apr 07, 2002 |
Most Salvadorans agree that the significant turning point in the late Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero's ministry took place when his close friend, Fr Rutilio Grande SJ, was assassinated for speaking out against the harsh economic conditions of El Salvador's poor.
From that point forward, Archbishop Romero also began to speak out publicly against their oppression.
March 12 marked the 25th anniversary of the martyrdom of Fr Grande and March 24, the 22nd anniversary of Archbishop Romero's martyrdom.
Fr Grande was gunned down, along with an altar boy and an elderly helper, in a rural village.
His death marked the beginning of escalated military oppression in El Salvador against those who challenged government policies benefiting the wealthy who controlled the country's assets.
Ana Grande, 22, a parishioner at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood and a graduate of Mount St Mary's College, recently traveled to El Salvador to mark her great-uncle's legacy.
She recalled how, galvanized by the Second Vatican Council and the historic 1968 Latin American bishops' meeting at Medellin, Colombia, her great-uncle started analyzing the conditions of poverty for the majority of Salvadorans from the point of view of the Gospels.
Through the Bible, Fr Grande saw the chance to empower El Salvador's most humble people. The country's military thought differently, and while traveling between the small towns of Aguilares and Paisnal where he served as pastor of both parishes, Fr Grande was assassinated.
During her trip to El Salvador, the young Grande and some 1,500 Salvadorans processed the several miles between the two towns to commemorate Fr Grande's memory.
Although she was born a couple of years after his death, her great- uncle's life has profoundly affected her own, Grande said. "I am the product of that solidarity movement." [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
In an issue devoted entirely to the topic of sexual abuse by priests, America magazine called on the US church to set up a new, independent system for investigating allegations of sex abuse.
"No professional group--lawyers, police, accountants, doctors--is good at policing itself," said an unsigned editorial in the April 1 issue. "For the clergy, this is even more difficult not only because they are investigating their brothers, but also because their whole training urges them toward forgiveness rather than punishment."
The editorial said each diocese needs an independent lay board "empowered to investigate every allegation against a priest or church employee."
"If the bishop does not follow its advice, it should be free to publicize its findings," it added. "Only such a board could credibly clear priests falsely accused of a crime."
The issue also included articles on pedophilia, the psychological treatment of offenders, gays in the priesthood, and a personal look at how one parish was affected when a priest was accused of sexual abuse. [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
Canadian and French Jesuits combine forces for the World Youth Day in Toronto, July 13-30, 2002. Together theyhey launched together the "Ania" project: "Friends in the Lord – Amis dans le Seigneur."
Further information is available at http://aniafrance.free.fr (French) and http://www.jesuits.ca/ania2002 (French, English, Spanish) [source: Jesuits in Europe News]
The Secretariate for Education announces that the Directory of Jesuit Education, with the names and addresses of the persons responsible for Jesuit education throughout the world, will no longer be printed and mailed out. It is available on the web site: http://www.sjweb.info/education.
It is now nearly three years since Jesuits in Slovenia began providing help to migrants and refugees who were being held temporarily in detention after entering the country illegally. The operation has continued to grow and in late March Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) opened its new Slovenian office in Ljubljana.
"Our aim is to support and contribute to the development of philanthropic and religiously profound human relations in our homeland. By this we hope to form a new international culture, the 'culture of love,' to which we are invited by Pope John Paul II," said JRS Slovenia Country Director Fr Marijan Šef SJ at the opening ceremony.
The migration issue in Slovenia is a growing problem. From 1990 onwards, the number of refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants has increased tenfold. This has been due in part to the Balkan wars, though asylum seekers have also come from Iraq, Turkey, Romania, Moldova and Iran. JRS Slovenia is involved in counseling, accompanying, and training refugees, providing assistance to social workers and the police, and running summer camps for the victims of the Balkan wars. [Source: JRS Dispatches]
Pictures of the opening event on are available at http://www.rkc.si/jrs
On the heels of a Colombian archbishop's murder, 10 other bishops and priests in the South American country have received death threats, a Church agency revealed.
The National Secretariat for Social Pastoral Care of the Catholic Church in Colombia disclosed the news on its Web page, http://www.pastoralsocialcolombia.org . The news is based on police reports published in the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.
The information was confirmed by Colonel Jorge Ivan Calderon, coordinator for the security of ecclesiastical authorities, a post created following the March 16 murder of Archbishop Isaias Duarte Cancino of Cali.
Calderon said that the threats come from armed and delinquent groups who think the Church is affecting their interests.
The police colonel said he met recently with Archbishop Alberto Giraldo, president of the Colombian episcopal conference, to coordinate a security program for each of the threatened bishops and priests.
When appointing the security coordinator, the army revealed that 26 Catholic religious and 39 evangelical pastors have been killed since 1998.
Over the past five years, 338 churches and places of worship have closed because of pressure exerted by armed groups. [Source: Zenit]
Following the call of Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ, the Woodstock Center's mission is "theological reflection on the human problems of today." With this emphasis on issues facing contemporary society, one might imagine that a collection of letters from the 16th century would have little relevancy to the center's work.
However, a project recently undertaken by Woodstock librarian Joseph N Tylenda SJ reminds us that such is not the case; for even if the questions of the day appear new, the human nature in which we form our actions and decisions is as old and universal as humanity itself. The hopes and dreams, fear and jealousy, love and selflessness and courage that stir within the human heart today are the very same as they were 450 years ago; and in no century has there been an observer of human nature more astute and thoughtful than Ignatius of Loyola.
In 1985, Fr Tylenda produced Counsels for Jesuits, which gathered forty of Ignatius' most interesting and engaging letters, along with Fr Tylenda's historical commentary. The book was so enthusiastically received that a group in Rome asked him to expand it to its present form.
It was only in November 2001, though, that he envisioned a way for the thought of Ignatius to find a new audience. With the assistance of Matthew Gladden, Woodstock's web site manager, Fr Tylenda began to design a web site that would make this spiritual treasure available to people worldwide. The fruits of this effort can now be explored at: www.georgetown.edu/centers/woodstock/ignatius/Jesuit_texts.htm
Fr Tylenda already plans to expand the site with more texts. Check back regularly, and explore the ways in which the wisdom of yesterday sheds light on the human problems of today. [Source: Woodstock Reports, March 2002]
JesuitUSA News is a service of Company Magazine. In addition to the print edition, almost all of the items in Company Magazine can be viewed via the World Wide Web at www.companymagazine.org or www.companysj.com. Any correspondence concerning this mailing list should be sent to the editor at news@companysj.com . The newsletter is available to all Jesuits, to those who work with them, or to those who are simply interested in what they are doing. Tell your friends; the price is right! If you are requesting addition to the list, please include your real name as well as your email address. If you are changing your address, please include YOUR NAME as well as both the NEW and the OLD email addresses.
The editor of this Newsletter is Richard VandeVelde SJ who is ably assisted by Ms Rebecca Troha, Assistant Editor. They would both like to remind you of the following useful WWW links for items of Jesuit interest. Many of these links will lead you to others.
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