A Discussion with Denise Coghlan
Sister Denise reflects on her 20+ years working in Cambodia and how she is motivated by her faith and a sense of justice. She highlights the challenges facing people with disabilities, of post-conflict reconciliation, and rebuilding trust. She also discusses the legacy of the Khmer Rouge in relation to families and society in Cambodia today. Faith-inspired organizations are an important link between the policy and community levels. Sister Denise stresses that faith-inspired organizations must be experts in their field; faith alone is not always sufficient to make lasting contributions. Finally, she describes her international work on landmines and cluster bombs, which won her team a Nobel Peace prize.
Fr Franz Magnis-Suseno (IDO) was born as Count von Magnis in 1936 in Silesia, Germany. In 1955 he became a Jesuit priest and later went to Indonesia, where he still lives and works as a priest and university professor. In 1997 Father Magnis-Suseno, who studied theology, philosophy and politics and had by then obtained a doctorate in theology, took out citizenship in his adopted country and chose the additional Javanese name of Suseno. In 2001 he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was interviewed in early January by representatives of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
On December 11, 2010 Fr General appointed Fr Rene Repole (PHI) as Rector of Arrupe International Residence. He took office last February 9. Fr Rene used to be the rector of St John Vianney Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. He took over Fr Koichi Matsumoto (JPN), who now continues to recover from his illness.
With rising distribution cost, Jesuit Refugee Service-Asia Pacific has decided to make their magazine, Diakonia, be available online only. If you would like to receive a copy of Diakonia electronically, please email
Fr Jorge Anzorena (JPN) spoke at the ACHR Regional Meeting in Bangkok last January 27. Mr Denis Murphy introduced him, saying “This amazing person is Argentinian by birth, entered the Jesuit order and became a priest when he was in his early thirties. . . . If you ever hire someone, you should look for someone like Fr Jorge.” The transcript of Fr Jorge’s talk began as follows, “There are one billion slum dwellers in the world, and 600 million of them are in Asia. This is the situation that has moved many people to do something – activists, professionals, community leaders, architects, planners.
Sch Ladislas Nsengiyumva (CHN) joined the Scholastics and Brothers-in-Formation Assembly in December 20, 2010 – January 2, 2011. It was centered on the theme of Interreligious Dialogue. Bro Ladi wrote, “We started from sharing in groups about our personal experiences with Islam in our own countries followed by a three day live-in experience with Muslim youths in Pesantrens (Schools teaching Islamic Studies). This combination of sharing and experience led me to realize how little and often distorted was my knowledge about Islam. I personally knew that there were two categories of Muslims – moderate and radical Muslims – but I had never had the opportunity to sit together with any of these two groups. This time, I had the chance not only to share meals with the moderate Muslims, but also to pray together in their Mosque. It was for me an eye opening and heartwarming experience.”