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December 22, 2004 |
Student representatives from all 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and more than a thousand members of Jesuit high schools, provinces, and organizations met for the seventh annual Ignatian Family Teach-In in Columbus, Georgia, from November 19 to 21.
The Teach-In, sponsored by the Ignatian Solidarity Network, addresses a broad agenda of justice issues and is held in connection with the annual gathering that calls for closing of the School of the Americas (SOA), currently named the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC). Graduates of the school are associated with the killings of the Jesuits and their coworkers in El Salvador on November 16, 1989.
Attendees of the Teach-In listened to several students from Jesuit colleges, universities, and high schools, and a range of Jesuit and other speakers, including Fr Charles Currie SJ, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), Bradley Schaefer SJ, president of the Jesuit Conference, and Tim McMahon SJ, provincial of the Missouri Province Jesuits.
The celebrant at the Saturday Mass, attended by an estimated 4,000 people, was Fr Steve Privett SJ, president of the University of San Francisco. In his homily he urged students to put their words into action in responding to the injustices of the world.
"To be moved to action by human suffering is to be touched by God," said Fr Privett. "In the face of our nearly overwhelming fears, to offer ourselves up in service to the weak and the powerless is to be the image of the invisible God."
Participants in the Teach-In also took part in the SOA protest at the gates of Ft Benning, which drew an estimated 10,000 people. [Source: AJCU]
The Ignatian Solidarity Network is on the web at www.ignatiansolidarity.net
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At the end of April 1555, Dutch Jesuit Peter Canisius had his famous catechism published in Vienna, at the request of King Ferdinand of Austria. This book became one of the most successful religious bestsellers in Church history, and it was the most frequently issued publication by a Dutch author ever. Recent research has come up with 1075 different editions in 26 different languages.
In order to celebrate the 450th anniversary of this catechism, Museum Het Valkhof in Canisius’s hometown Nijmegen, the Netherlands, is planning an exhibition that will be held from February 26 through May 22, 2005. During the preparations for this exhibition, the Dutch Jesuit Province acquired a copy of the catechism from 1555.
The Jesuits’ copy is the only one in the Netherlands, and it has its original calf binding, with blind-tooled decoration showing the emblems for CHARITAS, SPES, and FIDES, and bronze clasps. The title page is missing, but the first owner wrote his name on the endpaper: ‘Gallus Horlinger me possidet’ (GH owns me) and mentioned the price for which he bought the book: ‘16 white pounds.’
A book on the history of the catechism by Peter Canisius will be published by Dutch Jesuit Paul Begheyn, who is also the guest curator of the exhibition. [Source: www.jesuits-europe.org]
Photo by Rajtilak Naik |
The remains of St Francis Xavier are now on public display in Old Goa, India. After the morning mass on November 21, the relics were brought to Se Cathedral Church in a procession of about 500 clergy and thousands of devotees for an exposition that lasts 43 days.
After he died on the Sancian Island (off the Chinese mainland), Xavier's body was recovered in what the Church calls "a miraculous state of preservation," and brought to Goa in 1554.
Canonized as a saint in 1622, his body was exposed to public viewing once a year on December 3, but the practice was abandoned for some years after 1707. The practice was revived in 1782 to rule out the rumors that the body had been taken away by the Jesuits. There have been regular decennial expositions since 1974. [Source: www.jesuits-europe.org]
Fr Daniel Madigan SJ, director of the Institute for the Study of Religions and Culture at Rome's Gregorian University, spoke of the need to take a holistic approach to promoting the dignity and human rights of all people at a December conference in Rome sponsored by the US Embassy to the Vatican.
The conference focused on major violations of religious freedom around the world, particularly in China and the Middle East.
Fr Madigan told the conference that many conflicts that seem to have a religious root are, in fact, conflicts in which religious differences are manipulated to defend economic or political power.
In addition, he said, "the global political situation, in its current critical state, is also played out on a local level" with some Christian communities suffering because of what some Muslim communities view as a global Christian offensive against Islam.
If religious freedom is intrinsically connected to all other human rights, he said, then those who want to promote religious liberty must also promote the other rights that are inherent to human dignity.
An international economic order that does not value the dignity of the human person more than "unbridled profit" cannot contribute to increased religious freedom, Fr Madigan said.
And, he said, "we cannot expect that international relations not built on mutual respect, dialogue, and consensus will ever contribute to the spread of religious freedom." [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
The Global Economy and Cultures (GEC) project brings together theology, analysis of grass-root narratives, and Ignatian spirituality to form an effective research tool in understanding the life of the poor as discerned by the poor themselves. GEC is a five-year consultation project among more than 40 Jesuit centers in over 30 countries to ascertain the impact--good and bad--of globalization on local cultures.
Directed by Rita Rodriguez and Fr Gap Lo Biondo SJ of Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, GEC places the discernment of the poor at the forefront when working for the development of local cultures. An approach based on analysis of individual narratives highlights the dignity of every single poor person as a subject of history capable of agency. [Source: Headlines]
For further information about GEC project, go to: www.georgetown.edu/centers/woodstock/programs/gec.htm
Addressing an international conference in Rome of men and women religious, Jesuit Fr Jean Ilboudo felt like his voice—that of an African priest—was finally being heard by his colleagues around the world.
"This congress is very important because I have been able to speak from the point of view of an African, and Africans have not often been asked their opinions," Fr Ilboudo said.
European and American religious men and women have something to learn from their colleagues in Africa, Fr Ilboudo said. "We are living very close to the struggles of ordinary people and try to speak from their point of view.
"A strong expression of faith is helping the poor, especially educating them. The people of Africa are in need of this," he said.
He said that throughout Africa the Jesuits have universities and high schools that are "helping shape the leaders of Africa."
The Jesuits' structure and history helps them operate in a pluralistic and interconnected society, Fr Ilboudo said.
"Globalization for us Jesuits brings great joy in recognizing our own vision and spirituality," he said. "Since the beginning, we have been a worldwide society, sharing our experiences across the continents." [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
Walter Burghardt SJ was recently interviewed by Gerry McCarthy, editor of the online social justice magazine The Social Edge. They discuss Fr Burghardt's book Justice: A Global Adventure at www.thesocialedge.com/archives/gerrymccarthy/2articles-nov2004.htm
Fr Peter Fennessy SJ has a website devoted to stamps of Jesuits, Jesuit institutions, and Jesuitica at www.manresa-sj.org/stamps/
The Hopeworks ‘N Camden is an endeavor initiated by the Jesuits in Camden, NJ to address Camden’s youth crisis. Camden is a city where over two-thirds of the young people have dropped out of high school and over half live in poverty, and it was recently ranked as the most dangerous city in the United States. Founded in 2000 by the current executive director, Fr Jeff Putthoff SJ, Hopeworks is a successful youth development program that employs web site design and GIS technologies to train, educate, and employ young people throughout the city of Camden. Check out www.hopeworks.org to see the exciting things that are going on at Hopeworks ‘N Camden.
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