Jesuits & Friends Winter 2008

Jesuits and Friends A faith that does justice Winter 2008 Issue 71

Bring hope and supplies to the people of Zimbabwe, page 4

The Jesuit Martyrs of East Timor – Ten Years On, page 10

Running in Africa for Africa page 13

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

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“Wherever in the Church, even in the most difficult and extreme fields, in the crossroads of ideologies, in the front line of social conflict, there has been and there is confrontation between the deepest desires of the human person and the perennial message of the Gospel, there too, there have been, and there are, Jesuits.”

Pope Paul VI, quoted by Pope Benedict XVI at the end of General Congregation 35

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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.

GUYANA – Fr Joaquim de Melo SJ Jesuit Residence, PO Box 10720, Georgetown, Guyana Tel: + 592 22 67461, joaquimjr7@yahoo.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 Or visit www.jesuit.org.uk/becomingajesuit

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

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

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

Thank you for your generosity

Jesuit Missions · 11 Edge Hill · London · SW19 4LR T: + 44 (0) 20 8946 0466 F: + 44 (0) 20 8946 2292 E: director@jesuitmissions.org.uk

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Contents

Winter 2008 Issue 71 The people of Zimbabwe trust that the Church will be able to come to their aid with true compassion and share out food evenhandedly.

The Jesuits in Britain are appealing for £180,000 to enable two shipments of food to be distributed among the Zimbabweans supported by the Jesuits there. Read more on pages 4 and 5.

Jesuits and Friends is published three times a year by the British Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), in association with Jesuit Missions.

Tim Curtis SJ Executive Editor

Photos left JM, right Ursulines, Guyana.

Ged Clapson Editor Cover photo: Producing communion hosts at St Anne’s Orphanage in Georgetown, Guyana. The Jesuits work closely with the Ursulines who run the orphanage, and part of the money raised by JM runners in the London Marathon helped them buy a host-making machine to provide them with a steady source of income.

Editorial group: Denis Blackledge SJ Dushan Croos SJ Alan Fernandes Jane King

FROM THE EDITOR

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Siobhan Totman Graphic Design:

Ian Curtis www.firstsightgraphics.com Printed by: The Magazine Company Enfield, Middlesex EN3 7NT www.magprint.co.uk

PEOPLE IN ZIMBABWE ARE STILL HUNGRY Tim Curtis SJ on why JM is appealing for £180,000 before Christmas 4 MAKING HISTORY IN SOWETO / ‘ACCOMPANY THOSE WHO TRAVEL DOWNCAST’ The ordinations of Rampeoane Hlobo and Stephen Patterson 6 RUNNING IN AFRICA FOR AFRICA Robert Parkinson explains why he is undertaking a 150 mile foot race across the Sahara Desert in March 7

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

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A LOVELY VENUE FOR THE YOUNG AND OLD An appeal for the Orlando West parish hall

by Thomas Plastow SJ 12 RECENT PUBLICATIONS

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100 YEARS IN THE RUPUNUNI Paddy Connors SJ reflects on his time in the Guyanese Interior 8

IN THE GREAT SOUTH LAND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Marc Sikkes reflects on ‘an incredibly powerful spiritual experience’ 15 ‘WE SHALL NOT CEASE FROM EXPLORATION’ Margaret Blackie asks how poetry, spirituality and chemistry can co-exist 16

POPE ADDS SUPPORT FOR INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS … and how you can support the campaign too

PRAYER PROBLEMS? THEN READ THIS! Michael Beattie SJ reconciles St Paul with St Ambrose Plus – the Apostleship of Prayer intentions for the coming months 17

To protect our environment papers used in this publication are

‘BECOMING ONE’ WITH THE PEOPLE OF GUYANA Oliver Murphy accompanied the packed formation programme of the Scholastics in Guyana

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System conforming with BS EN ISO 14001:2004.

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

GUYANA STAMPS ARRIVE – AT LAST! First Day Covers now available from JM

BITS AND PIECES 9

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THE MASTER OF SUSPENSE Dermot Preston SJ celebrates the centenary of Alfred Hitchock’s arrival at St Ignatius School in Stamford Hill 20

THE JESUIT MARTYRS OF EAST TIMOR – TEN YEARS ON 1999 sees the 10th anniversary of East Timor’s independence – and of the murder of two BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS 21 Jesuit priests on the island. Brie O’Keefe of Progressio writes.

