The environment was the focus of the third event in the “Reflections on a Just Society” series organised by Jesuit Social Services to mark its 35th year. The speaker was Fr Pedro Walpole SJ, Research Director of the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change, Philippines.
Casa Ricci Social Services has been serving leprosy and HIV-AIDS infected`and affected people in mainland China for decade. We work with individuals and communities to understand and heal the different wounds that discrimination and marginalization cause in their individual and social life.
Once in a while, someone comes along and flashes a light on things that make others uncomfortable. May we never exchange light for darkness.
Death in the forest
The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific has produced a modest 16-page annual report, simply titled “Jesuits in Asia Pacific 2012”.
The Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro in northern Mindanao, Philippines, Antonio J Ledesma SJ, has called for environmental protection and good governance to be part of the post disaster response in Mindanao. He did so in his homily at the opening of a forum for Bishops and Diocesan Clergy of Mindanao on the challenges of Tropical Storm Washi for Mindanao in February.
The Church in Korea has taken a stand against the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island, a province of South Korea. The Korean Jesuits are in strong support of this, participating in protests and conducting masses on-site. As a result some have been arrested a number of times in the past for hindering the construction work.
On March 11, the Jeju district court issued arrest warrants for Fr Joseph Chong-uk Kim SJ and Protestant Reverend Lee Jeong-hun. As of March 14, Fr Kim was still being held for investigation and trial.
A Jesuit brother in Vietnam has highlighted several areas he feels the government should focus on in the coming years – education, corruption, legislation, ethnic minority groups and the environment.
Brother Anthony Ba SJ of the Jesuit-run Alberto Hurtado Center for Pastoral and Social Service in Ho Chi Minh City said this after completing a PESTLE analysis on Vietnam in 2011.
British Jesuit scholastic Stefan Garcia was in the Philippines when Tropical Storm Washi struck, and witnessed the destruction it caused. Stefan is half-Filipino – his mother is English and his father is Filipino – and he grew up in Cebu.
He reflects on his recent visit home.
How do we promote reconciliation with creation to our fellow Jesuits in Asia Pacific? With imaginative and powerful images as the members of the Scholastics and Brothers Circle showed in the innovative campaign materials they developed during a workshop on Effective Communications held from December 19 to 30, 2011.
Xavier University is appealing for funds to help the victims of Typhoon Sendong (International Name: Tropical Storm Washi), which struck the southern Philippines on December 17, causing flash floods and landslides.
Typhoon Washi slammed ashore on Mindanao island in the dead of night, sending torrents of water and mud through riverside villages, drowning scores of people as they slept, and sweeping houses out to sea. Tens of thousands of people have been rendered homeless and many are now in evacuation centres. As of December 20, the official death toll was close to 1,000.