Ateneo de Naga University has begun a three-year celebration of its 75th anniversary in 2015. University president Fr Primitivo Viray Jr SJ said that they are in the process of looking back at their own history as well as looking forward to the future, which he considers their frontier.
Fr Peter Hosking SJ reflects on his recent journey to Japan accompanying the St Aloysius’s College study tour and the life long impact the peace museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on him, the students and chaperones alike.
In mid-October, 35 Year 9 and 10 students returned from the Japanese study tour. One of the most moving parts of our journey for me was our visits to the peace museums at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, dedicated to the victims and survivors of the atom bomb.
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.
The Jesuits in the Philippines have called for support for the people affected by the recent standoff between the Philippines government and a Muslim separatist group in Mindanao. In a letter dated September 13, Philippine Provincial Fr Antonio Moreno SJ said, “I strongly appeal to our Jesuit communities, ministries and partners in apostolates to pray for peace, perhaps organizing or joining prayer assemblies, initiating or participating in discussion groups and inter- faith initiatives that promote solidarity.”
Isaías Caldas knows the value of a good education. The Jesuit scholastic grew up in Timor Leste and was one of a privileged few who attended St Joseph College, a Jesuit-run senior high school. But most of his peers had no such luck: their country’s education system had been rendered broken and ineffective by decades of Indonesian occupation and centuries of Portuguese colonisation; their parents were eking out a living in a country on the cusp of independence – surviving from one day to the next took precedence over planning for their children’s future.
Three Filipino Jesuits came up with an interactive version of the Spiritual Exercises for Ateneo de Manila University’s Ignatian Festival in July. Using installation art, Br Eric Esteba SJ, Sch Alvin Laput SJ and Sch Eric S Escandor SJ developed CONTEMPLATIO, a 45-minute prayer exercise designed mainly for young people who want to deepen their faith and enrich their Ignatian identity.
In the early hours of June 18, 73 Cambodians, a mix of students from the Arrupe Welcoming Centre for the disabled and St Joseph’s Parish Tahen, boarded a plane to Singapore for a two week cultural dance tour. A mixture of excitement and anticipation flowed through the aircraft, as teachers and support staff tried to complete the Singapore immigration documents before landing. The Battambang Arrupe Tahen Dance Troupe had been invited to Singapore to perform at the CHARIS humanitarian forum on June 22.
Xavier Catholic College Hervey Bay student Julie-Anne Doan’s face lights up as she talks about the experience of meeting and chatting with the young people she’s encountered on the Timor-Leste Immersion Program.
“We’ve been looking at the history, and seeing how much they’ve gone through,” she says. “Yet they’re able to smile and to give to others just as if we’re part of the family. I don’t really want to leave to be honest.”
Fr Jose Quilongquilong SJ was inaugurated as President of Loyola School of Theology (LST) in the Philippines on July 5. He takes over from Fr Jose Mario C Francisco SJ who was LST president for seven years.