Jesuits and Friends - Winter 2013

FREE: please take a copy

A faith that does justice

& friends Crisis in Syria What can we do?

Jesuits respond to devastation caused

by Typhoon Haiyan

Issue 86 • Winter 2013 • jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

Typhoon Haiyan has devastated large parts of the Philippines. Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced. Millions have had their lives turned upside down by this tragedy. It will take months to recover from the loss and trauma of the storm.

Jesuit Missions is helping to rebuild the lives and livelihoods of those affected. A wide range of needs have been identified including food, water, shelter and education and Jesuit Missions is helping local Jesuits in the Philippines to meet these needs.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a stable, please remember the homeless and vulnerable people of the Philippines this Christmas.

© REUTERS/Erik De Castro (also pages 1 and 20)

To help the people of the Philippines after the devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan, please go to www.virginmoneygiving.com/TyphoonHaiyan Have you or someone you know considered life as a Jesuit priest or brother?

For more information, visit www.jesuitvocations.org.uk or contact: Britain: Fr Matthew Power SJ Tel: (+44) 0151 426 4137 matthew.power@jesuits.net

South Africa: Fr Shaun Carls SJ Tel: (+27) 021 685 3465 shauncarls64@gmail.com

Guyana: Stefan Garcia SJ Tel: + 592 22 67461 guyjesuits@gmail.com

The Jesuits in Britain undertake a wide range of ministries in Britain and around the world. The Jesuit Missions Office exists to accompany members of the Society of Jesus in the UK, Guyana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and many other countries in their varied ministries. Its role is to help the British Province make real its mission to proclaim a Faith that does Justice.

FREE: please take a copy

A faith that does justice

& friends Crisis in Syria What can we do?

A peace built on justice – Bruce Kent

Issue 86 • Winter 2013 • jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

2

Jesuits and Friends is published three times a year by the Jesuits in Britain in association with Jesuit Missions

Editor: Fr Dushan Croos SJ Assistant Editor: Ged Clapson

Cover photo: Refugees who have fled Syria CAFOD

Editorial group: Fr Denis Blackledge SJ, Annabel Clarkson, Richard Greenwood, Jane Hellings, Andrea Kelly, Jonathan Parr, James Potter, Sr Anouska Robinson-Biggin fcJ.

Registered Charity No. Cover photo by: 230165 England and Wales: James Broscombe Scotland: 40490

Designed by: www.rfportfolio.com Printed by: www.magprint.co.uk

Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

To protect our environment, papers used in this publication are produced by mills that promote sustainably managed forests and utilise Elementary Chlorine Free process to produce fully recyclable material in accordance with an Environmental Management System conforming with BS EN ISO 14001:2004.

Address for correspondence: 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR T: 020 8946 0466 E: admin@gbjm.org

CONTENTS

From the editor...

Our first response to the devastation and destruction of Super Typhoon Haiyan across the Philippines was probably one of horror. But, as so often happens, this reaction was promptly followed by the question: What can we do to help? Across Britain and indeed the world, people turned their feelings of compassion and impotence into action. By donating to Jesuit Missions you are contributing directly to the Jesuits’ relief effort as

communities in the Philippines attempt to rebuild their lives. So thank you!

Response is a theme that runs through this edition of Jesuits and Friends. Bruce Kent for instance asks how we should we respond to the crisis in Syria and conflicts generally; and Sister Anne-Elizabeth considers the difference that JRS’s response has made to refugees and detainees.

We consider too what response is needed to address the poverty and inequality in South Africa, while also acknowledging how the Jesuits have responded to the needs of the people of Zimbabwe over the past 20 years.

In this issue...

04 WORKING TOWARDS A PEACE BUILT 14 MAGIS: A TIME OF DISCERNMENT ON JUSTICE: Bruce Kent asks how

we can best respond to conflicts like Syria

06 THE REGENERATION OF SOUTH

AFRICA: 20 years after democracy,

Anthony Egan SJ sees emerging signs of hope

08 YOUTH ARE THE FUTURE FOR

ZIMBABWE: writes Roland von Nidda

SJ of St Peter’s Kubatana High School

The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius ask us to respond to some fundamental questions: What have I done for Christ?

What am I doing for Christ?

What more ought I do for Christ?

You can read in this magazine how young adults have responded to these questions through the MAGIS programme. But these are questions for us all. Whether we respond through donating money, praying, campaigning or volunteering, ours is a faith that demands that we do something.

Fr Dushan Croos SJ

04

AND DECISIONS: Sr Anouska Robinson-Biggin FCJ considers the vocational dimension of MAGIS

15 ‘THANK GOD YOU GUYS ARE HERE’:

Joey Ferrigno and Tim Byron SJ on the first ever student-led foodbank

16 STONYHURST: RICH IN HERITAGE, ROOTED IN THE PRESENT: Dawn

08

Johnson explores the ‘historical heart’ of the British Province

10 SOMEONE CARES: Sr Anne-Elizabeth 18 PRAYING WITH THE POPE: the de Vuyst SSMN reflects on almost 25 years with JRS

11 THE INCARNATION IN IGNATIAN

SPIRITUALITY: An Advent reflection

from Tony Horan SJ

13 THE LETTER-WRITER WHO BROUGHT CONSOLATION TO THE JESUITS:

Tom McCoog SJ looks ahead to the 200th anniversary of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus

Apostleship of Prayer themes for the coming months with Chris Chatteris SJ

19 IN THE SERVICE OF THE LORD AND

06

THE CHURCH: James Hanvey SJ considers Pope Francis’ historic interview

23 AND WHAT’S MORE… Sarah Teather MP in conversation with Richard Greenwood

16 jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 3

XXX Xxx

Rescued from the trauma of war: children of Syria.

Photos: Jesuit Refugee Service

Working towards a peace built on justice Stonyhurst alumnus Bruce Kent – now Vice-President of Pax Christi UK – says we need not feel impotent when we witness conflicts and wars

WHEN CATASTROPHES like Syria hit the headlines, we can often feel utterly helpless. The appeals come flooding in from charities. We give whatever we can. But what else can we do?

The UK could of course admit numbers of Syrian refugees; but our national sympathy for them does not stretch that far. Granted commercial interests, it would also be a step too far, I suspect, for our government to stop selling arms to areas of conflict, despite many calls from the Campaign against the Arms 4 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

Trade and others to do so. So, by and large, we stick with charitable giving, hope for the best, pray for the victims and leave the rest to God.

fight again. The great European powers are now bound together through the European Union, the first aim of which was to prevent future wars.

But what long term steps can we take now to avoid future Syrias and make this a less war-like world?

We forget that all of the peacemaking structures we now have – from the United Nations to the International Criminal Court, from the International Court of Justice to the European Union – came into being because of the vision of many peace-minded people who have faded into history.

On their past work we now have to

The first step is to draw courage and inspiration from what has been achieved.

There are now many areas of the world where war is effectively impossible. The states of the United States will never

Jesuit Missions SYRIA build, and improve. A really democratic UN? An International Criminal Court able to prosecute those who take military action without UN legitimacy?

Why not?

No one today remembers the first British Nobel prize winner, William Randall Cremer.Yet it was Cremer and his friends at the end of the 19th century who, through their calls for arbitration, laid the foundation for the International Court of Justice.

We hear much about the bravery of those who fought in the First World War. But almost nothing about Pope Benedict XV and his endless appeals, in the name of common humanity, for an end to the butchery. He laid the ground for Pacem In Terris and more recent Catholic condemnations of war.

In an inspiring address to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1965, Pope Paul VI committed the Church to support the UN – but its workings are still unknown to most people. I have never come across a parish or diocesan United Nations Association group or heard a sermon on the vision of the UN.Yet the Preamble to the Charter starts with a call ‘to free humanity from the scourge of war’.

Within our domestic society we have built up the structures which have made our society, if not crime-free, at least one in which we do not resolve conflicts with our neighbours by shooting them.

We have here something like (by the standards of the rest of the world) social justice.There is discrimination, but people are not usually killed or imprisoned

because of their race, religion or political views. We have courts and a police force. Why not expand this local reality into an ambition for the world as a whole? None of these benefits came by accident.They were all worked for by people long forgotten.

“We Christians must confront our sense of impotence as we work to sow the seeds of the Kingdom of God” We Christians must confront our current sense of impotence as we work to sow the seeds of the Kingdom of God. It is simpler to donate to good causes than to question the way the world is being run. Jesus was not put to death because he was nice to people who were hungry and sick but because he challenged the authorities, religious and political, of his day.

