Jesuits and Friends Summer 2011

Jesuits and Friends A faith that does justice Summer 2011 Issue 79

PL EA gr A SE

at ll TA ef d K ul on E ly a A re tio C ce ns OP iv Y ed

Fr General visits the UK Dermot Preston becomes the next Provincial New Regional Superior for Guyana

For us Christians, God himself is the source of charity; and charity is understood not merely as generic benevolence but as self-giving, even to the sacrifice of one’s life for others in imitation of the example of Jesus Christ. The Church prolongs Christ’s saving mission in time and space: she wishes to reach out to every human being, moved by a concern that every individual come to know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (cf. Rom 8:35).

Have you or someone you know considered life as a Jesuit priest or brother?

For more information, contact: BRITAIN – Fr Matthew Power SJ Loyola Hall, Warrington Road, Prescot L35 6NZ Tel: + 44 (0)151 426 4137, matthew.power@jesuits.net GUYANA – Fr Edwin Thadheu SJ Jesuit Residence, PO Box 10720, Georgetown, Guyana Tel: + 592 22 67461, getedwinsj@gmail.com SOUTH AFRICA – Fr Russell Pollitt SJ Holy Trinity, PO Box 31087, Johannesburg 2017, South Africa, Tel: + 27 (0)11 339 2826, rp@sj.org.za

Pope Benedict XVI Or visit www.jesuitvocations.org.uk

JRS has moved...

New Address: JRS-UK, Hurtado Jesuit Centre, 2 Chandler Street, Wapping, E1W 2QT. New Telephone number: 020 7488 7310 E Mail: uk@jrs.net Web Site: www.jrsuk.net The purpose of JRS UK is to accompany, to serve and to advocate on behalf of all asylum seekers from their first arrival until they are satisfactorily settled. This work is carried out in collaboration with other JRS offices round the world, other Church and secular organisations, voluntary and governmental, which are active in the same field.

Contents

Summer 2011 Issue 79

Jesuits and Friends is published three times a year by the British Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), in association with JM. Tim Curtis SJ Executive Editor Ged Clapson

Fr General at the site of Tyburn Tree in Marble Arch, the place of execution of many of the Jesuit martyrs of the British Province.

Editor Editorial group: Denis Blackledge SJ James Conway SJ Alan Fernandes James Potter Siobhan Totman

Fr General & James Conway SJ at the opening of the Hurtado Centre - See page 20. (Photo credit Ruth Morris) St. Ignatius Loyola, Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, Courtesy of Trinity Stores, (www.trinitystores.com)

Graphic Design:

Ian Curtis www.firstsightgraphics.com Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company

Editorial Fr Tim Curtis SJ

4

Letters from our Tertians

Interview with the New Provincial Guyanese correspondent

4

Reflections of a weary missionary Fr Dermot Preston SJ

6

Fr Dushan Croos, Fr Gerry Gallen & Fr Roger Dawson

16

www.magprint.co.uk To protect our environment,

Jesuit Young Adult Ministries in London

papers used in this publication are produced by mills that promote sustainably managed forests and utilise Elementary Chlorine Free process to produce fully recyclable

New Regional Superior for Guyana Staff reporter Fr General visits the British Province - a pictorial reflection

System conforming with BS EN ISO 14001:2004.

Editorial office: 11 Edge Hill London SW19 4LR Tel: 020 8946 0466 Email: director@gbjm.org

New Housing Project for Chishawasha Makumborenga T. Ignatius

18

Apostleship of Prayer

19

Bits and Pieces

20

7

8

material in accordance with an Environmental Management

Siobhan Totman

10 Book Reviews

St John’s Beaumont Old Windsor

12 Fr Tim Curtis SJ & Fr Denis Blackledge SJ

Shaken but not stirred Fr Peter Milward SJ

14 Remembering those who have gone before us 22

South Africa Celebrates Vatican II Milestone Raymond Perrier

15 How you can help

21

23

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

3

From the Editor...

Holiday time for some people means finding a “place in the sun”. Suitably slathered with factor 50 sunscreen, one can lie in the sun and feel the sun’s rays penetrate right into the body. I don’t know if St Ignatius indulged in a bit of sun bathing while he was recuperating from the cannonball wound at Loyola Castle, but he certainly uses the image of the sun’s rays falling on the body in the fourth week of his Spiritual Exercises.

A person lying in the sun, provided the beach was not too crowded, could easily imagine that the sun’s rays were just for them, whereas, in fact, thousands of other people are having the same experience at the same time. Also, the person lying in the sun just receives the warmth and the light. It is a one way relationship, it is impossible to give anything back.

This little mental exercise helps us to understand something of the mystery of our relationship with God. All of our other relationships are reciprocal, a matter of give and take, of sharing and receiving.

With God it is different. God only gives and we only receive. That can feel a little frustrating for those of us who want to feel that we are being generous, but the truth is, I have nothing that God needs. I have to learn to live with that fact.

My relationship with God is individual and deeply personal. I can feel that I am unique and that God loves me very especially. The fact of the matter is that this is quite true, yet, at the same time, God is loving everyone else in exactly the same way.

The British Province is feeling blessed by God at the moment, as we have enjoyed a visit from Fr General and we have a new Provincial. I hope you enjoy reading about these and the other blessings in the pages that follow.

Of course, every analogy breaks down eventually.

If I lie in the sun too long, I will get burnt. Yet, basking in the glory of God’s grace is never too much. So, enjoy your holidays and, whatever you are doing, let it remind you of God’s complete love for you.

4

Jesuits Jesuits & Friends & Friends Summer Summer 2011 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

Fr Dermot Preston, the New Provincial of the British Province, in his office in Guyana r General has named Fr Dermot Preston, currently the Regional Superior of Guyana, as the new British Province Provincial in succession to Fr Michael Holman. Dermot has experience of both British Province Regions, as formerly he spent 7 years working in the South Africa Region. He knows something of the pressure of what it is like to be a Provincial as he was the Socius (right hand man) to both Fr David Smolira and Fr Michael Holman. Fr Dermot is a proud Lancashire man and a keen movie buff. Our reporter caught up with him in Georgetown Guyana and managed to ask him some searching questions about his new job...

JnF: Congratulations on being named the new British Province provincial! What were your reactions when you heard the news?

DP: A little surprised - I knew that I was being considered, but I had thought I was somewhat 'protected' as I had still not completed my time as Regional Superior here in Guyana. It is a tremendous honour, but it is quite an unnerving responsibility. There are times when I think about it that I get a cold sweat even in this humid climate!

JnF: When will you be leaving Guyana and when will you be taking over as Provincial? Will you get a break between the two jobs?

DP: It is a little complex as I have to properly handover to a new Regional Superior here in Guyana and then scoot back to Britain to take over the baton from Michael before he dies of old age. Hopefully I'll get a little break

F

Photography: James Broscombe

back in Burnley, probably eating bacon sandwiches and nostalgically watching my brother's box-set of "The Fugitive", before taking over the reins on 1st September 2011.

JnF: Starting a new job like this one must be daunting, where do you begin?

DP: Small! And in groups and oneto-one talking to the Jesuits in Britain.

I have been out of Britain for 11 of the last 16 years so I will be coming with something of an 'outsider's' view and this will be very valuable, but I need to catch-up and quickly feel the pulse of the wider Province as it is at the moment.