10 OBITUARIES AND DECEASED BENEFACTORS 22 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Winter 2008 Jesuits & Friends

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From the Editor...

Sometimes everything seems to be going well: the people I meet are happy, my prayer life is flourishing – all is well with the world. St Ignatius calls such a glowing spiritual state of being ‘consolation’. At other times things seem to be going from bad to worse, the people I meet are thoroughly miserable and God seems to be absent from my life. St Ignatius calls this spiritual dark night ‘desolation’. One thing is for sure: life is always changing, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

Though we prefer to be in a state of consolation we have to recognise that this is not a spiritual state we can achieve by our own efforts; rather it is a gift given us by our gracious and loving God. In fact, Ignatius pointed out in his Spiritual Exercises that, of the two, desolation is the more productive state to be in, as it pushes us forward towards real spiritual growth.

The wax and wane of spiritual well being is not simply something that pertains to each individual in isolation from everyone else. As we have been experiencing on a global level, the world economy goes through periods of growth and expansion, followed by more trying periods of contraction and recession. As Christians, it is important for us to take note of these different moods and to work out how the Lord is inviting us to respond to these challenging times.

In this edition of Jesuits and Friends there are many accounts of Jesuits and their co-workers facing both lights and shadows. For me the most moving is opposite: the appeal from Fr Stephen Buckland SJ, the new Jesuit Provincial in Zimbabwe, for help to feed the starving and destitute people of his country. As we face economic challenges in the countries of the “North”, let us not forget those much more vulnerable than ourselves in the countries of the “South”. In addition to sending emergency relief, it is important to pray for real change, so that such drastic measures become unnecessary.

The season of Advent is upon us, where light seems to come out of darkness, where consolation is to be found in the stark desolation of the stable. During Advent, we have the time to notice the quality of the gift and the nature of the giver. As we prepare for the celebration of Christmas, let us pray that the Christ-child will shed his light on all of the darkened corners of the world. Have a productive Advent!

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Jesuits & Friends Winter 2008 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

People in Zimbabwe are still hungry

On 10 October, Fr Stephen Buckland SJ, the new Provincial of Zimbabwe, wrote to Jesuit Missions, explaining that there was an urgent need for two shipments of relief supplies before Christmas for the people they serve in the country. It took less than three weeks for generous supporters of Jesuit Missions to donate almost £100,000 – well over the half of the £180,000 target. JM’s Director, Fr Tim Curtis SJ, explains why the need is so urgent.

“The Jesuit Emergency Relief Committee reckons it needs about £180,000 for a normal shipment of food supplies (maize and beans),” Fr Stephen Buckland SJ wrote in his October letter. “We are hoping to manage two shipments this year, so we would need something like £360,000 this year for the two of them.”

JM was able to respond swiftly, despatching one shipment within days. Then in the middle of October, I wrote to all Jesuit parishes, schools and communities to seek assistance with getting enough money together for a second shipment. Thank you to all those who helped raise almost £100,000 by the beginning of November: we are more than half way to our target.

Writing from Harare, Fr Oscar Wermter SJ, described the situation in Zimbabwe as “a man-made disaster”. “The President of Zimbabwe likes to blame the British and the weather, but this time neither can be held responsible for the hunger and the famine in a country which is so extraordinarily fertile,” he wrote. “Both commercial farmers and small scale farmers used to produce for the market, feeding Zimbabwe with enough over for her neighbouring countries.

“There are periodic droughts. But they are predictable. A country-wide network of silos can hold enough grain for food security during lean years. However, these are all exhausted. Now, every day, ordinary Zimbabweans, normally selfsupporting, even moderately prosperous, come up to their priests and (showing signs of embarrassment because they are not used to begging) tell them: ‘We have not eaten anything for the last three days.’”

“The people turn to the Church in their suffering because they have despaired of government and the ‘ruling party’ which gives food, if it is available at all, only to party members. ‘Politicization of food’, as it is called, is surely a crime against humanity. The Church therefore has an enormous responsibility. The people trust that the Church will be able to come to their aid with true compassion and share out food evenhandedly, without asking about political or religious affiliations, but only , ‘Are you in need?’”

JM has already made a substantial contribution, and the British Provincial, Fr Michael Holman SJ, has pledged some money from the Province to form the basis of a Jesuit Relief Fund for Zimbabwe, to be administered by JM. If you would like to contribute to this Emergency Relief Fund, please send a cheque made payable to JM at 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR. From self-sufficiency to the shame of begging outside the church in Zimbabwe.