I have great hope that the Church to which I belong, will, with a new and inspiring Pope, more vigorously oppose the militarism, national pride, greed and exploitation which underpin the conflicts of our day.

It was an earlier Jesuit, Archbishop Thomas Roberts, who turned my mind in this direction. Pope Francis and he would have been good friends – both giving us the vision of a more peaceful world and the urge to go out to help build it. With such a vision the legal and technical changes needed for real peace built on justice will follow, if we work for them. l

Winter will bring more misery: you can help The number of people forced to leave their homes since the conflict in Syria began has passed two million. UNHCR expects another two million Syrians will become refugees in 2014 with a similar number displaced within the country.

As winter approaches, humanitarian agencies including the Jesuit Refugee Service, Caritas and the Orthodox Church are prioritising the provision of plastic sheeting, stoves, fuel vouchers and blankets. From an initial 20 families, JRS Syria is now supporting 35,000 families on a monthly basis (25% Christian; 75% Muslim), supplying not just food but also focusing on alleviating the traumatisation of 10,000 children. In all, JRS Syria is touching an estimated 300,000 people with their ministry: 3% of the Syrian population.

Many of the volunteers are Muslim and staff are working in situations which are both dangerous and traumatic. In total, they are providing 25,000 hot meals daily to the people of Aleppo, with an additional 5,000 to people south of Damascus.

 HOW YOU CAN HELP You can help the people of Syria by sending a donation to Jesuit Missions which works in partnership with JRS in Syria and throughout the world.

A prayer for the people of the Middle East Heavenly Father,Your Son, Jesus Christ, was born a Palestinian Jew, in an empire made up of a multitude of peoples. Tirelessly, he walked the streets and paths of the Holy Land, seeking out the lost and bereaved. Today, this land is home to women and men of many faiths and nations.Though blessed with rich cultures and strong communities, their lives have been blighted by suspicion and division, conflict and war. For us, they remain custodians of the sacred memory of Your holy presence and saving action, living stones who remind us of the first generation to enter the Church your Son founded. Protect, Lord, your little flock who live in fear, vulnerable to the interests and writ of far-off powers. Keep them safe and deliver them from all that threatens them.

Renew in them all that makes for peace and reconciliation and make them courageous witnesses to the Gospel of love and truth so that all the peoples of the earth might work for justice and the dignity of all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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XXX  Xxx

The regeneration of South Africa As South Africa prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of full democracy next April, Fr Anthony Egan SJ at the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg considers the emerging signs of hope in the country.

6  Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

Jesuit Missions SOUTH AFRICA DESPITE MANY great advances in democracy and the serious attempt to promote and maintain a human rights culture, South Africa faces many challenges.The country is full of signs of hope as well as many morbid symptoms. Though we are small in number, the Jesuits are engaged in the transformation, helping to turn signs of hope into concrete realities.

We are a society that espouses equality and non-discrimination. We pride ourselves in celebrating difference: where else in Africa would an openly gay HIV-positive lawyer be a judge of the Constitutional Court? Yet at the same time economic inequality and the gap between richest and poorest is one of the widest in the world. And, despite official policies that promote affirmative action and economic empowerment for blacks, the gap has in fact grown.

No-one really knows how many are unemployed. Official statistics (based on conservative employment definitions) suggest between 25-30%. Key industries like mining have shed jobs, as mineral extraction has become more difficult and more expensive. While strikes can sometimes force wage increases, in the long term they often make industries unviable. Economists agree that we need to move to a post-industrial knowledge-based economy.

That of course presumes good education.

After inheriting a highly unequal and, for the majority, inferior school system from apartheid, democratic South Africa has equalised education – downwards. Many who survived the Bantu (segregated) Education of the past consider the present system worse than apartheid.

Now, low standards, test and exam marks are scaled up by the Department of Education to make results look better. Teachers are too often lazy, incompetent and protected by a union close to the ruling party. These factors, combined with poor discipline, have made high school diplomas a joke.

Maths, science and English literacy is atrocious – making many high school leavers almost unemployable. Some suggest that unemployment among 18 to 25 year olds is around 80%.

Crime and social problems are rife – at least partly connected to poverty

and unemployment, spurred on by a failed school system.

Disturbingly, Public Service corruption has skyrocketed. In 1995, a year after democracy, we ranked 25th in the world Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. In 2013, we are rated 69th. The attitude of many politicians, particularly among the ruling African National Congress, is that getting rich through public office is their entitlement.

“There is a new mood at grassroots that things have to change; the Jesuits … are a part of this renewal”

A similar attitude can be seen in much official ANC narrative which equates the whole liberation struggle with itself (historically not true!), government with the ruling party (most democratic theorists would disagree), and democratic parliamentary opposition with the threat of a return to apartheid. Attempts have been made through ‘cadre deployment’ to seize the ‘commanding heights’ of civil society so that the ANC can rule, as current President Zuma once said, “until Jesus returns”. As the party with massive overall electoral support, it seems that the ANC can do what it likes. People may protest specific issues – but, come election time, they meekly vote ANC. The good news is that this may be changing. In 2014, for the first time, people born after apartheid will be eligible to vote. How will they vote?

Will they vote against the past, as has happened until now, or will they vote for an alternative future?

Another hopeful sign is that Churches – silent for too long after 1994 – are beginning to call loudly for government accountability once again. Last October, they took part in the Christian-inspired

international ‘Exposed’ campaign against corruption.While groups like the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) have lobbied steadily since the 1990s, there is a new mood at grassroots that things have to change. And the Jesuits are a part of this renewal.

The Jesuits in South Africa are making a number of contributions to the revitalisation of South Africa, particularly in the areas of Governance, Education and Spirituality. We integrate these themes – sometimes unaware we are doing it – in many of our ministries.

In the spring 2014 edition of Jesuits and Friends, I shall explain how this is being expressed through our work in schools and seminaries and in the social ministry of the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Jesuit Institute.

But the Jesuits’ engagement in the renewal of South Africa is particularly evident in our pastoral ministries in parishes and chaplaincies, which are rooted in the Spiritual Exercises: discerning what is most needed and then seeking the magis – the ‘more’ that following Jesus requires.This has resulted, for example, in a multi-focus ministry at Holy Trinity, Braamfontein, in Johannesburg that has shifted from a middle-class congregation drawn from academic and professional circles, to a truly multi-national community made up of South Africans and immigrants from across Africa. It has also developed a vibrant LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered) ministry and a ministry to homeless people of the inner city.This includes Scripture study – something the homeless themselves requested.

Such ministries openly embrace the commitment to tolerance and diversity enshrined in South Africa’s Constitution and have anticipated by at least a decade the calls of Pope Francis for the Church to embrace greater tolerance and engage with the poor in all our ministries. l Fr Anthony Egan SJ Photos: Dan O’Connor (page 6) Jackie Hulme (page 7)

jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

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ZIMBABWE Jesuit Missions

St Peter’s pupils: a generation with opportunities.

Credit: Jesuit Missions

Youth are the future for Zimbabwe Last June, St Peter’s Kubatana High School in Zimbabwe celebrated its golden jubilee. Parish priest, Fr Roland von Nidda SJ looks back to its origins and considers its hopes for the future.

DESPITE HAVING shed its colonial shackles in 1980, Zimbabwe still faces huge social, political and economic problems. Most reports put the poverty rate at about 70%, formal unemployment at about 80% and the wealth gap on the Gini Index at over 50%, amongst the highest in the world.

The small echelon of obscenely rich live in fine mansions, drive expensive cars, eat out in the mushrooming restaurants and shop in smart malls stuffed with luxury items. Meanwhile, the great mass of the poor try to scratch a living on largely subsistence 8 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

farming in their villages, or in the urban informal sector selling vegetables or goods bought from South Africa. Food shortages for up to three million people are predicted by the UN this year. And another estimated three million have left the country in search of a better life in South Africa and elsewhere.

Zimbabwe is gifted with a wealth of human and natural resources, including having amongst the best educated people in Africa, the biggest diamond fields in the world and the second

largest platinum deposits world-wide.

But not much of this wealth trickles down to the mass of the poor.

This is all too obvious in the townships surrounding St Peter’s Kubatana.

It was back in 1962 that Mission Superior, Fr Terence Corrigan SJ, with great courage and foresight, founded St Ignatius College to offer black students quality secondary education, equal to that provided to white students at St George’s College.

At the time, very few African youth

Jesuit Missions ZIMBABWE had the opportunity to pursue secondary education.

The following year, at the initiative of Fr Ted Rogers SJ, he supported the founding of another school, St Peter’s Kubatana, to offer educational opportunities to young Zimbabweans who were financially poor and who otherwise would roam the streets with no chance of a future.