JnF: What will be the biggest challenge in leading the British Province over the next six years?

DP: Keeping a sense of humour and keeping a sense of proportion and radiating both of those to others.

There is an ancient rabbinic saying referring to the tilling of the light claycoloured earth of the Holy Land: "Ours is the red; God's is the green." We are at work in the vineyard of the Lord, so we can only do so much and no more; the rest is the activity of the Holy Spirit.

JnF: What would you like to be remembered for as British Province Provincial?

DP: As being a great Provincial! A Jesuit historian once commented that the great Jesuit Generals didn't necessarily do great things, but they allowed great things to be done. That is my task.

JnF: What will you miss about Guyana?

DP: Many things - most of which are interlinked. Although the country is the size of England & Wales combined, the small population (800,000) means that there is a 'homeliness' and informality to the Church, the nation and the people which is engaging. It will be a jolt to move back into Big Britain.

JnF: What movie do you think would describe your life in the Society to date?

DP: "The Maltese Falcon"!

Humphrey Bogart, as Private Eye Sam

Spade, manages to figure out some things, but most of the time he doesn't know what the hell is going on and he's just having to deal with whatever comes next... That feels about right at the moment!

JnF: Thanks for your time, Fr Dermot, our prayers go with you as you begin your new job.

Sam Spade: "Haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?"

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

5

JM

Reflections of a weary missionary “And the Lion will lie down with the Lamb... but the Lamb won’t get much sleep.” Woody Allen

y mother was raised on a farm in County Cork in Ireland.

Although she eventually left to become a doctor, she with her brothers, Denis (who became a vet) and Paddy (who inherited the farm) was at ease with the land, creatures & star-filled night skies.

But I have been formed by town & city and although that gives certain strengths, I am noticeably uneasy with the natural world. Johnny Morris with his talking animals and David Attenborough in the bat-cave are my queasy limits with regards ‘The Living Planet’. I’ve also never been naturally adventurous, avoiding the pleasures of water-skiing, hang-gliding or extreme ironing, but the Jesuits have propelled me into various situations for which I had no natural inclination and these situations have, invariably, challenged me and enriched me.

Encounters with the interior of Guyana have been such experiences. I have been privileged to walk among the Wapishana, Macushi & Patamona, seeing their simpler more basic ritesof-life and finding that my own lifevalues have been enhanced. But as I walk among the Wapishana, Macushi & Patamona, I step carefully, with the shuffle of an edgy potential victim. I scan the Guyanese heavens for the Harpy Eagle, the world’s largest raptor, which can carry off a sheep and might one day just fancy its chances with a fresh Lancastrian. I peer

M

6

through the bushes hoping not to come face-to-face with the aggressive Bushmaster, the most poisonous snake in the Americas: 3 full metres of fangs and one huge angermanagement problem. I shake-out my shoes each morning to avoid coming toe-to-hairy-leg with The Goliath, the bird-eating spider of Roraima. None of these creatures were native to Burnley: I am uneasy.

Long-drop toilets, candles and torches, kerosene stoves are the order of the day for journeyman, and although after a while you do start to get used to the difference, there were times when, sitting on my bag in the noisy seat-less fuselage of an aged Cessna, en route to the gold-mining village of Mahdia, I used to ponder my plight and recall Danny Glover’s words to Mel Gibson in “Lethal Weapon”: “Riggs... I’m getting too old for this.”

Some expats happily go-native and experience the joys of eating bugs and raw meat, but I soon realised you’ve got to do some things your way, no matter what others might think, as the alternative leads to insanity. The Amerindians are not keen on headgear, but a big broad-brimmed hat was my constant companion, warding off the unforgiving Amazonian sun. As I look at it now, lying on my desk, it is falling apart a bit, but it has served me well. There were good days when, set at a rakish angle, I fancied I might look like Stewart Granger playing Allan Quartermain in “King Solomon’s Mines”, but deep in my heart, I knew I looked more like my Uncle Paddy.

When out in the wilds to try and keep clean you have to ad lib somewhat: soaking in South American rivers with their playful mixture of piranha and anaconda always struck me as quaintly kamikaze-like approach to hygiene, but if you search for something resembling a more traditional bath or shower you have to take your chances.

In one Jesuit encampment, the community bar of soap looked like

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

soap, and lathered like soap but actually had the unmistakable aroma of cow-pat. It cleaned, but I don’t know how I smelt for those couple of days.

Shaving without a mirror is a skill with which I still struggle: it is only as the day wears on and you find parts of your face rougher than others that you realise that all is not well in the Land of Remington. Raw skin, stubble and beard smeared themselves in unequal amounts around my head and I always felt a bit of a down-and-out in the Pakaraima hills.

With regards shoes, the Amerindians happily wear ‘flip-flops’ on their feet scorning the predatory insect called the djigger, which burrows quietly between nail-and-toe and can play havoc with the human metabolism if left unattended; instead I wore a pair of size-13 hiking boots which always looked as if they had been prised from the legs of Neil Armstrong; they weren’t terribly indigenous but I took great satisfaction in having given numerous djiggers terminal toothache. The boots actually took a lot of getting used to because of the unfamiliar way they used to grip my ankles; I developed a peculiar sprung walk that gave me the feeling that I was on stilts. Fortunately for my selfimage I realised early on that my booted-gait was, in fact, not-unlike the strange loping step of Clint Eastwood playing Detective Harry Callaghan, so I strode the trails with pride.

I suppose we really don’t have much idea of what impression, if any, we leave behind us. However I take hope from a dream I had recently where an Amerindian man bursts into his home in Aishalton and jubilantly calls his family to attention.

“Come quickly and see the new English priest!” he shouts, excitedly, “He might smell like Shrek... and shave like Yasser Arafat – but he walks like Dirty Harry..!”

Fr Dermot Preston SJ

JM

Fr General appoints Fr Paul Martin to Guyana

r General has appointed Fr Paul Martin to be the new Regional Superior of Guyana.

Fr Paul is no stranger to readers of Jesuits and Friends, as he has often written articles about his work with the Amerindian peoples of Guyana.

Paul is 51 years old and was born in Liverpool. After studying maths at Liverpool University, Paul spent one year working at Jospice International with the terminally ill, before entering the Society at the age of 24.

His noviciate in Birmingham was followed by philosophy studies at Heythrop College in London. It was during this time that Paul felt a call to work in Guyana, and was appointed there for his regency.

His first year was spent at St Pius Parish in Georgetown with Fr Joe Chira and Fr Ben Parrott. Here he was able to experience at first hand some of the reality of third world poverty yet at the same time some of the joy and vibrancy of a Christian community who were able to see their daily struggles in the light of the gospel. For his second year he had the chance to visit both the lush rainforest and rolling hills of the Pakaraima Mountains in the company of Fr Fred Rigby and also the vast open savannahs of the Rupununi in the company of Fr Peter Britt-Compton. He was very impressed by the work of the Society in this vast and complex country and asked his Superiors if he could return to Guyana after his ordination. With this end in view, he went to Belo Horizonte in Brazil for his theological studies.

His ordination was back in the UK in 1996, and most of his time since then has been spent in the more remote

F

parts of the interior of Guyana. His first appointment was to be Parish Priest of the Pakaraima Mountains, an area about the same size as Wales. With no roads connecting the many villages that made up his parish, Paul would spend much of his time “on the trail” visiting his different outstations and strengthening the many catholic communities that make up the parish. The focus of much of his work was the formation of the PLAs (the Parish Lay Assistants) who are the Christian leaders of the communities.