Photo credit: Jesuits Zimbabwe

But two shipments from the Jesuits can bring hope.

Photo credit: Tim Curtis SJ www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Winter 2008 Jesuits & Friends

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ORDINATIONS

MAKING HISTORY IN SOWETO hen Archbishop Buti Tlhagale laid his hands on Rampeoane Hlobo in St Martin de Porres Church, Orlando West, on 25 October, the Soweto parish passed two important historical milestones – the first ordination of a local young man to the priesthood and the first Sowetan Jesuit.

The parish church, beautifully extended under the previous priest Fr Kevin McElhatton SJ, was packed with parishioners and visitors from far and wide. Jesuit visitors came from Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, Zimbabwe and the UK. More than 40 priests concelebrated, including the Jesuit Regional Superior Fr David Smolira SJ, Fr Paul Fletcher SJ (Assistant for Formation) and Fr Augustine Makhokolo OMI (parish

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priest 1972-84) who had baptised Fr Rampe.

Fr Rampe's family, headed by his father, Paul, has deep roots both in Lesotho and Soweto. This was underlined by both the traditional praise singers and the parish priest, Fr Thomas Plastow SJ. He described the ordinand's family as 'a dynasty in this parish' who had 'brought Rampe to this day', a Archbishop Tlhagale kneels for Rampeoane Hlobo’s first blessing at St Martin de Porres in Soweto sentiment confirmed by the new priest himself in his words of thanks in which he was strongly felt too throughout the expressed his deep gratitude to his ceremony and her name was extended family for the faith which mentioned by the ordinand himself they had planted in him. The at the memorial for the dead during prayerful presence of Rampe's the canon as he concelebrated with mother, the late Mrs Anna Hlobo, the Archbishop.

ACCOMPANY THOSE WHO TRAVEL DOWNCAST n his homily at St Francis Xavier’s Church in Liverpool on 1 November, Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool urged Jesuit ordinand Stephen Patterson to be faithful to his baptism and attentive to the call of God – just as St Ignatius had been in founding the Society of Jesus. “From within that Company, that Society,” the archbishop said, “you accept the gift of the Holy Spirit to accompany, in the name of Jesus, those who travel downcast.”

The occasion was Stephen’s ordination to the priesthood, which was concelebrated by around 50 priests and attended by a congregation made up of relatives, friends and parishioners of St Francis Xavier’s. The Liverpool

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Archdiocesan Lourdes Choir and organist, Terry Crolley, provided the music at the Mass, which was followed by a reception in the Great Hall of Hope University - Everton.

A Lancastrian by birth, Stephen was a rugby player and electrician before applying to join the Society of Jesus, after spending some After his ordination, Stephen Patterson poses with his family, time working with the Archbishop Kelly and the British Provincial, Fr Michael Holman.

Jesuits in Guyana. Over the past 11 years, he has worked Madrid and has helped direct the as a prison chaplain, been engaged Spiritual Exercises at Loyola Hall in community work at Heath Town in Rainhill. For the past three Wolverhampton, been on the staff years, he has being studying of a drug rehabilitation centre in Theology in Madrid.

Jesuits & Friends Winter 2008 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

Running in Africa for Africa In July 2006, Robert Parkinson, a former pupil of Barlborough Hall and Mount St Mary’s College, spent six months on a Xavier Volunteer Programme placement in Zambia. There he worked in the Jesuit-run community of Chikuni in the southern province: assisting the Home Based Care HIV/AIDS clinic, carrying out lab work, working to help raise awareness and assisting in a number of community projects. In March, he will return to Africa for a very different activity – but still in support of the people of Chikuni.

Over my six months placement two years ago, I was exposed to a completely different way of life and culture. The people of Zambia have such a welcoming nature it didn’t take me long to settle in.

Working and living alongside Zambian Jesuit, Fr Tadeusz Swiderski, and Fr Andrew Lesniara from Poland, I saw at first hand how much of an impact the work being carried out by the Jesuit community is having. Chikuni is setting an example to other areas of southern Africa, pioneering new approaches to education and the fight against HIV/AIDS with students from their radio schools out-performing some state institutions in recent exams. And due to awareness programmes, performances by the local drama club and radio broadcasts, infection rates of HIV/AIDS are starting to slow.