“Zimbabwe is gifted with a wealth of resources … but not much of this wealth trickles down to the poor” Silveira House was founded in 1964 as a development training centre to provide people with a forum to discuss current social and political issues and to organise the way forward. As it grew into a major establishment, it provided a variety of development courses on such topics as leadership, practical and commercial skills training, agriculture, credit unions and co-operatives, industrial relations, as well as a large and flourishing youth ministry.

In the same year, the ever-adventurous Fr Rogers began the School of Social Work, which developed into one of the leading training institutions for social workers in Africa.

A large and well-equipped technical school at St Peter’s Kubatana was set up in 1975; now named the St Peter’s Kubatana Technology Centre, it is still flourishing and offers students a three year national diploma and a two year national certificate in such subjects as building, wood technology, fitting and turning, machine-shop engineering, auto-mechanics and electrics. Courses in plumbing and cosmetics (grandly called ‘cosmatology’) have recently been added.

Today, the High School and Technology Centre continue to offer some hope to the poor youth. Fees are low and therefore more or less affordable. A bursary scheme is being established to assist those who cannot raise the money.

Plans are afoot to improve infrastructure, equipment and resources. Some donors have generously filled our begging bowl and in the last year computers have been acquired and fibre optic internet installed,

so that we can embark on e-learning.

A lovely chapel was built where we can conduct lively and inspirational class Masses. Science labs are in the process of being refurbished.

Funds permitting, we plan to drill another borehole, since our water supply is inadequate. Amongst many other projects, we plan to enlarge the school, improve sporting facilities, and acquire much needed chairs, desks and textbooks for students. Brother Ngonidzashe Edward SJ, the Zimbabwe Jesuit Province delegate for the Youth Ministry, is setting up his offices here.

He has ambitious plans to contribute to the life of St Peter’s, as well as reaching out to the thousands of directionless youth in the surrounding area.

He aims to set up a culture centre comprising art, drama, and traditional and modern music. St Peter’s Kubatana already has a fine tradition and reputation for its choirs and marimba bands.

We are constantly told by politicians and church authorities that the youth are the future of Zimbabwe. We have dreams that St Peter’s Kubatana will be an important part of that future. l

 SUPPORT OUR WORK Your donation for Zimbabwe will support the Jesuits’ vital work there.

See www.gbjm.org for details.

High hopes for a better Zimbabwe A message from Fr Clyde Muropa SJ of the Zimbabwe Province With the elections now past, Zimbabweans need to be applauded for voting in peace.

Having been in the doldrums for more than a decade, Zimbabwe now needs both local and international support.

Progressive Zimbabweans should partner all good-willed neighbours in building our nation. There are high hopes for a better Zimbabwe, if the resources available are used for the common good. The diamonds mined in Chiadzwa and Marange, combined with other natural resources and the human will, which is a huge resource, can all bring Zimbabwe back to normality. Development and growth is possible only if we all oppose corruption and complacency. The government and other players need to be of a positive mind towards reconstruction and growth in social amenities.

Basics for survival: fetching water in Gokwe South, Zimbabwe.

Credit: CAFOD

jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 9

SOCIAL JUSTICE Refugees

Somebody cares Sister Anne-Elizabeth de Vuyst SSMN has worked with the Jesuit Refugee Service around the world for almost 25 years. She tells us of the journey which has brought her to London.

SR ANNE-ELIZABETH started accompanying refugees in Texas, living and working among migrants from Latin America. She later helped set up a camp with JRS in Mexico for refugees from Guatemala. She explains: “We were living like the refugees: in a small house with a roof of branches, and working with them. That’s where I really learned to be a companion, the accompaniment

that we speak about in JRS. I stayed three years really being present to the people, just doing the simple things, cooking, washing…”

– even now – the school is one of the best schools in Malawi. The refugee students really want to learn, so very fast they learnt English; they excelled.”

Sr Anne-Elizabeth helped the women of the camp to set up a co-operative and to make and sell their traditional weaving, which, as well as being of practical help, gave them a great sense of achievement and hope. It has always been her philosophy to accompany and to serve.

Having served in conflict zones among the world’s poorest, Sr Anne-Elizabeth now finds her compassion and companioning skills are most needed – in London at the Colnbrook detention centre near Heathrow.

She reflects on this:

“The lack of information and uncertainty causes a lot of anxiety to people who have already suffered trauma” “If you are alongside the refugees, you can listen, understand and respond to their need. For those who might be contemplating volunteering among refugees, I would say: it is not your desire or what you want that is important. Look at the people you serve, at what they need to be happy. Let your own self be led by the people you are serving. Be passionate about what you are doing.”

I will never forget what you did when you came to visit me.You came and encouraged me and then you sent me a book when I had returned to Uganda where I am now doing a degree.

A former detainee

10 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

From Central America, Sr AnneElizabeth moved to Rwanda, in the aftermath of the genocide, and then to Malawi, where she set up a very successful education programme for refugees from Rwanda, Somalia and Congo as well as local students.

“When the refugees first arrive they are just scared, but once they settle down, the first thing the parents want is education for their children. With the support of JRS, I hired teachers so that

“We go. Where there is a need, we go.

That was very much what Fr Arrupe (the founder of JRS) instilled in JRS, alongside its ability to adapt to changing needs.

What has changed is that there are more and more refugees and displaced people.”

Over 300 men and women are detained at Colnbrook for periods varying from a few days to up to two years. Sr Anne-Elizabeth and her team of 30 dedicated volunteers provide chaplaincy services and visit and write to detainees to offer friendship and accompaniment. “Detainees constantly tell us how our visits make them feel like somebody cares and that they are not forgotten. It boosts their self-esteem; they feel less lonely and have something to look forward to.”

The first concern of the detainees is to know how long they will be detained, as this is seldom made clear. The lack of information and uncertainty causes a lot of anxiety to people who have already suffered trauma. JRS UK has responded by providing a legal liaison service – a volunteer with legal experience who can chase up the solicitors and explain to detainees the progress of their case in language they can understand. This has proved a great comfort.

Refugees SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Incarnation in Ignatian Spirituality An Advent reflection from Fr Tony Horan SJ An important part of JRS’ work at Colnbrook has been the renovation of the chapel, which has created a special space for the detainees. Not all of those who use it are Christians; many Muslims also come to spend time in quiet reflection.

“The refugees have taught me so much,” Sr Anne-Elizabeth concludes, “when you think about their faith, tenacity, resilience … believing that something better will happen. And so they have the tenacity to start over. I find inspiration in them – their faith and their hope in the future, for them and their children.” l

 HOW YOU CAN HELP JRS-UK relies heavily on a team of volunteers who contribute their skills, energy and time to different projects and the running of the office. To find out more about volunteering with JRS or to make a donation, email uk@jrs.net or phone Jonathan Parr 020 7488 7310 Below: Sr Anne-Elizabeth in the JRS camp for Guatemalan refugees

The Annunciation by El Greco St Ignatius suggests that we ask God’s grace to enable us to enter into the thoughts and desires of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as they look down on the mess being made of our world prior to the Incarnation, the act of God the Son becoming man.

‘Look!’ says the Holy Spirit. ‘There in Galilee are lots of people, who, I think, will respond. And that wonderful young girl whom we have prepared specially wants to devote herself to us but also wants to help the people around her.

She knows she can only do that with our help so I think we are ready to send a messenger to her, asking her to be your mother.’

Such communication amongst the persons of the Trinity reminds us that God is always motivated by love for us to work for our good.

The Old Testament stories about such people as Abraham, Moses and David are accounts of God at work out of love for humankind and it is still true now. God is at work to bring you and me to an intimacy

rooted in love. That is what God wants and is tireless in trying to achieve.

And when all is ready, God’s first action is to send a messenger to Mary to ask her to agree to be the virgin mother of the Messiah. God always wants our willing assistance.

It is not to Jerusalem that the messenger goes, not to a Priest or a King, but to an unknown young girl.

God becomes man out of love for me and for all. God loves us, in full knowledge of what we are and could become. So we want to know God better, so that we can learn to return that love and follow in service of the men and women around us. Ignatius urges us, as we contemplate the Incarnation, to desire and to ask for an ever-increasing knowledge of my Lord who has become man for me; so that knowing him better, I may be moved to greater love for him and that love may move me to join my Lord in serving and helping all my fellow human beings. l jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 11

THE RESTORATION OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS

Suppressed and restored: turbulent times for the Jesuits Why the Society of Jesus was suppressed in 1773 – and restored in 1814.

Jesuits establish reductions in Latin America for previously migratory indigenous peoples, with the blessing of the Spanish crown.

