April 15, 2010. On the recommendation of the Board of Trustees of EAPI, the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific appoints Fr Arthur Leger SJ as the next director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI), commencing June 01, 2010. Fr Leger succeeds Fr Jeyaraj Rasiah SJ, who leaves Manila on May 19 and will assume his new role Provincial of Sri Lanka on May 24.
Last 25-28 January, the Jesuit Community in Phnom Penh hosted the JCAP meeting of Major Superiors. This was a chance for the community to welcome participants of the meeting to their new home, Prieb So (The White Dove) in Phnom Penh Thmey.
During the month of July, as mentioned in previous editions of the S.J. Electronic Information Service, Father General made two important trips. One of them was in Asia where he visited the Philippines, (the occasion was the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the return of the Jesuits to the country), and Indonesia, for the 150th anniversary of the “modern” presence of the Society of Jesus in that nation. We present here his responses to our questions.
Fr Adolfo Nicolás, the Superior General, needed five adjectives to describe the Indonesian Jesuits as he was asked to conclude the dialogue during the dinner with the Jesuits and some invited guests on July 18. Those adjective are friendly, generous, adaptable, hospitable and dedicated.
After the excitement of Fr. General’s visit and the festivities in conjunction with the Feast of St Ignatius, August seemed a quieter month. The sad demise of Mrs Corazon Aquino on August 1 brought an end to a chapter in the history of the Philippines. Her funeral on August 5 saw a number of Arrupeans taking part in the day’s event, having been given the honour, together with scholastics of the Philippine Province, to be marshals at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranãque City, where Mrs Aquino was laid to rest in the family mausoleum, next to Ninoy Aquino. It was raining for most of the week, a poignant reflection of the people’s sentiments at the passing of a heroine of our times.
From 11 – 14 July Father General will visit the Philippine Province to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the return of the Jesuits to the country (see further on) and the founding of what is today the Ateneo de Manila University. In 1768, the Jesuits of the Philippine Province, 154 in all, were expelled by order of King Charles III of Spain. They returned almost a hundred years later, in 1859, with the intention of evangelizing the southern island of Mindanao. Besides undertaking this pioneering missionary work, in December of the same year they assumed responsibility for the Escuela Pia, later renamed Ateneo Municipal. The present day Ateneo de Manila University has a student population of over 18.000. The Sesquicentennial Anniversary Eucharistic celebration will be held on July 12; Father General will be the principal celebrant. About 4.000 people, including 200 Jesuits, are expected to participate. The next day Father Nicolás will deliver the keynote address on: "Issues and challenges in Jesuit education today" before a group of Jesuits and their lay collaborators from the five universities, one college and other schools of the Philippine Province.
On June 1 – 2, sixteen participants from all over Asia and the Pacific joined Mr. Charles (Chuck) Duffy, from the Roman Curia, in a Development Officers’ Workshop on the Ateneo de Manila Campus. This initiative, coming from Fr Peter Hans Kolvenbach, seeks to establish in every Jesuit Province and Region a development mechanism to support our various apostolates.
The resolutions from this group will be presented to the Major Superiors in their July meeting, and it is expected that a four-day training session will follow in late February 2010.
In January 2009 the major superiors decided that a working group be set up that will develop better cooperation among the nine Asian schools for philosophy and theology.
Vocation promoters from all the provinces and regions of JCEAO held a meeting at the same time the provincials’ meeting last January 26 – 29. They had one plenary session with the major superiors, during which proposals were made calling for a greater effort at vocation promotion.
A new Conference Formation Delegate, better cooperation on theology and philosophy, regional planning and management, and other concerns kept the major superiors occupied last January 26–29 in Manila.
Jesuit formation and apostolic planning were high on the list for the thirteen JCEAO (Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania) major superiors who met in Manila, as guests of the Philippine Province, in the last week of January. The Conference, which meets every six months, is represented by the major superiors of seven provinces and six regions or missions, and covers over fifteen countries.