As Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence this year, a Jesuit from the Malaysia-Singapore Region of the Society of Jesus has written a mass for the anniversary. Fr Mark Aloysius SJ wrote the Mass of Freedom with Corrine May, a Singapore singer-songwriter who is perhaps best known among Christians for her song Five Loaves and Two Fishes.
Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer who has won multiple awards for his film soundtracks, including The Mission, debuted the first mass he has written on June 10 at the Church of the Gesù, the main church of the Society in Rome.
Named “Missa Papae Francisci” in honour of the first Jesuit pope, Morricone composed it, at the request of the Jesuits, to mark the 200th anniversary (1814 to 2014) of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus. The mass was to have debuted on the actual bicentenary date but this was postponed when Morricone fell ill.
American Jesuit scholastic David Romero began his Regency in the Philippines, working with Casa Bayanihan and living in the Arrupe International Residence where the community comprises Jesuits of 15 nationalities. His year in AIR left him with a profound sense of gratitude to God for giving him and the others in the community the chance to share their lives together and for what he has learned from these relationships.
The Loyola School of Theology (LST) in Manila recently announced its partnership with the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in offering one of its graduate programs in pastoral ministry beginning in August 2015.
What do Pope Francis’ visit to Korea, interreligious dialogue, social justice, Jesuit formation, and religious life have in common? They are some of the significant moments for the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific in 2014 and the ones we have chosen to highlight in our 2015 annual report. As is our practice, we also have a reflection from our President Fr Mark Raper SJ on the year that has passed.
The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) is developing a protocol that outlines steps for Jesuits in responding to disasters in this part of the world. Responses to catastrophic events are collaborative in nature, joining local efforts and guiding important international support. This is an ongoing process with other organisations and there is much learning from the experiences of Jesuits on the ground. The effort is also to find ways to collaborate across different phases in disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) that demand a wider range of coordination beyond disaster.
Development officers in our Conference left their meeting in Cambodia with renewed spirits and a fresh understanding of their work. Meeting together and sharing both successes and challenges had helped them realize that they are engaged in a common effort to support the mission not only of their own Province, but that of the Society in Asia Pacific and the world. Fr Jorge Serrano SJ, Assistant Treasurer for Development Resources in Rome, had challenged them not to focus only on raising money, but rather on winning committed partners for the common mission.
Irish Jesuit Brian Mac Cuarta SJ and the staff of the Roman Jesuit Archives (Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu – ARSI) are cooperating closely with the production team at Paramount Pictures to provide a key artefact for Silence, a film adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s novel about Catholicism in 17th century Japan, directed by Martin Scorsese (pictured here). To date the nature of the artefact has not been divulged.
Two months into 2015, there are already nine new Jesuit deacons in the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific – two Koreans, six Vietnamese and one Singaporean.