These expand over the next 150 years, as Spain and Portugal vie over the frontiers of their colonies.

1600s

1814 Pope Pius VII issues the bull Sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum, thereby restoring the Society of Jesus.The English Jesuit College, the antecedent of today’s Heythrop College, celebrates its bicentenary.

The Treaty of Madrid redraws the Spanish/ Portuguese territories and Portugal blames the Jesuits for the subsequent War of the Seven Reductions (1756).

1750

Since the formation of the order 200 years earlier, the Jesuits number more than 22,000 worldwide.

They operate nearly 700 colleges and 200 seminaries, with powerful friends and wealthy benefactors – but also equally powerful and influential enemies.

1750s

1758 Assassination attempt

on King Joseph I of Portugal for which the Jesuits are blamed. Portugal expels the Jesuits from all its territories and suppresses the Order the following year.

The Jesuits of England and Wales affiliate themselves to the Jesuits in Russia.

1803

Stonyhurst established as the base for the Jesuits in England and Wales.

1764 Jesuits expelled from

France, following disputes over trade between France and Britain, including French Jesuit missions in the Caribbean.

1794

The 140 Jesuits working in England and Wales submit, at times with protests, to the vicars apostolic. King Frederick the Great of Prussia and Empress Catherine the Great of Russia refuse to implement the brief and allow the Society to continue its work.

1773 Under pressure from the dynastic

houses of Western Europe and in order to secure peace in the Church, Pope Clement XIV issues Dominus ac Redemptor, the papal brief suppressing the Society of Jesus.

1766/67 Jesuits blamed for anti-tax riots in Spain and all 5,000 of them are expelled.

For personal and political reasons, the influential dynasties of Naples and Parma expel the Jesuits.

1767/68

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria rescinds her protection of the Society to secure the marriage of her daughter Marie Antoinette to France’s future king, Louis XVI.

1770

The central image is of a silver gilt medal issued in 1773 and attributed to Theodore van Berckel. It shows Christ, accompanied by SS Peter and Paul, dismissing three Jesuits.

12 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

THE RESTORATION OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS

The letter-writer who brought consolation to the Jesuits Fr Tom McCoog SJ introduces the English Jesuit who experienced the Suppression first hand in Rome: Fr John Thorpe SJ.

In the mid-18th century, few religious orders could rival the Society of Jesus in size and influence. More than 22,000 Jesuits operated nearly 700 colleges and 200 seminaries in the 1750s.They had powerful friends and wealthy benefactors.

But they also had equally powerful and wealthy enemies, particularly in Portugal, Spain, France and Austria. Jesuits became popularised as secretive, deceptive, manipulative and devious regicides.

There was also great suspicion over their loyalty to the pope.Within 25 years, anti-Jesuit forces succeeded in persuading Pope Clement XIV to issue Dominus ac Redemptor, the papal brief suppressing the Society of Jesus, in order to secure peace in the Church.

As the Jesuits were progressively expelled from large parts of Europe, John Thorpe watched from Rome. Born in Halifax,Yorkshire, on 21 October 1726, Thorpe had studied at the English Jesuit College in St Omer in the 1740s, before entering the Jesuit novitiate at Watten (Flanders) on 7 September 1747. He was sent to Rome to study theology in 1756 and was ordained there around 1759. To the best of our knowledge, he never returned to England but remained in Rome until his death on 12 April 1792.

From 1765 until the Suppression of the Society in 1773, John Thorpe served as the English-language confessor at St Peter’s Basilica, a post which he himself admitted was not too demanding. So he had plenty of time for what must have been his favourite pastime: letter writing. Nearly a thousand letters are preserved in various archival collections.

We know that Thorpe destroyed

numerous letters, so we can only imagine how many he actually wrote.

Thorpe began his bi-monthly newsletters as Jesuit refugees flooded into Rome, and as the Bourbon monarchs pressured the pope for universal suppression.Thorpe relates stories ranging from the macabre to the tragic as ecclesiastical Rome crumbled under Spanish and French pressure. The Englishman also provided an eyewitness account of the Suppression’s implementation.

“Thorpe relates stories ranging from the macabre to the tragic as ecclesiastical Rome crumbled under pressure” Thorpe’s Jesuit community in Rome had just sat down to supper on 16 August 1773 when a loud peal of the bell signified the arrival of soldiers.They were informed of the pope’s decision to suppress the Society and were held under house arrest for eight days. Eventually, they were allowed to leave with a few possessions and a short cheaply-made soutane: the longer, traditional Jesuit cassock had to be left behind. But where would they go? Thorpe had invitations to take up positions in an English Catholic household or in a convent on the continent. However, he decided to remain in Rome, residing instead with friends and other ex-Jesuits.

Over the ensuing years, Thorpe served as an agent for English Catholic families, especially the Arundells of Wardour, in their acquisition of antiquities and works of art. In the late 1770s, he and

Above: One of John Thorpe’s letters, dated 27 July 1785 Lord Henry Arundell, a former pupil, collaborated at Wardour on what the ex-Jesuit hoped would be “the most elegant Chapel in England”. Many items in Stonyhurst’s collection were acquired through John Thorpe during this period. As well as art, he collected and distributed news and information about ex-Jesuits throughout the world under the Suppression: everything from pasquinades (abusive or satirical lampoons, posted in public places) to official correspondence was copied and translated by him. Indeed, Thorpe played an important role in what was later christened by scholars as the “Ex-Jesuit International” whereby former Jesuits remained in contact to console and encourage each other and to work for the Restoration of the Society.

Sadly, Thorpe did not live to see the Society of Jesus restored in 1814: he died in Rome 22 years before Pope Pius VII issued the bull Sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum. But others did, among them Robert Plowden, whose life and ministry in England during the Suppression will form the focus for the next article in this Jesuits and Friends series. l jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 13

VOCATIONS MAGIS

MAGIS: a time of discernment Sr Anouska Robinson-Biggin FCJ explores the vocational dimension of MAGIS.

SINCE 1997, MAGIS has gathered together young adults prior to World Youth Day. Through an experience of community, service, prayer and reflection, it has helped them ask the question, ‘What do I want to do with my life?’ or, as St Ignatius says in the Spiritual Exercises “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ?

What more ought I do for Christ?”

Fr Matthew Power SJ,Vocations Director of the Jesuits in Britain says: “MAGIS – like World Youth Day itself – is a genuine experience of the fullness of the life of the Church, which causes people to ask questions about their future commitments. No doubt this prompted Pope Francis to say to the three million young people at the World Youth Day in Brazil this summer: ‘I know that you are aiming high, at long-lasting decisions which will make your lives meaningful’.”

I first encountered MAGIS in 2011 in Spain just before an assignment to Toronto. After MAGIS, I had greater confidence for my assignment than I would have thought possible before.

“My time on MAGIS was a very rich spiritual experience.

Prayer and closeness with God felt so much easier” After an international gathering of the Ignatian family, MAGIS participants are missioned, or ‘sent’, to take part in a variety of experiences; the themes being social, ecological, arts, spirituality and pilgrimage. I took part in a Street Art experience in Malaga which included singing on the seafront, a silent flashmob, and performing as night statues and butterflies! As I lived the experience I learned that ‘with

Henry, Joel and Anouska picks carrots as part of their MAGIS 2013 experience.

Photo: CH/MAGIS13

MAGIS is a pastoral experience organised by the Jesuits, collaborating with members of the Ignatian family. The word means ‘more’ or ‘the greater’ in Latin. For more details about MAGIS 2014, visit www.magis14.org or contact Sr Anouska fcJ at magis@yamgbsj.org

14 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

God, all things are possible’. Whilst I may never do such crazy things again, it was a real invitation to trust in the God who calls and by whose grace I can respond.

For one MAGIS 2011 participant, Pope Francis’ words seemed especially relevant. “My time on MAGIS was a very rich spiritual experience,” reflected Alice. “Prayer and closeness with God felt so much easier. We lived in a community of people, all with the common desire for that closeness.

There was joy, laughter and silliness, alongside solemnity when required.

That experience makes me braver in reaching out to the Lord and making myself available to Him...

I graduated from university a year ago, and I’m deciding my next step.

The lessons of MAGIS (and at my Jesuit-run chaplaincy in Oxford) led me to find a retreat where I could discern God’s will for me.”