In 2007, Paul was joined in the mountains by an Indian Jesuit, Fr Paulose Valakada. In addition to Paulose’s arrival, through the generosity of his supporters in the UK, JM was able to help Paul purchase a quad bike. Thus not only was the manpower increased but also the “horsepower” and between them, Paulose and Paul could visit the communities more regularly and arrive with much more energy to give to the work in hand.

In the Christmas of 2008. Paul came down from the mountains to live in Karasabai, a village in the foothills of the Pakaraimas. Two years later at Christmas 2010, Fr Paul was joined in Karasabai by two Indian Ursuline sisters, Divya and Seraphina. Four more Indian sisters were already living and working alongside the Jesuits in Aishalton.

This collaborative ministry holds great promise for the future.

One very tangible fruit from earlier collaboration with an American Wesleyan lay missionary who has been working among Guyanese Amerindians for over 40 years has been the translation of the New Testament into Patamona, the language of one of the tribes in the North Pakaraimas. Fr Paul helped organize the Catholic participation in this ecumenical effort. With the help

Photography: James Broscombe

of Jesuit Missions soon the people of the north Pakaraimas will have a New Testament in their own language. Not only will this be a tool for evangelization but also “a way of preserving and valuing the unique cultural heritage of this people”.

While Paul will now have to move from the interior to the coast he intends to keep his hammock and his worashi (Amerindian rucksack) close at hand for the trips he will continue to make to help and support the work being done by other members of the Guyana Region in the interior. He certainly will not forget the people he has served over the years, and will visit them frequently, but his mission now is to lead all of the Jesuits of the region to serve the whole people of Guyana. He feels daunted by the task ahead yet at the same time confident that the Good Lord who has brought him this far along the trail will not abandon him now.

In a comment in an e mail, Paul says: “JM has been a great support to me during my years in the interior and I am looking forward to working closely with you in our shared mission to the people of Guyana.”

Readers of Jesuits and Friends have been very supportive of all of the works of the Jesuits in Guyana, and Paul is hopeful that this generosity of spirit will continue as new partnerships are formed.

We wish Paul all of God’s blessings on his new ministry and on the development of the Region.

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

7

Visit of Fr General to the British Province Tuesday 12 April Saturday 16 April 2011

“God is a God who transforms people. I think this is at the basis of Jesuit spirituality, of Ignatian spirituality, which is a spirituality of growth, of change, of transformation.”

“Jesus speaks of a freedom that has to happen in the heart of the person: it is open, searching and comes from an attentive heart, a heart that is not distracted.”

“I think this is what Jesus tells us through the passion: “I don’t want the people to decide what kind of person I am. I want to be free, not act from fear. I want to be free and to do the will of the Father”.

8

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

“You have been witnesses at a distance of the triple disaster in Japan: earthquake, tsunami and damage to a nuclear plant and the resulting danger. We all have admired and are admiring how the Japanese as a people are reacting to this.”

“Faith is like having the musical sense. When God sings we hear it. When the spirit murmurs in our ears, we hear it. It’s a music that sings with the harmony of our hearts.”

Fact File on Fr Adolfo Nicolas “I was ordained forty four years ago but I have to confess that this is the first time I have spoken from a pulpit. And the first time I have had such a wonderful choir with trumpets behind me. Again, thank you very much.”

Born

April 29, 1936 (age 75) Villamuriel de Cerrato, Spain

Nationality

Spanish

Occupation

Superior General of the Society of Jesus (Elected 19 January 2008)

Ordination

17 March 1967

Qualifications

Doctor in theology (Pontifical Gregorian University) (1971)

Languages

Spanish, Catalan, English, Italian, French, and Japanese

Mission in the Society * Teacher at Tokyo University (1971 – 1993) * Provincial of Japan (1993 – 1999) * Working with Immigrants in Tokyo (1999 – 2004) * Moderator of the East Asian Assistancy (2004 – 2008) Affirmation on Election “The Society of Jesus was born within the Church, we live in the Church, we were approved by the Church and we serve the Church. This is our vocation...Unity with the pope is the symbol of our union with Christ. It also is the guarantee that our mission will not be a 'small mission,' a project just of the Jesuits, but that our mission is the mission of the Church.”

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

9

JM

Chishawasha a new challenge

he first colonisers marched into what is now Zimbabwe in 1890, lured by Cecil Rhodes’ promise of gold. When there turned out to be no gold, Rhodes had to reward them with land. Thus the colonials took large tracts of the best land, moving the original inhabitants to overcrowded poorer land.

From that day on, land has been a burning issue in Zimbabwe, culminating in the violent take-over of white-owned farms during the past ten years.

Jesuit relations with the Chishawasha estate has been part of this hundred

T

10

year history of the land issue.

The first Jesuit, Gonçalo da Silveira, came to the country in 1560 – he was murdered. The next Jesuits came in 1879 – most of them died of malaria.

Finally, the Society of Jesus took advantage of the arrival of the European settlers to gain a successful opening for their missionary work. They applied to Chief Chinhamhora for land to build a mission, followed by the grant of the Chishawasha title deeds by the colonial administration.

The Jesuits built their mission in 1892 among the local vaShawasha people.

Some of the land was allocated to a farm to support their work. Other parts of the estate were later designated for a seminary, Silveira House development training centre, St Ignatius boys’ boarding school, St Dominic’s girls boarding school, and several other primary and secondary

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

schools, convents, clinics, etc.

The aim of the Jesuits in accepting this land was to use it to promote their core activity of evangelisation, but also to provide a home for the people being driven off their land by the colonials. Thus the estate is currently occupied by several church institutions, in between which are the homesteads of the local vaShawasha people. But the entire estate is owned by the Society of Jesus.

Over the years, efforts were made by the mission and Silveira House to teach new farming methods and ways of planning the use of money (savings clubs and credit unions).

But since the Chishawasha estate is only 20 km outside the capital, the families living between the church properties have also benefited from nearby city employment and business opportunities.

So the character of the estate has gradually evolved from rural peasant farming, to market gardening, to a

JM

Photo credit: Fr Nigel Johnson SJ

dormitory settlement for Harare. But this proximity to the capital has also brought illegal settlers indulging in soil-eroding cultivation methods, dangerous, unregulated mining operations and deforestation.

The Jesuits never anticipated the day when they would have to act as enforcers of conservation and good order. However, as they have handed over more and more responsibility to the residents, the Jesuits’ power to act has diminished.

This was underlined when they received a formal complaint from the local Rural Council, citing environmental concerns.

Today, in 2011, there is an added concern.

A growing sense of insecurity has arisen among the legal residents. They have repeatedly said that they do not trust ownership of the land passing to either central or local government. Neither do they want individual plots of their ancestral land to be handed over to occupants who will probably sell to the highest bidder. They support continued Jesuit ownership of the estate.

There is currently talk of a ‘coup’ by the government or the City of Harare, which would take away from the

Jesuits control over the estate, and who has a right to live there. There are also fears that outside business people and speculators will use political influence to diminish further what power the Jesuits have to facilitate a new development strategy for Chishawasha in the interests of its inhabitants.