Now nearly two years on since my placement in Zambia,

I am hoping to continue my support of the work that I was involved in. In March 2009, I will be running the Marathon des Sables, a 150 mile foot race through the Sahara Desert. The race is regarded by many as the toughest foot race on earth. Held in one of the most extreme climates, with competitors carrying all of their own food and medical supplies, navigation equipment and sleeping bag for the week long duration of the race, it is one of the most physical and mental challenges that the world has to offer. I am running the event to raise money for the people of Chikuni – running in Africa, for Africa.

There are two projects that are in desperate need of funding. One is a bore hole project which Fr Tadeusz and Fr Andrew are hoping will bring clean water to all 32 of the Home Based Care support

groups that are located sporadically throughout the 5000km² catchment area.

This would provide drinking water and maintain the community gardens all year round and remove the dependency on the short rain season. The other would be to develop and build solar powered food dehydration units, so excess produce from the community gardens can be preserved and either sold or stored to be available at a later time. The combined cost to complete both projects to provide the most basic of utilities is over £100,000. I know that I will only be able to make a dent in this huge total but I also know from experience that even the smallest gesture of support will be met with incomparable gratefulness from the people of Chikuni.

hcare Ron assists with the provision of healt

SUPPORT If you would like to support the projects in Chikuni, you can make a donation at: www.justgiving.com To find out more about the Marathon des Sables: www.saharamarathon.co.uk Or Chikuni Radio: www.chikuniradio.org Rob and the team at Chikuni

Main photo: Marathon des Sables/realmorocco.com

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JM

100 years in the Rupununi Fr Cuthbert Cary-Elwes SJ was the first Jesuit missionary to work in the Rupununi in the interior of Guyana – from 1909 to 1923. Next year, the British Jesuits will be celebrating the centenary of the start of their work there; and Jesuits & Friends will be publishing three articles to mark the milestone. Here in the first, Fr Paddy Connors SJ, parish priest of St Francis Xavier’s Church in Liverpool, recalls some of the highlights of his seven years in the Guyanese interior.

I was sent to the Pakaraima Mountains in 1973. It was just after the bishop’s plane had crashed at Kopinang and it was the year of the oil crisis, so it was obvious that things were going to change.

Fr Bernard Brown SJ was at Kurukubaru. He had been arrested at Monkey Mountain after the Rupununi uprising in 1969 and expelled from the interior, but by 1973 he had been allowed to return. He was an expert in children’s religious education and had written and illustrated his own children’s catechism.

Kurukubaru was lucky in that it had two very good teachers, Roy and Leila Naraine. Fr Brown asked them to help him with a children’s May procession.

Roy said, “I would love to help, Father, but there are some excellent men in the village – ask them”.

So we did, and they took obvious delight in bringing mountains of flowers from the rain forest to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary. This gave us the idea to invite people from all the villages to a PLA (Parish Lay Assistants) meeting which was to last for a whole week. Fr Myles Lovell SJ and Fr Aloysius Church SJ had started parish lay ministry in Georgetown. It was a slow and difficult start in Georgetown, so we wondered if Amerindians would come forward in the more challenging circumstances of the remote Pakaraima villages. Some of these were visited by the priest only once or twice a year.

We were amazed at the response at 8

our first meeting. About 50 people came! Some of these had walked 20 or 30 miles. Once, when the food ran out, we suggested that it might be best if everybody returned home.

“Fathers”, they said, “we did not come here to eat food, we came to learn about our religion”.

The Amerindian people love to sing.

We had a good children’s hymn book with some West Indian hymns written

by Richard Ho Lung from Jamaica.

Normally, the people only had to hear a hymn once and they could sing along. We also discovered some brilliant Brazilian guitarists.

Reading was more difficult but there were usually a couple of adults or children who could read the Sunday Gospel. One little girl had been reading in church since she was eight years old. Preaching was of course more difficult, but people were good at languages and enjoyed interpreting sermons in Brazilian,

Jesuits & Friends Winter 2008 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

Makushi and Patamona. Sometimes the congregation would have quite an animated discussion about the best way to translate some English phrase.

To our surprise and delight, most of the villages started to hold a Sunday service every week. They were natural village communities and sometimes they would organise a football match or would hold a little market after the service was over.