As the coordinator of MAGIS Britain 2013, I witnessed the same journey being lived in England when a small group of young adults gathered together to live the MAGIS dynamic prior to joining the WYD@Home celebrations at Aylesford Priory. Joel, a recently professed Jesuit scholastic reflects: “The MAGIS experience was a timely reminder that I don’t live simply for myself but to serve God and help anyone in need.” Carolyn from Devon recognised that the MAGIS process helped her make life choices. She says: “Before MAGIS, I had wanted to apply for a job at the Jesuit Volunteer Community, and living MAGIS helped to confirm this decision as it helped me feel part of the Ignatian family. The experience helped me to recommit and strengthened my resolve to trust and serve God.” l

Social justice VOLUNTEERING

‘Thank God you guys are here’ Joey Ferrigno and Tim Byron SJ explain how a student-led foodbank in Manchester is responding to local crises.

AS WINTER draws in and energy bills rise, many families in the UK have to make a difficult choice. For some it is as stark as: Do we put the heating on or make a trip to the supermarket?

It is easy for students to live in a bubble of lectures, library and parties. However, at the Catholic Chaplaincy which serves students from the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and the Royal Northern College of Music, there is a growing enthusiasm for volunteering. Firstly, through the St Vincent de Paul Society’s tri-weekly soup run; then by helping people who are suffering short-term debt, benefit delays, long-term illness or domestic violence. We have also provided food parcels to the huge hospital up the road, so that discharged patients, particularly elderly ones who live on their own, are not returning to empty fridges and spoilt food.

As our eyes were being opened, we started to see on our own doorstep extreme levels of deprivation: the Manchester Central constituency has the highest child poverty rate in the UK, with 47 per cent of children living below the poverty line and many local schools reporting pupils turning up hungry in the morning. After getting involved in a breakfast club at our local school, the idea of a foodbank emerged. We decided to become part of the Trusell Trust network, which importantly means that those we help will be referred to us by care professionals, who are best placed to decide who is in need of food.

Individuals and families can only be referred to us three times over a six month period, allowing us to help those who are most in need without creating a dependency culture.

Most students involved at the chaplaincy are motivated by Jesus Christ’s teaching on poverty and injustice: the challenge

Loading up for the foodbank.

Photo: Tim Byron SJ

“The students … wished to do something that would help prevent people from falling into destitution” to treat the stranger with the same respect and dignity as our dearest friends. The unique characteristic of Manchester Central Foodbank is the potential to unite the student community with the local community, by helping those people who are in crisis. The students provide a warm and friendly atmosphere to clients who come, because the opportunity to talk and experience a compassionate viewpoint or advice is as important as the distribution of food.

In a few short months, the students amassed a store of food to put together the weekly hampers and we are surprised at the numbers of people – individuals and families – who have been referred to us for help. This first

student-led foodbank in the country has been welcomed with comments like: “Thank God this service has opened up, I don’t know what I would have done without you”.

But it is important to maintain a consistent level of donations from the community to feed the weekly flow of people we will be helping. We try to put our faith into action through acts of charity to those that need it most.

“What is important is that we don’t just look at them from afar or help from afar”, said Pope Francis, referring to the poor. Crossing the threshold of a foodbank is often an act of desperation involving humility and swallowing of pride – we are very sensitive to that. l

FIND OUT MORE To find out more visit www. manchestercentral.foodbank.org.uk or e-mail info@manchestercentral. foodbank.org.uk Donations can be made out to ‘Manchester Central Foodbank’ and are gratefully received. jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 15

EDUCATION

Stonyhurst: rich in heritage, rooted in the present Dawn Johnson explores the historic heart of the British Province which played a significant role during the Suppression and remains a ‘special’ place today.

STONYHURST COLLEGE in Lancashire has a long and colourful history. It was originally founded in St Omer, northern France, in 1593

by Fr Robert Persons SJ under the patronage of Philip II of Spain. The purpose of the College was to provide a Catholic education for English boys at a time when such an education was prohibited in England. However, in 1762 the Jesuits were forced to move from St Omer, when the King of France expelled them from France, and re-established their school at Bruges. A further move was necessary in 1773, this time to Liège, following the worldwide Suppression of the Jesuits by the pope.

The school was again forced to retreat when Liège was besieged by the French Revolutionary Army, this time to its current location near Clitheroe in Lancashire. Three Jesuits and 12 boys arrived at the Stonyhurst house and estate on 29 August 1794. In the subsequent 200 years, Stonyhurst College has expanded and evolved to become the

thriving 470-strong Catholic boarding and day school it is today.There is also a prep school, Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall, with a further 220 pupils, on the same site.

“We are constantly encouraged to take the martyrs’ example into our lives, and to be men and women for others” Stonyhurst is steeped in history. There are several priest holes hidden within its walls and under its floorboards, an ever-present reminder of the cost of recusant Catholicism. Oliver Cromwell is alleged to have slept on a large oak table in the great hall, en route to the battle of Preston in 1648. In the same hall hang portraits of no fewer than seven alumni awarded the VC. Housed in one of the libraries is a noted collection of historical treasures and artefacts – precious and sacred objects

entrusted to the Jesuits and the College since the 16th century, including Mary Queen of Scots’ prayer book, St Thomas More’s crucifix (and even his hats!), illuminated manuscripts and embroidered vestments.

“Stonyhurst as a place is something quite extraordinary”, says Charlotte Redmond, last year’s Head of the Line (or head girl), who left Stonyhurst this summer to study biomedical science at Oxford. “Apart from my first day, I have never really stopped to appreciate the fact that we all go to school every day in a Grade I listed building; not many people can say that!”

The Jesuit heritage is also apparent in everyday school life at Stonyhurst, with the distinctive terminology familiar in some other Jesuit schools: academic year groups congregate in Playrooms, from the early Jesuits’ emphasis on the value of drama in education. Each year is named, not

The great outdoors – a science experiment at the school.

Building a church in Peru.

Photo: Charlie Hedley

Credit: Isabelle Thornton

16 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

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Stonyhurst College: ‘an exciting place to be’.

Credit: Stonyhurst College

by number, but as an aspect of language, such as Grammar, Syntax, Poetry, culminating in Rhetoric, which is Year 13. As a Jesuit school, each Playroom goes on retreat and learns about Ignatian spirituality.

In December, the feast of the brilliant scholar and martyr St Edmund Campion is especially celebrated, as is the feast of the St Omer martyrs in February. “We learn about, and celebrate, our Jesuit heritage” says Mary Flanagan, who is in the current Rhetoric year. “But more than that, we are constantly encouraged to take their example into our lives, and to be ‘men and women for others’, because that’s what they were, the people who founded Stonyhurst.”

Charlotte agrees: “My year worked together to pull off a hugely successful Poetry Banquet, to raise funds for the Stonyhurst Children’s Holiday Week, where pupils care for disabled and disadvantaged children over a week.

Our Rhetoric Fair raised money for the Ray of Light Children’s Centre in Zimbabwe, which supports vulnerable children. We’ve also supported an education project in Zanzibar and, closer to home, food banks and shelters

for the homeless, not only with donations but with voluntary work.”

All of which brings us to the Stonyhurst of today, drawing on its heritage but rooted in the real world, encouraging pupils to see how they can make a difference. David and Kate Finn, who have been Stonyhurst parents for seven years, said: “Stonyhurst gives pupils moral values that stay with them for life. This is a very special place that really has an impact on you. An education here gives pupils many opportunities, showing them what can be achieved in life.”

“Stonyhurst … is an exciting place to be – optimistic, full of opportunities, tapping into the talents of its pupils” Michel and Melanie Guiral’s son joined Stonyhurst last year for the sixth form, from France: “From the moment we made contact with Stonyhurst we had a good feeling about it. It is very much the Jesuit philosophy of combining an education with a social, caring ethos.”

Caroline Hindle, whose daughter Martha will soon be leaving for university after five years at Stonyhurst, agrees: “Stonyhurst provides pupils with a moral compass. They are terribly privileged to study here but they also spend a lot of time with people who lead disadvantaged lives. This really opens their eyes and has a huge impact on them.”

With its all-pervading sense of history and an almost palpable connection with the past, Stonyhurst is extraordinary.

But like all schools, it is an exciting place to be – optimistic, full of opportunities, tapping in to the infinite number of talents of its pupils. “It’s the people at Stonyhurst who really make it special – encouraging us to be all that we can be,” says Charlotte. “In my year, there are at least three future doctors whom I would gladly trust with my life; there are lawyers and economists ready to take on our challenging and everchanging world; there are scientists and engineers going on to discover and create; there are philosophers and linguists, entrepreneurs and journalists, even politicians! … 85 individuals ready to move on and change the lives of others for the better.” l jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 17

APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER

Praying with the Pope Pope Francis’ prayer themes for the coming months have a particular resonance for the people of South Africa, writes Fr Chris Chatteris SJ.