The Society of Jesus in Zimbabwe is thus fighting a war on two fronts: assuring the rightful residents of Chishawasha of their tenure, and at the same time contributing to the development of the area in the shadow of others wishing to move in with their own version of ‘development.’ According to Fr Fidelis Mukonori, the Jesuit representative for the Chishawasha Estate, the Province “has no option but to come up with a comprehensive development plan.”

Before any development plan can be drawn up, the local government authority has to hold a census, in order to establish who is a legal resident of the estate. There will be three phases in the whole exercise: (i) an awareness campaign about the purpose of the census and the setting up of structures for it; (ii) verification of the information and its

submission to the local Council and (iii) approval by the Council of the proposed development plan for the estate.

One by-product of this plan will be the relocation of illegal settlers. The Jesuits do not have alternative land to which to move them, or the legal right to resettle people on Chishawasha itself. The government will have to step in here to ensure proper re-location procedures for the safety both of the settlers and of the receiving community. Once this has been done, the Jesuits will then undertake to secure the tenure of the rightful residents of Chishawasha.

The next step will be to implement the development plan which will have been drawn up with professional expertise, and will involve the residents in identifying priorities for the work.

Any development of the area must also preserve the Church’s traditional work in Chishawasha as well as the security and development of the vaShawasha people.

Makumborenga T. Ignatius

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

11

St John’s Beaumont, Old Windsor Aeterna non Caduca: Heavenly things over earthly things We are immensely proud of our Jesuit heritage and the beautiful purpose-built buildings designed by JF Bentley, architect of Westminster Cathedral. Set in 70 acres, St John’s is the first purpose built preparatory school in the country and one of the most forward-thinking! Brimming with 60 multi-national boarders and 240 local day boys, here are just a taste of some of the recent achievements and activities that make life at St John’s so different: 1,000 CRANES On 24th March, we celebrated a special day of reflection and acknowledgement, standing in solidarity with the people affected by the recent Tsunami of Japan. Wearing

In Japan it is commonly said that folding 1,000 paper origami cranes makes a person's wish come true and by Friday afternoon, the enthusiasm of the community was clearly evident, with over 1,200 cranes counted in total. It was the words spoken by Jamie Quinn one of our Rudiments boys, in our concluding prayer that morning which best embodied the spirit of the day, ‘To all the victims of the earthquake we are not hiding. All of us are with you heartily in this test of human resolve.’

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT On Berchmans Day (21st November) we remembered the Patron Saint of our school (St John Berchmans) and as part of the school ‘service programme’, our pre-prep boys (aged

mufti, the boys were asked to raise money for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) to assist the relief response teams who are working with the Japanese Government. Every boy from Nursery to Rudiments (Year 8) together with parents and staff, worked side by side in the classrooms towards our goal of painting Japanese flags and making 1,000 cranes, symbolic of our communal prayer for the people of Japan.

12

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

4-5) visited the local care home to spend time with the esidents playing chess, singing and delivering akes and goodies, which they themselves had baked! The boys are looking forward to a return visit in June.

A new addition to the School’s Extra-curricular programme is the ‘Eco Warriors’ Club. With the intention of teaching pupils the importance of recycling and saving energy, and linking up with a paper company, the club allows pupils to recycle the school’s paper and cardboard, donating the proceeds to charity in line with the Jesuit ethos of the School and further developing our ecological programmes around school.

SPORTING SUCCESS Since the launch of our new sports centre (opened by HM the Queen in October 2009), our boys have embraced the state-of-the-art facilities including a 30’ climbing wall, electronic cricket academy and

fitness suite with tremendous enthusiasm, courage and imagination. We were proud that so many boys achieved representative success, including; GB skiing and sailing, 3 boys in the National Prep Schools’ Barbarians Squad, 8 county cricketers, 6 county rugby players as well as county level rowers and athletics. With over 20 rugby teams throughout the school (1st XV unbeaten in the 2010 season, 1455 points for and 75 against) every boy represents the school regularly throughout the season, irrespective of ability. We were also lucky enough to welcome the Webb Ellis Trophy to St John’s in March – aspiring Rugby legends of the future were thrilled to be within touching distance of the coveted trophy, main prize of the Rugby World Cup! On 3rd December 2010 SJB Boat Club triumphed at the Cardiff indoor rowing championships to retain their title as 2K Relay champions (U13), taking GOLD for the second year running.

In February, 21 boys, 1 member of staff and 4 parents competed in the open water Midmar Mile swim in South Africa and the boys were proud to present a cheque for £1,500 to the St Vincente de Paul Charity who provide essential relief to Zulu families in Kwa Zulu Natal, near Durban. In August 2010 a team of 4

boys (aged 12 and 13), 1 member of staff and 1 parent successfully completed a relay Channel swim from England to France.

CHAPEL

£2,000 in grants to Old Boys for charity work overseas. Projects include Row Zambezi expedition team (Oli and James Cook); medical elective at Christian Medical College, India (William Osborne); medical elective at Tribhuvan Teaching Hospital, Nepal (Michael Mellows) and a conservation project Ecuador (Ronan Mellows).

MUSIC & ACADEMIC

All boys are encouraged to embrace the spiritual life of the school and our Nursery class were fully involved in Ash Wednesday, reading their own prayers to Fr Fox. Middle and Upper school boys all join in days of reflection which occur throughout the year and on 25th May our Upper Elements classes (Year 5) took time away from their busy schedules to reflect on their lives, families and the future.

DERMOT GOGARTY MEMORIAL TRUST

In February half term our Chapel Choir performed in lunchtime concerts at Lincoln and Peterborough Cathedrals and raised the roof of the School Chapel in May with a stunning performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Along with music awards to Downside school and Eton College, 2 boys have been successful in joining the National Children’s orchestra (‘Cello and Double Bass).

As we say goodbye to our Rudiments boys this summer, all have gained entry to their first choice secondary school and we are delighted to have amongst them 14 academic scholarships to Stonyhurst, Downside, Winchester, Eton, Wellington, Oratory and Worth.

Set up in memory of the late Headmaster, the Dermot Gogarty Memorial Trust has pledged over

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

13

JM

Shaken – Not Stirred Fr Peter Milward SJ is a British born Jesuit, now part of the Japanese Province.

He sends us this report from Japan.

nce upon a time long long ago (as it now seems) Japan was declared No.1 in terms of world economy, but now the land has become No.1 in terms of world misery. Since my arrival in Japan some sixty years ago I have become inured to the recurrence of earthquakes, but that bright March day, notable at first sight for its odd parallelism of 11.3.11, brought by far the strongest earthquake I have ever felt, with a magnitude of 5.5 in Tokyo. There I lay in my room (for my afternoon siesta) while books and papers fell in showers from my shelves to the floor, and I wondered where the epicenter might have been. Not in Tokyo, it turned out, but off-shore, with a record magnitude of 9.0. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The earthquake was bad enough, but even worse was the tidal wave (or tsunami) that came crashing in over the East coast of Northern Japan, overwhelming coastal towns and villages with monstrous destruction. And then over and above that tidal wave was the destruction caused to the nuclear plant on the coast of Fukushima, sending shock waves of actual and possible radiation all over Japan.