POPE FRANCIS’ general prayer intentions for this period invite sobering reflection on the state of our world.

I can remember a time when one saw no street children in South Africa. So why did it become an accepted fact of our urban life for there to be thousands of youngsters sleeping in doorways and begging at traffic lights?

The death throes of apartheid certainly crippled family life, as did apartheid itself, thanks to the migrant labour system.

However, because the painful transition took place at the same time as the HIV/ AIDS pandemic, it was a cruelly-timed double blow which wreaked havoc

with the ties that bind families and communities.

In South Africa, we have a Minister for Women and Children and People with Disabilities. The existence of such a minister is an eloquent statement of our poignant legacy. However, it also says something about the efforts being made to redress the wrongs done to the vulnerable.

Elders in the developing world struggle to pay for the bringing up of their children, many of whom may be AIDS orphans. This puts a huge, unequal and unfair strain on women. When a great-

Diepsloot Township, north of Johannesburg: an area of high unemployment and poverty.

Photo: David Taylor/ ACTSA

grandmother is obliged to bring up small children we are seeing the traditional extended family being tested to its limits.

This particular child’s prospects are not great, but if the great-grandmother had no job, he or she might also end up on the streets. Grandmothers and even great-grandmothers should not have to bring up entire families of small children.

While they may have the wisdom and expertise, they lack both the money and the physical strength.

The pope’s missionary intentions should therefore be seen in the light of these desperate needs. If we challenge young people to consecrate their lives to the Gospel in the religious life, the priesthood or the lay apostolate, let this not mean them fleeing from the harsh contemporary realities. If we seek Christian unity, and greater collaboration, let us do so in common projects to protect the most poor and vulnerable.

And let pre-evangelisation include the call to end poverty and lessen inequality in the way Pope Francis’ prophetic words and actions clearly impress ‘people of good will’ and make them more open to the Gospel. l

MORNING PRAYER

DECEMBER: That children who are

FEBRUARY: That the Church and

God, our Father, I offer You my day. I offer You my prayers, thoughts, words, actions, joys and sufferings in union with the Heart of Jesus, who continues to offer Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit,Who guided Jesus, be my guide and my strength today so that I may witness to your love.With Mary, the mother of our Lord and the Church, I pray for all Apostles of Prayer and for the prayer intentions proposed by the Holy Father this month. Amen.

victims of abandonment or violence may find the love and protection they need That Christians, enlightened by the Word incarnate, may prepare humanity for the Saviour’s coming

society may respect the wisdom and experience of older people That priests, religious, and lay people may work together with generosity for evangelisation

JANUARY: That all may promote

MARCH: That all cultures may respect

authentic economic development that respects the dignity of all peoples That Christians of diverse denominations may walk toward the unity desired by Christ

the rights and dignity of women That many young people may accept the Lord’s invitation to consecrate their lives to proclaiming the Gospel

18 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

THE INTERVIEW WITH POPE FRANCIS

In the service of the Lord and the Church Fr James Hanvey SJ considers some of of the messages contained in the interview with Pope Francis that was published in September on Thinking Faith (www.thinkingfaith.org).

THE INTERVIEW with Pope Francis was a new and developing form of papal communication. It allows the personality as well as the teaching and opinions of the pope to emerge. The genre and medium allow for a conversation that is both dynamic and evolving. Its style models a different genre in episcopal and magisterial speaking and relating.

Nevertheless, it offers a deep, strong but gentle call for change – perhaps conversion is a better word – both in the present ecclesial culture as well as in the secular world. It is all the more challenging because it is an invitation to transform that does not simply rehearse negativities, but presents us with a renewed vision of possibilities, of hope.

These are not grounded so much in a formal theological system as in a profound vision of a dynamic, compassionate and merciful God whose love embraces all humanity, especially the poor, despised and undervalued.

Francis speaks of and seeks to live out an incarnate love made intimate, real and personal in Jesus Christ; a holy love in the ‘hidden sanctity’ of ordinary lives.

He speaks not so much as a teacher but as a witness to what he has seen and experienced.

In contrast to the Church as “resident alien,” the pope offers a striking image of the Church as “field hospital.” This is not a Church that is inwardly focused, reconciled to its own marginality, or that obsesses about its own purity, inclined to substitute juridical observance for holiness. This is a Church in love with women and men, deeply attentive to their needs—the cry of souls as well as bodies.

It is a Church that knows that it too lives purely from this overwhelming grace of God’s love and mercy, and even in its own weakness moves with humility to the service of humanity.

“There is a balance and freedom here that is both attractive and creatively disturbing” Throughout the interview one is struck by the delicacy and respect the pope shows for all persons, whom he tries to see first as women and men loved by the Lord before they are distorted by social, moral, economic and political classifications. There is a balance and freedom here that is both attractive and creatively disturbing precisely because it asks us to see first without our categories.

Yet the interview moves at another level that is at least as challenging if not more so. It is both subtle and profound; one might call it the personal human narrative and Jesuit subtext of love and change before the immensity of God’s majesty—the Deus semper maior—an inexhaustible and incomprehensible love before which we can only kneel

in humility, adoration and loving service (Spiritual Exercises 114).

One familiar with the Spiritual Exercises cannot help but notice the way in which the whole of Pope Francis’ understanding of himself and his mission as Bishop of Rome is rooted in and shaped by the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. There can be no genuine Jesuit or Christian life unless it is lived out of gratitude for the compassion and saving mercy we receive from the Father in the life, passion, death and resurrection of his Son. Although there is a freshness to his words and actions, he has said nothing new.Yet his desire to refocus and rebalance us on the dynamic economy of God’s saving love “labouring and working in all things” is not just about style, it is about substance. In a simple, direct, personal way he is presenting us with the reality of a God who does not condemn the world but loves it more than it can believe or imagine (Jn. 3:16–17).

A God who can enter into the depths of our suffering, is not repulsed by our woundedness or disfigurements, who meets us wherever and whoever we are and heals us by bringing us ever closer to himself. l jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 19

OBITUARIES

Br Andrew Atkinson SJ Andrew Atkinson (Atco) was born as the First World War approached its end, on 14 January 1918, in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1938 and on taking his First Vows at Roehampton assumed the role of cook in the novitiate.

Among his many ministries and assignments in his 75 years as a Jesuit, Brother Atkinson was cook in Heythrop for 12 years, Southwell House for 15 years and Manresa House, Harborne, for seven years. He was

Minister in Wimbledon, Osterley, Blackpool, Preston and Mount Street, among other places. He took his Final Vows in 1948 but many years later requested to make a tertianship, which he did at Rathfarnham Castle in Dublin in 1969.

Brother Atkinson was appointed to the vocations promotion team soon afterwards and assisted with vocations promotion for the next 10 years. He retired from sacristan duties at Sacred Heart, Blackpool, shortly before the Jesuits left the parish there in 2004 and moved to Preston. He died in the St Wilfrid’s Community on 16 June 2013.

PRAY for those who have died recently. May they rest in peace.

• Mary Ballin • Mrs Florence G Beech • Mr Francis Boles • Mr John Campbell • Mr Theodore Clarke • Mr Terry Cooper • Margaret Crabtree • Pauline Crook • Mrs Marjorie Galvin • Mrs Pauline King

Fr Clarence Gallagher SJ Clarence Gallagher was born in 1929 in Detroit, Michigan and, when still a child, moved to Scotland with his family.

He entered the Society of Jesus at Harlaxton in 1950, after schooling at the junior seminary in Blairs, Aberdeen, and then spent a period as a diocesan seminarian at the Scots College in Rome.

After his First Vows as a Jesuit, Fr Gallagher studied at Campion Hall and at Heythrop, with regency at St Michael’s College in Leeds. He was ordained on Ignatius day (31 July) 1963, with tertianship in St Beuno’s soon afterwards.

Then followed studies in Canon Law in Rome and a period of teaching at Heythrop College where he was also superior of philosophers, before its move to Cavendish Square in London.

• Mrs M Koralewicz • Mr J M Lawless

He was then appointed superior of Sherwin House in Osterley and assistant for formation.

Fr Gallagher was Acting Provincial while the British Provincial, Fr Bernard Hall SJ, attended the 32nd General Congregation of the Society in 1974/75. He then spent four years teaching Canon Law at the Gregorian University in Rome, before returning to the Province in 1979 to become Socius (Assistant to the Provincial).

In 1981, he moved to Glasgow to become rector at St Aloysius, a position he held for four years. He was then appointed as dean of Canon Law at the Orientale in Rome and became the College’s rector in 1990.

In 1997, Fr Gallagher moved back to Britain as tutor in canon law and also minister at Campion Hall, Oxford. From there he moved in 2009 to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Boscombe, Dorset, where he died on 5 May 2013.

• Mrs Kathleen Lynch • Mr Amon Mapunda • Mr Peter McCaffrey • Mr Maurice Rodrigues • Mr James Gerard Tansey • Mrs M K Thomas • Mr R Thompson • Mrs Doris Walsh • Mr J Wheeler • Mr K M G Wheeler • Mrs Margaret Wright • Br Andrew Atkinson SJ • Fr Peter Bujko SJ • Br Davy Byrne SJ • Fr Henry Schembri SJ • Fr George Vass SJ

Our grateful thanks to all our generous supporters.Your service to faith and justice is remembered in the Masses and prayers of all our Jesuits.

SYRIA

SOUTH AFRICA More than 2 million Syrians have fled the conflict. They need our help.

See page 4

The Jesuits continue to engage with the poor but they depend on your support See page 7

PHILIPPINES Jesuits are working tirelessly to help those affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Please support them through Jesuit Missions. See page 2

Please make cheques payable to JM and send to JM, 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR You can donate online with gift aid at www.gbjm.org

20 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

APPEAL

For nearly 500 years the work of the Jesuits at the frontiers of the Church has been powered by gifts and bequests from faithful, generous and visionary people. Your love and support over the years makes you a part of our long history of service to the Church.

Would you consider making a gift in your will to ensure you remain part of our future?

By leaving a gift in your will to the Jesuits in Britain you will help to ensure a strong future for all the ministries you care about:

• building a fairer world for the poor both at home and overseas • nurturing the faith of young people in schools, universities and parishes • extending the intellectual apostolate through higher education and publishing • driving vocations

For more information on how to leave a gift in your will to the Jesuits please go to www.jesuit.org.uk/donate or complete and return the form below and we will send you more details.

Lord, you have given all to me.

To you I return it.

Give me only your love and your grace.

That is enough for me.

St Ignatius

✂ I would like to consider making a gift in my will to the Jesuits.

Please send me more information (please tick).

Address

I would particularly like to support Jesuit Missions I would like my gift to be applied where the need is greatest Title: Surname:

First name:

Postcode Email address I would prefer to be telephoned.

Phone number

Please complete and return to: Jane Hellings, Jesuit Provincial Offices, 114 Mount Street, London, W1K 3AH janehellings@gbsj.org

jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

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NEWS

Nearly one billion people go to bed hungry every night and three million children die from malnutrition every year. The Enough Food For Everyone IF campaign brought together over 200 organisations and tens of thousands of campaigners in the UK to call for the end of global hunger.

Jesuit Missions joined the campaign and throughout 2013 helped to make great progress in tackling some of the underlying causes of hunger, thanks to the thousands of people across the UK who made their voices heard. Jesuits, chaplains from Jesuit schools, staff from Jesuit parishes and the Jesuit Missions team joined hundreds at the religious lobby of parliament and thousands at the huge Hyde Park rally. To find out more about what the campaign achieved visit http://enoughfoodif.org/

James Potter and Fr Roger Dawson SJ, Chaplains at Wimbledon College, are joined

by Fr Michael O’Halloran SJ (centre) from the Sacred Heart parish at the religious lobby of parliament.

Moves and changes As a missionary order, Jesuits are constantly on the move, responding to where needs are greatest. Here are some of their latest assignments…

South Africa Fr David Rowan takes over as Regional Superior from Easter 2014

Wapping (London) Fr Harry Elias has joined the community and works in the Hurtado Jesuit Centre

Guyana Fr Jim Conway appointed to Lethem, as Director of Ministries among the Amerindian communities in the interior

Birmingham Fr Brendan Callaghan will take over as Director of Novices for the British, Irish, Flemish and Dutch Provinces after Easter 2014.

The novitiate will move to Ireland in due course

Wimbledon Fr Paul Fletcher has been appointed Superior of the Jesuit Community, which now includes Fr Michael Barnes. Monsignor Nicholas Hudson (Southwark) takes over as parish priest at Sacred Heart from 10 January 2014 Stonyhurst Fr Peter Griffiths to become parish priest of St Peter’s in January 2014 22 Jesuits & Friends Winter 2013

Oxford Fr Dushan Croos has become senior Chaplain to Oxford University.

Fr James Hanvey will be Master of Campion Hall and Superior from 1 December 2013 St Beuno’s Fr Roger Dawson to be Director of the Spirituality Centre from the end of April 2014

Mount Street (London) Fr Chris Boles has been appointed as Superior.

Fr Chris Pedley joins the parish staff. New arrivals: Fr Gerry Gallen (Chaplain to St Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney), Fr Michael Holman (Principal of Heythrop College) and Fr Simon Bishop (who has moved from Oxford to be the new Director of Spirituality for the Jesuits in Britain) Manchester Fr Ian Tomlinson appointed as Superior with Fr William Pearsall, Fr Tim Byron and Br Ken Vance on the Chaplaincy staff. Fr Edwin Thadheu (GUY) has begun a doctorate at Manchester University Ireland Fr Nick Austin and Fr Steve Patterson have begun the European Tertianship in Dollymount, Dublin Glasgow Fr Tim Curtis has been appointed parish priest, St Aloysius

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And what’s more…

Richard Greenwood chats with Sarah Teather, the Catholic Lib Dem MP for Brent Central, who announced that she will not be standing for re-election in 2015.

YOU’VE BEEN particularly active in the IF Campaign and I understand you were lobbied by nuns!

Yes, the nuns in my constituency are pretty active, not just on the IF campaign but on environmental causes, poverty and arms sales too. People think there’s no point in lobbying politicians who agree with them but MPs find it really motivating to get lobbied on things they actually agree with, because most of the time they’re lobbied on things they don’t like or aren’t that bothered about! So even if your MP is basically onside, it’s a good idea to contact them because you’ve no idea what other horrors are in their postbag!

Christians bring an important perspective to lots of political debates because Christianity has a richer vision about what it means to be human. It’s easy for politics to overlook the human face entirely, as issues get narrowed to crude political dividing lines for the sake of polls and headlines, or reduced to questions of managerial efficiency.

I should say too that Jesuits have such a depth of expertise to bring to questions about policy because of their international perspective and the breadth of their training.

Should young Catholics get involved with public life as a way of living out their faith?

Politics was for me a vehicle for living out a deeper sense of vocation around working for social justice. I have decided at this point that I should now pursue that vocation in other ways, but I think politics can and should be a noble vocation and it’s a good way to work for a better society. Of course, you don’t have to get elected to parliament to be involved in politics. There are other ways, such as working on national campaigns with charities – like IF for example, or you can work with

residents’ groups in your local area to improve your street or school, or stand for your local council.

What do you think you’ll be working on in the last 18 months as an MP? I expect that much of my remaining 18 months in parliament will be spent on immigration issues. I’m Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees and represent a very diverse constituency, so these issues matter to me a great deal. Depressingly, I think immigration looks set to dominate the political agenda between now and the General Election. I’m particularly horrified by the general direction of government policy in this area, including the new Immigration Bill. It will catch many very vulnerable people in new punitive measures intended to make Britain hostile to people who don’t have status to be here.The government is classing all such people as ‘illegal immigrants’ which is very misleading.

Many came here fleeing war and found themselves caught in a Home Office administrative black hole. Others don’t quite meet the strict definition of refugee in the Geneva Convention but cannot go home because it’s unsafe. Regardless of their paperwork, people still deserve to be treated with humanity.

Is there anything the Catholic community can do on the issues?

I think it is really important that Catholics speak up for a more humane treatment of migrants. This is an issue the Jesuits are already showing the way on.

The Jesuit Refugee Service is an extraordinary organisation working with

those who have to flee their homes through no fault of their own. It has been wonderful too to see Pope Francis give such a clear lead on Lampedusa. I would like to see Catholics in Britain take a similarly vocal stand and play their part in public debates about how we treat migrants. If Catholics don’t speak up, few others will.

Should people get engaged, write to their MPs for example?

There are lots of ways for people to get engaged. They can write to or email their MP and ask for their letter to be passed to the Prime Minister, attend an MP’s advice surgery, write to newspapers and give views, and encourage others in their local church to do the same. There is always a danger that reasonable people just sit at home and moan at the TV screen rather than doing something more active. If you think Britain should be treating people who have fled war, torture and persecution better, don’t just ‘like’ someone else’s Facebook status: get on and do something about it yourself.

Otherwise you may wake up to a country you don’t like very much.

Is there anything in particular about Ignatian Spirituality that’s guided you?