So far Tokyo has been safely outside the edge of the disaster area, which has mainly involved the North East of the country; but we have had to put up with all kinds of inconveniences, besides the misery we share on TV with the poor evacuees from the ruined towns and villages and the areas affected by radiation in Fukushima. The news media in Japan have been so full of the continuing problems besetting not

O

14

only the population but also the agriculture and industry of Japan, not only in the present but also in the unforeseeable future. It is as if the collective face of Japan has been rubbed in the dust for well over a month, and the rubbing is still continuing.

On Easter Sunday in all the Japanese newspapers there was the charming story of a little Japanese girl asking the Holy Father on television what was the meaning of it all. And what so impressed Japanese readers was the Pope’s reply, “I don’t know.” In my study of scholastic philosophy at the old Heythrop it used to be said that the words “I don’t know” were not part of the scholastic vocabulary. Yet here was the Pope himself confessing his personal ignorance! But he was not alone.

Into his all too human puzzlement he drew the condescension of God himself as incarnate in Christ and as revealed in his passion and death on the cross, followed by his resurrection. There is our answer, not in word but in deed! So in my Easter Mass that afternoon I could bring in not only the immense and ongoing misery of the poor people in the North-East of Japan, but also this simple question of the little girl as it were representing all those people with the Pope’s answer. And that was one of my best and most impressive, though least prepared, sermons! At the beginning I hardly knew what I was going to say!

But for my Jesuit brothers and other friends there is something else of comfort I have to say, namely that,

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

while our number in the Japanese province stands at 227, none of us were personally involved in the earthquake or the tsunami or the radiation. There are no Jesuits labouring in that region, but our many activities in Japan extend Westwards from Tokyo. Somehow, though for no malicious reason, we seem to have left the Tohoku region, as well as the island of Shikoku, to the Dominicans; and they, too, seem to have suffered little, as their churches and other institutions have largely been inland and built on high ground, on the principle (it seems) of Our Lord’s “city built on a hill”.

Among all the recorded deaths, amounting to over 20,000, there has been only one priest, an old foreign missionary from Canada of the Quebec fathers, who died of a heart attack. As for religious sisters in that region, I chiefly know the Sisters of Notre Dame in Fukushima, of St Paul de Chartres in Sendai, and the Ursulines, also in Sendai; but I haven’t heard of any sufferings from them. But they all, and we all, need all the prayers of sympathy and assistance we can get. And I am so moved by all the promises of prayers I have already received from friends in England and Italy, in America and Australia.

JM An Irish born Jesuit working in Japan, Fr Donal Doyle SJ has set up a fund to help the families of students at Sophia University who have been affected by the earthquake. We will gladly pass on to him any donations we receive for this purpose.

JM

‘Always something new out of Africa’? his line in Latin was delivered 2,000 years ago by Pliny the Elder. Too often it seems to be something new but bad. So I am pleased to share with you an initiative that is both new and good.

Something in which Africa (or at least South Africa) is leading the Catholic world.

50 years ago, Blessed John XXIII announced that he would be opening the windows of the Church to let in fresh air by calling the Second Vatican Council. At Vatican II, the Church recognised that it carries out its Mission ‘in the Modern World’ (the sub-title of Gaudium et Spes) not by fleeing from it, but by engaging with it: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age – especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted – these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.”

A group of organisations in South Africa, led by my small team at the Jesuit Institute, started wondering what it would be like if we could truly celebrate 50 years of the life of the Church since Vatican II? And then we

T

stopped wondering and started doing and formed the Hope&Joy network.

Its task is to use this 50th anniversary as a golden opportunity to deepen our understanding of what the Church is celebrating.

The network has brought together almost all Catholic organisations in the country: those involved in media (Catholic radio, newspapers, parish bulletins, bookshops, video production), education (the Catholic university, seminaries, Catholic schools), grass roots work (SVP, Knights, CWL, Sodalities, Pioneers, Engaged Encounter), the Council of Priests, almost all men and women’s religious congregations, the parliamentary liaison office. The Bishops’ Conference has given it their full endorsement and is especially excited that this is an initiative driven by lay people.

We have had a campaign here for a few years in which products from different companies have an additional logo which says ‘Proudly South African’. In the same way the Hope&Joy Network provides ways for different organisations to work together under a shared logo to create awareness and energy for a common vision. Perhaps ‘Hope&Joy’ could be seen as an appropriate way

of saying ‘Proudly Catholic’.

Under the Hope&Joy network lots of different things will be happening in different ways at the same time; the shared logo will help people to link together the different initiatives: A few examples will help bring this to life.

• the weekly printed parish bulletin will, in just 500 words each week, explain a different aspect of the teaching of the Council • the national Catholic paper will have features showing how the South African Catholic community already brings hope and joy (through our schools, AIDS clinics, soup kitchens, etc) • Small Christian communities and SVP groups will use special cards to reflect on how the Council’s teachings affect their work • daily text messages will be sent to mobile phones sharing some of the most inspiring words from the Council • lectures and workshops will be offered around the country to help people deepen their understanding • the Catholic bookshops will highlight specific books that explore the themes • local schools and parishes might organise a Hope&Joy concert or picnic or sports day In all these different means we will draw on Scripture, on the documents of Vatican II, and subsequent Church teaching. The programme will cover a range of themes – the role of the laity in the Church, revelation, life issues, liturgy, justice and media.

But the over-riding message of the project would be to say: ‘The Catholic Church brings Hope and Joy to South Africa’ Now that sounds like something worth celebrating!

Raymond Perrier

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

15

Jesuits Ter tianship

Letters from our Tertians

Several years after a Jesuit Priest has been ordained, or a Jesuit brother has completed his training, the Jesuit is asked to join with other peers for a programme of reflections and reinvigoration. This will include making the full 30 day Spiritual Exercises, doing and reflecting on an apostolic placement and the study of the constitutions prior to making final vows.

This year there are three British Province tertians. We have caught up with them and they have shared with us their reflections.

Fr Dushan Croos SJ writes from Chile ast year the tertianship group was shaken out of their thirty day retreat by the 27th February Earthquake, whose effects in displaced and traumatized persons, as well as damaged or destroyed buildings is still being felt. Fortunately, this year we have been moved only spiritually and for the better.

On the Sunday after Easter, I took part in a procession known as Cuasimodo. Priests take communion to the sick, escorted by parishioners in traditional costumes on horses and bicycles, to ensure the safety of the Eucharist, the vessels (which in Colonial times were targets for theft) and of course the priest. More importantly, they provide great comfort and joy to the house-bound for whom they sing during the communions and whom they accompany during the year.

Starting in 1608, Jesuits used to leave their colleges during the January summer vacation to make an annual mission tour on the Islands of ChiloĂŠ in Patagonia, where the Christian communities were maintained until recently only by the coordination of a lay "Fiscal" and the provision of

L

16

Fr Dushan (right) with another Tertian

beautiful painted wooden Churches.

Amongst, the many joys of the tertianship, I have been able to visit parishes at the weekend to celebrate Mass. This weekend I met a group of about 25 young catechists, all under 20, who in twos and threes prepare groups of about twenty younger teenagers for confirmation (continuing the great tradition of

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

Jesuits in ChiloĂŠ).

Being South of the Equator, the world is a bit upside down and we are just heading into the winter. The tertianship is in a beautiful 17th Century hacienda which is delightfully cool in summer and painfully cold in winter, so I am looking forward to returning to an English summer!