I’m not sure I could ever repay the debt that I feel I owe Ignatian Spirituality for the gifts it has given me in my life. I actually made the decision about whether to stand for Parliament again while doing the full Spiritual Exercises this summer at Loyola Hall. I am sure I shall be reaping the benefits of the Exercises for many years to come. l jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 23

2014 Jesuit Calendar

JULY Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins

SJ

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) was an English poet and convert from Anglicanism. He developed a love of the arts as a young boy, and continued to write and paint for most of his life. When he entered the Jesuits he destroyed most of his early poetic works, and stopped writing, until one of his Superiors encouraged him to take it up again.

Hopkins went on to develop a poetic technique which he described as ‘sprung rhythm’ which used to particularly good he effect to describe nature. was innovative, employing His use of language ancient as well as dialect invented new words. words, and he even It was only after his death when his friend Bridges, the Poet Laureate, Robert published a volume of his genius began to be Hopkins’ work, that recognised. He has a plaque in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Produced to Commemorate the Bicentenary of the Restoration of the worldwide Society of Jesus 1814-2014

Glory be to God for dappled things— For skies of couple-colou r as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple Fresh-firecoal chestnut-fall upon trout that swim; s; finches’ wings; Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, And áll trádes, their and plough; gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him.

Pied Beauty

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

1

May

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Aug Cardinal

2014 Calendar

14

15

FRIDay

SaTURDay

SUNDay

11

31

17

16

15

St Andrew

22

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Bobola

24

31

30

29

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THURSDay

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£7.00

17

23

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SUNDAY 5

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St Ignatius Loyola

‫הָמ ּונ‬-‫א‬ ‫יֵנֹדֲא הָוהְי‬

1814-2014

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TUESDay

SATURDAY 4

10

the earth!! name in all َ‫ِتاَوا‬ ul is your‫ مَّسلا َقْوَف َكَلَالَج َتْلَعَج‬γ τη w wonderf ْ‫ُث‬ r Lord, ho‫ يَح ِضْرَألا ِّلُك يِف َكَمْسا‬ά σου εν πάση ou , RD LO َ ομ ‫د‬ َ O ‫ جْمَأ اَم اَنُدِّي‬υμασ τόν το όν ‫َس‬ ُ ّ ‫ب‬ َ ّ ‫رلا‬ ‫ا‬ َ ‫ه‬ ُ ّ ‫يَأ‬ ών ως θα the earth!! κυριός ημ name in all َ‫ِتاَوا‬ ul is your‫ مَّسلا َقْوَف َكَلَالَج َتْلَعَج‬γ τη w wonderf ْ‫ُث‬ r Lord, ho‫ يَح ِضْرَألا ِّلُك يِف َكَمْسا‬ά σου εν πάση َ ομ ‫د‬ َ ‫ج‬ ْ O LORD,‫َس‬ou ‫م‬ όν ‫َأ‬ ‫اَم اَنُدِّي‬ ασ τόν το υμ ! ‫ُّبَّرلا اَهُّيَأ‬ θα ών ως all the eaَ‫ا‬rth κυριός ημ ur name in َ ‫!ِتاَو مَّسلا‬ erful is yo ‫قْوَف َكَلَالَج‬ how wond‫ َتْلَعَج ُثْيَح ِضْرَألا ِّلُك‬υ εν πάση τη γ , rd Lo r ομά σο َ‫يِف َكَمْسا َد‬ O LORD,‫َس‬ou ‫ جْمَأ اَم اَنُدِّي‬υμασ τόν το όν ‫ُّبَّرلا اَهُّيَأ‬ e earth! ών ως θα ! me in all th κυριός ημ is your naَ‫ِتاَواَمَّسلا َقْوَف َكَلَالَج َتْل‬ ul erf nd , how wo‫ عَج ُثْيَح ِضْرَألا ِّلُك ي‬υ εν πάση τη γ rd Lo r ou O LORD,‫ ِف َكَمْسا َدَجْمَأ اَم اَنُدِّيَس‬τόν το όνομά σο υμασ ‫ُّبَّرلا اَهُّيَأ‬ ών ως θα κυριός ημ MONDay

of the RESTORATION

FRIDAY 3

9

Martyrs of China

21

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The BICENTENARY

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a German 1968) was reflection th Bea (1881his in-dep of the Augustin through r Jesuit who, became a pionee re, Catholic on scriptu movement in the the Jews. ecumenical of dialogue with Province Church and German Jesuit in 1921. the He joined became Provincial Pius in 1902 and re. He assisted Pope and tor Dei), teach scriptu liturgy (MediaXXIII made Bea Rome to on to letters he went encyclical ). In 1959, Pope John the Secretariat In 1924, drafting his g ent of e Spiritu XII with first Presid was central in helpin o Afflant the (Divin as ted him n to Nonthe Bible n II, Bea At Vatica h’s Relatio and appoin Scripture ian Unity. ent on the Churc a cardinal itution on to ting Christ for Promo revolutionary docum ), and the Const of his life ted the rest to draft the (Nostra Aetate permission il he dedica Religions, he asked Christian the Counc s. On his death, in the Black m). After birthplace (Dei Verbu and interfaith matter Cardinals small village e are many passers-by ecumenism to be buried in his on: “Ther and traditi one, the body only be as was for his there will in Rome in my village Forest, not Rome, but for my soul.” buried in the and pray will notice anity, if

THURSDAY 2

Saints And Blessed of Europe

7

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incl posta ge & packagin g

MONDay

Fr Pedro Arru

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-‫ץֶרָאָה‬

TueSDay

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Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991) since St Ignatius was to be Superio the first Basque Jesuits. He r Genera began to train entering the as a doctor l of the Society and before Japanese Provinc became a member of e. When dropped in the August 1945, the atomic bomb was the commu nity on the he was novice master edge of Hirosh organised at the novices ima and he to in the city. elected Genera He became care for many victims l of the Jesuits and was widely in 1965. He Provincial in Japan respected and was was an inspirat the light of as a ‘re-foun Vatican ional leader der’ of the being an integra II. He became a vocal advoca Society of Jesus in modern world. l part of the preach te of peace ing of the Just before Good News and justice he establis hed the Jesuit he was incapacitated in the than 50 countr Refugee Service by a stroke in 1981, ies worldw , now at work ide. today in more

“Whaatt is “Wh it to answer for be an optimist?

I can myself in fashion: he a very simp or le the convictio she is a person who has n that God and will know do what is best for s, can do humanki nd.”

WeDNeSDay

THurSDay

FrIDay

SaTurDay 1

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SuNDay 2

4 5 6 Martyrs of

10

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7

India

8 Martyrs of

11 12

13 14 15

17 18 19 was a -1955) gist, din (1881 and geolo rd de Char ontologist and Pierre Teilha sophe 24 r, palae Africa and Asia philo sively in French 25n that ht the ed exten investigatio who work the scientific China. He broug 26 of uality in was part ‘Peking Man’ and spirit religion described discovered s of science, what he alongside sit experience reflected on to t, and e of Chris es. Teilhard together, ic’ natur natur nce as the ‘cosm n and divine t’s prese the huma of Chris of Christ’s in the light the trajectory m of the gy and for on ecolo human history am a pilgri past.” deeply said; “I d to in the reflected he looke come. As he once entirely ey made lly to publish his in our world in times to a journ ated race back from y forbidden forma gs were circul the human my way ntial in e, his writin was largel future on n II. Teilhard during his lifetim and became influe n at Vatica religio Although to gues tions and reflec he used and collea science ience,” spiritual friends dialogue with ual exper among .” widely Church’s s having a spirit n experience the of n being g a huma shaping not huma beings havin ual “We are waves, are spirit ds, “We win say, ing

Fr Pierre

Makes a great Christmas gift!

Order your copy today.

Teilhard

9

Japan

in SJ

16

de Chard

20 21

St Claude La Colombière

22 23 27 28

master ll har ness the y,, after e day meeda , we sha Som ond tim “So “ gravity the sec anity tides and love; and for hum of world, energy of the .” history red fire in the e discove will hav

Each month commemorates a significant Jesuit active in the last 200 years. It features 12 original paintings, short biographies and reflections.

AY THURSD

AY WEDNESD 1

TUESDAY

FRIDAY

Y SATURDA

SUNDAY

5

4

3

2 12

Holy The Most Jesus Name of

MONDAY

11

10 Mary, Mothe

r of God

9

8

19

7

18

6

17 16 15

ny The Epipha

26

14

25

13

24 23 22 21 20

The calendar is full colour, 353x250 cm (14x10 inches approx.) and is supplied with a white gift envelope.

31 30 29 28 27

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