Fr Gerry Gallen SJ writes from Australia am on tertianship in Australia and my fellow tertians come from across the following range of countries China, Vietnam, Korea, Germany, Spain, Belgium and the U.S.A.. We made our long retreat at the beautiful Jesuit Retreat Centre in Sevenhill which sits in the lovely Clare Valley, South Australia. The house forms part of an actual Jesuit Vineyard and this setting made praying over some of the passages from scripture that bit more real! The retreat was truly a wonderful experience and hopefully the fruit which came out of this ‘vineyard’ will be fruit that will last for all of my fellow tertians.

I am currently on ‘placement’ at a great little Diocesan High School, St. Mary’s Catholic College in the town of Casino in the northern part of New South Wales. I am directing a ‘Retreat in Daily Life’ for the staff and helping out in the parish too.

What strikes me about Australia is the sheer size of the country, it took us two whole days to drive from Sydney to Sevenhill and that’s only a very small section. The diversity of the wildlife is truly amazing. Among my fellow tertians is an avianologist and he spotted 83 different species of birds visiting the vineyard, just in the month we were there! But the most pleasing thing has been the people, they match the weather, nice and warm.

I

Fr Roger Dawson SJ writes from Boston he New England tertianship has been run for the last fourteen years by one of the great men of Ignatian spirituality, Fr Bill Barry SJ. The author of many spiritual books and a former Provincial, he along with the co-director Fr Ken Hughes SJ provide the wisdom, experience and good sense that every tertian needs. We were thirteen in our group, mainly Americans but with a Zimbabwean, Philippino, Nicaraguan and of course an Englishman.

We were based at the Campion Centre at Weston just outside Boston which is now a retreat centre and retirement home to the New England Jesuits and after the first month we moved to Eastern Point Retreat House for the Thirty Day Retreat. This retreat house is beautifully located on the sea and was a wonderful peaceful place to make the Spiritual Exercises before we dispersed on our four month ‘experiments’.

I was in New York working part-time as a hospital chaplain in a public hospital and part-time on a Jesuit parish in Manhattan. Public hospitals are for those with no health insurance and many of those who are there are poor, have been homeless or are immigrants. It was an impoverished environment, reminiscent of ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, and a stark contrast with the wealth and affluence of other parts of New York.

New York is a demanding if exciting city and there was much to see and do, and I even met the Mayor on St Patrick’s Day. After returning to Weston we had various courses on the Constitutions and we finished with an Eight Day retreat. After fifteen years in the Society I am now eligible for Final Vows, but I will probably have a few more years in the oven to make sure I am well done.

T

Fr Roger with the Mayor of New York

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

17

From small seeds great things can grow ven the heart of the city can be a lonely place to live, perhaps especially when trying to live out Christian ideals as a young adult.

Fortunate we are then, that the Jesuits have a vibrant Ministry for Young Adults (YA) in London, named FSPlus, where we are encouraged to develop our spiritual lives and learn and grow in the love of Christ with others.

The small seed germinated eight years ago when David Stewart SJ was nominated responsible for the YBJAs (Young British Jesuit Alumni), with an office at Farm Street, Mayfair. Together with some Young Adult (YA) lay members of Christian Life Community (CLC) he created a plan for the initial First Sunday (FS) Mass.

Since its inception, the YA ministry has blossomed with various projects bearing fruit. These have included opportunities to go on IGR (Individually Guided Retreats); pilgrimages to Ignatian-Rome; Theology on Tap (ToT) (consisting of talks and ensuing discussions on interesting theological issues); a Reading Club (where different spiritual books are discussed) and the MAGIS (Jesuit-led international projects before World Youth Day). Christmas and Easter are also poignantly marked, by a lively Advent party in early December and a moving Way of the Cross on Good Friday. Each of these, in varying ways, have deepened our awareness of Ignatian spirituality and strengthened community bonds.

But perhaps the largest part of the ministry is devoted to planning FS (First Sunday) and 3S (Third Sunday) mass.

Each First Sunday of the month we come together to celebrate the Eucharist at the beautiful church of the Immaculate Conception, thanks to the gracious hospitality of the Parish Priest and Team at Farm Street, Mayfair.

Several of the YAs play a significant part in the liturgy planning, working alongside Jesuit scholastics and an FCJ sister; some taking the lead in prayers

E

18

and others in the prominent music ministry. Celebrants vary from month to month; often with a Jesuit presiding; their style of sermon always different, but invariably challenging and uplifting.

Their nationalities, like that of the congregation, range to reflect the international dimension of London; most recently we were graced with the presence of the now well-known priests Fr Christopher Jamison OSB and later Rev. J-Glenn Murray SJ. The community seeds sown in the planning of the liturgy, the music practices and of course in the breaking of the bread, seem to flourish in the local pub following each mass, where friendships are forged over a pint or two.

Interesting it is that numbers attending this mass, established eight years ago, have increased tenfold from 20-odd people at the initial FS Mass to an impressive 200-odd at its highest.

The success of FS led to the initiation of 3S (Third Sunday) where a quieter and more reflective style is adopted. Its distinctive Ignatian approach is to hear the gospel twice and then have a 20 minute period of silence where we disperse into different corners of the church for our individual reflection.

Following the mass, the Jesuits host drinks where we have the opportunity to further develop our community.

A salient feature of FSPlus is the

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

emphasis on personal freedom: individuals are left totally open to decide for themselves their level of involvement. In this sense, perhaps, it differs from other young adult initiatives across London which can appear at times as sects or movements, where the pressure to ‘sign up’ becomes the norm. If people do feel drawn to a deeper level of community, of belonging, they are invited to explore Christian Life Community (CLC). Many of those involved in FS ministry have chosen to deepen their living out of Ignatian spirituality through becoming members of CLC. This is an international lay movement, for people of all ages with an Ignatian charism, and has 400 years of historical links with the Jesuits, dating back to the time of 16th century Rome when Ignatius himself founded these movements. With its three hallmarks of Community, Spirituality and Mission, CLC is a means of developing an apostolic way of life, supported by Ignatian spirituality. The movement has gone from strength to strength in London, beginning with two YA groups, to its current standing at twelve.

Our hope is that CLC and the YA Jesuit ministry will continue to grow, hopefully across the UK, providing a crucial sense of community and quenching a genuine thirst of many young adults to develop a dynamic spirituality.

APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER

I’ve got the first prize in the lottery ost of us would be on cloud nine if we ever won the first prize in the lottery. How would we react if we were in the shoes of one person who uttered these words? When his doctor told him that he had terminal pancreatic cancer it was Alberto Hurtado who said: “I’ve got the first prize in the lottery”!

Alberto Hurtado was a Jesuit Priest who lived in Chile and in a very “down to earth” and in a very “hands-on” manner he spent his life caring for the most basic needs of the very poor. Such was the impact of his life that after his untimely death at the age of fifty one in 1952 he was canonised by Pope Benedict six years ago in 2005.

His whole life was a daily offering of himself to the Lord. He made his offering and then got on with coping with the problems of the poor and giving special care to young people who came from disadvantaged homes. He himself knew family poverty in his youth.

Alberto Hurtado would resonate with the monthly intention for August that the World Youth Day in Madrid would be a source of deepening the faith of our young people the world over.

In September we will offer our day for all who teach. Alberto Hurtado had the following to say to all who teach. “In order to teach it is enough to know something but to educate one must be something. True education consists of giving oneself as a living model, an authentic lesson” The October intention of Pope Benedict is to offer each day for the terminally ill. As part of his giving of himself to the Lord, Alberto joined those who suffer. With joy he embraced his terminal condition not because it was nice but because he saw that the Lord was very near as

M

his life ebbed away.

In November and December we are to direct our prayer to all members of the Eastern Catholic Churches and we finish the year by praying for peace in our time. With the birth of Jesus the beginnings of peace were brought to our world. Alberto Hurtado understood with great clarity that an essential ingredient to peaceful living is that the most basic needs of the poor must be cared for and met. He spent his life striving for this and so, as he saw that his days were numbered, from his sick bed, he could shout in triumph: “I’ve got first prize in the lottery”. It was his way of echoing the great cry of St. Paul when he said “I want to be gone and to be with Christ”(Phil 1.23) St. Alberto Hurtado pray for us and help us to be faithful to our daily offering in the Apostleship of Prayer.

August That the World Youth Day in Madrid may bring the young closer and closer to the Lord. May the Holy Spirit enliven and deepen the Faith of all western Christians.

September That teachers may communicate truth, morality and spiritual values to their pupils. For vibrant and joyful Faith for the people of Asia.

October That the terminally ill be supported by their Faith and by the loving care of all their sisters and brothers in the Lord. That World Mission Day inspire us all to pray and to help in all missionary endeavours.

November For Eastern Catholic Churches that their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a treasure for the whole Church. That the African Synod of Bishops may be a real help to all African countries.

December For peace, harmony and mutual respect for all peoples. That children may be safe and cared for and in their own way proclaim the Gospel.

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

19

BITS’n’PIECES

From London Bridge to Wapping: JRS-UK goes east Three months ago the Jesuit Refugee Service relocated to the new Hurtado Jesuit Centre in Wapping. Here, Fr James Conway SJ, describes the new location. blue plaque opposite the new JRS office in Wapping marks the site of William Bligh’s home. He is best known as the commander of HMS Bounty. After a mutiny on board, he was set adrift in a small open boat with 18 of his crew. With no maps to guide him, he navigated 3000 miles across the Pacific to land in Timor, an epic journey lasting 45 days.

Bligh’s story would resonate with some of the many refugees and asylum seekers coming to JRS forced to migrate thousands of miles from home and who sometimes, like Bligh, spend weeks and months ‘at sea’ in dangerous and precarious conditions with uncertain futures..

Like him, and his contemporary Captain Cook buried nearby, they arrive in lands with unfamiliar languages and customs; systems and assumptions.

Unlike the two seafarers, they have often fled violence and persecution and enter the confused and complex asylum process which, more often than not, denies their claim for protection.

A

The Hurtado Jesuit Centre is named after the Chilean Jesuit, St Alberto Hurtado.

His vision of service, accompaniment and advocacy for and with people on the margins of society is a vision which today inspires many to work with JRS in the UK and beyond. It seems fitting then that JRS is situated in a building dedicated to his memory and alongside other Jesuit projects which, from September, will operate from the shared site. They include an east-end branch of the successful London Jesuit Volunteers and an inter-faith initiative. A Jesuit Community will live upstairs and be active in the neighbourhood and Deanery.

Visitors to the new JRS office are likely to have passed people speaking the local east-end cockney accent, the Bengali language or another foreign tongue. They will, perhaps, have taken the 100 bus from Elephant & Castle or Liverpool Street, the DLR to Shadwell or

Ordinations our Jesuit scholastics were ordained deacon by the Right Reverend Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, on Saturday 30th April at Corpus Christi Church in Brixton.

Pictured are Godfrey Veerasammy, from the British Province, but part of the Guyana Region; Matthew Malone, from the New England Province; the Archbishop; Elil Rajendram, from the Sri Lanka Province and Bart Beckers from the Netherlands Province. All four have been studying at Heythrop.

The ordination took place the day after the royal wedding, and the Archbishop made reference to this in his homily. The celebration was rich in cultural diversity and this was marked by the selection of the music drawn from the traditions of those being ordained.

F

20

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

the newly opened Overground to Wapping Station. Some will have come along the picturesque Thames Path from Tower Bridge or taken the less scenic but colourful route through Whitechapel, Bethnal Green and beyond. Wherever you come from and however you reach us, please visit!

JRS-UK, Hurtado Jesuit Centre, 2 Chandler Street, Wapping, E1W 2QT. Tel: 020 7488 7310, Fax: 020 7488 7329 For information on St. Alberto Hurtado, SJ visit: www.jesuit.org.uk/features/godsvisit1.htm

BOOK REVIEWS

Where the Hell is God?

by Fr Richard Leonard, SJ ichard Leonard is an Australian Jesuit and media expert with a real flair for writing, making complicated stuff accessible to people who are not experts in the field. Some of our readers have enjoyed immensely his earlier book: The Jesuit Answer to (Almost) Everything reviewed in the last issue of Jesuits and Friends.

In Where the Hell is God, his latest work, Fr Leonard sculptures from a personal family tragedy, where his sister is involved in a car wreck and is left a quadriplegic, a theological treatise on why God allows pain and suffering in the world. As the Jesuit priest brother he thought he should be able to answer questions of this sort, but in fact, his search for an answer led him to change his conception of who God is, who we are in relation

R

to this God, and the role of prayer in fostering the relationship and letting it grow.

Many rich theological themes are dealt with by Fr Leonard in a sensitive and simple way, enabling non-theologians to pose these questions for themselves. He disposes of some widely held myths. Some Catholics still believe that God is a vengeful God who punishes for our sins or that our suffering is necessary to add to the redemptive work of Christ in bringing about the salvation of the world.

Prayer is not an activity we indulge in to try and make God change his mind about something he intends to do. Prayer is transformative, but not of God. But we are the ones who are changed

through the prayers we make.

The conclusion is very positive. We are an Easter people called to share in God’s life.

Sometimes we get stuck in Good Friday, but the death of Jesus on the cross was not the last word.

Pain and suffering are but the gateway to this new life revealed in the resurrection.

Fr Leonard has to admit that, even as a Jesuit priest, he could not answer mother’s question “Where the hell is God?” This is something God had to reveal to her, and this too is the task of each one of us.

Richard Leonard SJ, Where the Hell is God? (HiddenSpring 2010) is available from JM at £10.00 including postage and packing.

New Short History of the Catholic Church Fr Norman Tanner SJ he best thing about this book is that its five chapters are so easily readable. The author has a delightful style, which is not at all stuffy, and he tells the story clearly, simply, sometimes with a delicious touch of humour, and without a single footnote. He tackles the good, the bad and the ugly with equal delicacy. This book is a gift for all those who wish to find out some of the key events and issues that have happened and have had to be faced within the Catholic Church over the past two thousand years.

It is uncluttered, but gives enough for the ordinary reader to be satisfied, and has more than

T

enough bibliography for the scholar to delve further. It is a dream for teachers, and a stimulus for beginners. It leaves the reader wanting more.

As it is the story of people, the reader is introduced to the key movers and shakers of each generation. Flesh and blood are put onto characters from every century. The author is clearly most at home in the Middle Ages, which take up over half the book. From Church Councils to liturgy, art, architecture and music, Tanner brings a nice touch, which invites

the reader in. And he leaves the reader with six reflections, ending with this final sentence: “Humbler than before yet still vigorous, the Catholic church today faces the challenges of the twenty-first century with both optimism and caution.”

Norman Tanner, New Short History of the Catholic Church Burns & Oates, hardback, 260 pages, 2011, £16.99 [also available as Kindle e-book: Amazon price may differ] Fr Denis Blackledge SJ

www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

21

DEATHS & OBITUARIES Br Bill Nash SJ 24 June 1923 – 27 March 2011 William Arthur Nash was born in Portsmouth on 24 June 1923. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, then studied electrical maintenance, before applying to enter the Society of Jesus at Manresa College, Roehampton, in 1952.

Bill worked at Roehampton as assistant cook (1952 – 55), and then as sacristan and refectory assistant at Heythrop College, Oxfordshire. Between 1958 and 1976, much of his time was spent working in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe): first at

Campion House, Salisbury (Harare) then at St Ignatius Chishawasha.

Bill returned to the UK in 1961 for his tertianship and worked as a gardener at Stonyhurst College, before moving back to Rhodesia in 1963, where he assumed farming duties at St Michael’s Mondoro.

He also served at the novitiate in Mazoe and worked in the Mount Pleasant parish in Salisbury.

In 1976, on medical advice, Bill returned to Britain. He was assigned to St Gabriel’s Retreat House in Birmingham, where he worked as a cook; then to St Ignatius

parish, Stamford Hill, where he served as sacristan. For the next 20 years, he assumed a broad variety of duties at St Mary’s-on-the-Quay, Bristol; St George’s, Worcester; Mount Street, London; and Campion Hall in Oxford.

On retiring from active ministry in the 1990s, Bill resided with the Poor Sisters of Nazareth at Bexhill-on-Sea, then at Nazareth House, Finchley; Farm Lane Care Home; and St Mary’s Retirement Home. He died in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, on 27 March 2011.

May he rest in peace.

Fr Kenneth Nugent SJ 17 January 1930 – 8 April 2011 Glasgow-born Kenneth Edward Nugent served in the Royal Air Force and studied architecture before entering the Society of Jesus in 1961. He had been educated by the Jesuits at St Aloysius College in Glasgow, and then achieved his ARIBA and ARIAS at the Glasgow School of Architecture.

After studying philosophy and theology at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire, Ken was appointed Assistant Editor of the Clergy Review, with special responsibility for the magazine’s Art and Architecture features.

He served his tertianship at St Beuno’s in Wales, and then moved to the parish of St

Mary-on-the-Quay in Bristol. Following this, Ken worked as University Chaplain at Keele (Staffordshire) and Southpark Terrace, Glasgow.

From 1977, when he became a Council Member of the Scottish Churches Architectural Trust, Ken’s roles within the Church in England, Wales and Scotland frequently focused on church buildings. He was Chairman of the Art and Architecture Department of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and, from 1979 to 1984, was also a member of the Scottish Catholic Heritage Commission.

Additionally, Ken also served on the Editorial Committee of Church Building,

was an honorary member of the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association, was President of the Society of Catholic Artists, and was a member of the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland.

Between 1987 and 1992, he was parish priest of Sacred Heart parish, Wimbledon; he then returned to Scotland to become rector and parish priest of St Aloysius in Glasgow. From 1998 to 2005, Ken served as parish priest in Kirkwall, Orkney, before retiring to St Joseph’s House, Edinburgh.

He moved to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Boscombe, Dorset in 2009.

He died at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital on 8 April 2011. May he rest in peace.

Fr Tadeusz Sporny SJ 11 January 1923 – 11 May 2011 Fr Tadeusz Sporny was a member of the Upper Polish province who spent most of his life residing at the Polish Jesuit Community in Walm Lane, London. Fr Tadeusz was born in Warsaw in 1923 and entered the Society in Italy in 1945. Because of the situation in Poland, his formation was

in Rome and Montreal, where he was ordained in 1954.

He came to the UK briefly to work at Southwell House, Hampstead, in 1955, but then spent some time in Paris and Poland.

In 1962 he returned to the UK to join the Walm Lane Jesuit community where, apart from a brief spell at the Curia in Rome, he stayed until his death.

Most of Fr Tadeusz’s ministry was to the Polish Community in London, where he served on the parish. He was the superior of the community in the 1980’s.

Since 2009 his health has been deteriorating and he died at Chislehurst in Kent on 11th May. Many people attended his funeral at Warm Lane. May he rest in peace.

Please pray for those who have died recently.

May they rest in peace.

Mrs Sarah Flynn – Aunt of Fr Oliver Rafferty SJ Mr Mieczysław Smolira – Father of Fr David Smolira SJ Dr Reginald John Randall – Father of Fr Peter Randall SJ Mrs Maureen Nye - Sister-in-law of Fr Tony Nye SJ Mrs Cathy Hughes - Aunt of Fr David Stewart SJ 22

Mr Robert Burns, Father of Fr Peter Burns Mrs R M James Fr David L. Fleming SJ Mrs Moira 'Moy' Gammell Mrs Jean Nicholas Father Austin Smith OP Mr Len McDiarmid Mrs Margaret Cooper Mrs Betty Booth

Jesuits & Friends Summer 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

Dr J Goodwill Fr Michael Hurley SJ Mrs Kate Rous Miss Virginia Marques Br Bill Nash SJ Fr Ken Nugent SJ Br Jan Caers SJ Fr Tadeusz Sporny SJ Fr Tony Berridge SJ

Why not send a donation to support us?

How Can I The JESUIT DEVELOPMENT FUND helps to establish and maintain churches, schools, retreat centres and apostolic works of all kinds at home and overseas.

At present the trustees are assisting the development of our work in South Africa, and providing nursing care and attention for the elderly Jesuits of the Province.

Help?

YOUR GIFTS in response to any appeals, or for any of our Missions overseas, should be sent to JM, which is the central mission office. Please make all cheques and postal orders payable to JM.

The JESUIT SEMINARY ASSOCIATION helps to defray the expensive cost of training Jesuit priests and brothers.

A BEQUEST We would be delighted if you remember JM or the appeals mentioned here in your Will.

We shall be happy to send you details of the official wording.

GIFT AID For every pound you donate we can reclaim 28p, thanks to the government scheme. If you need further details contact the JM office.

All Benefactors are remembered in the Masses and prayers of every Jesuit in our Province.

Thank you for your generosity 1

2

4

3

1. Guyana - helping Paul Martin as he becomes Superior – page 7 2. Zimbabwe - the Chishawasha housing project – page 10 3. Japan - helping families of University Students – page 14 4. South Africa - Hope and Joy project - spreading the word about Vatican II – page 15

You can send your donations to the address below, or log on to our website where you can increase your donation by 28% through the Just Giving scheme. Thank you!

JM · 11 Edge Hill · London · SW19 4LR T: + 44 (0) 20 8946 0466 F: + 44 (0) 20 8946 2292 E: director@gbjm.org Reg. Charity Nos. England and Wales: 230165 Scotland: SCO 40490

www.gbjm.org www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Summer 2011 Jesuits & Friends

23

St. Ignatius Loyola, Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, Courtesy of Trinity Stores, (www.trinitystores.com)