In a couple of villages the adults could not organise anything so the teenagers would get together and say: “We can’t do much, but we can get together and sing a hymn, say the rosary and read the Sunday Gospel”. Often they would conclude by playing a game.

This pattern has continued and grown over the last 30 years, so that now it is necessary to hold PLA meetings at Kurukabaru, Karasabai, St Ignatius, Sand Creek and Aishalton to form the lay leaders of all of the villages of the interior.

Fr Bernard Brown SJ in front of the presbytery in Kurukubaru

JM

POPE ADDS SUPPORT FOR INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS The article by Fr Roberto Jaramillo SJ (not Ricardo, as printed) in Issue 70 of Jesuits and Friends created a great deal of interest among readers. He wrote about the threat to the indigenous people in Brazil from wealthy and unscrupulous rice farmers, and how the Jesuits of the Amazonia Region are supporting them.

Since then, Pope Benedict XVI has added his support to the campaign after being visited in the Vatican by two representatives from indigenous communities: Jacir José de Souza from the Makuxi tribe (pictured here with the Pope) and Pierlângela Nascimento da Cunha (Wapixana tribe). Their territory, known as Raposa Serra do Sol, has been illegally occupied by a group of powerful farmers.

Even though Brazil's President Lula has officially recognised this land as belonging to the indigenous peoples, the local state government supports the farmers and is calling on the Brazilian Supreme Court to give them a large piece of the land. To find out more about the campaign, see www.cafod.org.uk/brazil/right-toland. Or to write direct to the President and/or Minister of Justice in Brazil contact:

Exmo. Sr. Presidente da Republica do Brasil Luis Inácio Lula da Silva Secretaria-Geral da Presidência da República Pça dos Três Poderes Palácio do Planalto, 4ºandar 70.150-900 - Brasília-DF Brasil Exmo. Sr. Ministro da Justiça do Brasil Tarso Fernando Herz Genro Ministério da Justiça Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco T, 4ºandar 70.712-902 - Brasília/DF Brasil

GUYANA STAMPS ARRIVE – AT LAST! After months of delay, three muchanticipated stamps have been issued in Guyana. They had been due out last year to mark the 150th anniversary of the Jesuits starting to work in the country, but were delayed for a variety of reasons.

The stamps show three aspects of the Jesuits’ work since 1857. The $80 stamp shows St Stanislaus College which was founded by the Jesuits as an all-boy Catholic high school. The college became co-educational in 1975

and a government school the following year.

Sacred Heart Church in Georgetown is depicted on the $100 stamp. It dated from 1861 and was destroyed by fire on Christmas Day 2004.

Lastly, the $160 stamp carries a photo of Father Cuthbert CaryElwes SJ who was a missionary in the Guyanese interior between 1909 and 1923. His work among the Amerindians is continued by today’s Jesuits.

Jesuit Missions has a number of First Day Covers available at a suggested donation of £20. If you would like a copy, please contact JM at 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR.

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The Jesuit Martyrs

of East Timor

Ten Years On

Progressio – formerly the Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) – has launched a campaign for peace and justice in East Timor, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the small island nation’s independence. But, as Brie O’Keefe explains, 2009 also marks the 10th anniversary of the murders of two Jesuits, whose legacy Progressio is also honouring.

The people of East Timor people suffered a terrible 25-year occupation by Indonesia before becoming independent in 1999. In many ways, it is still in mourning after a long period of war and injustice.

During this time, Jesuits played a strong supportive role for the people of Timor - providing spiritual guidance, food, shelter and for some, the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives.

Father Karl Albrecht SJ saw and experienced a lot in his 50 years of service in the Society of Jesus. A dual IndonesianGerman citizen, he lived and worked in East Timor and Indonesia for over 40 years, dedicating the better part of his life to serving the needs of the poor and marginalised in the region.

During the final months of his life in 1999, when East Timor was plagued by terrible outbreaks of violence, he showed extraordinary courage, bravery and self-sacrifice – stepping into the throes of violent looters to prevent them from burning churches, or refusing to abandon his car - which was vital to help him reach the poor and destitute outside of Dili - despite being held at gunpoint.

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Families sheltering in the grounds of the Canossian Convent at Balide in Dili, which is supported by the Jesuit Refugee Service. At the height of the political violence in 2006 some 23,000 people took refuge here.

Photo credit : Progressio/Marcus Perkins

Father Karl was shot dead by intruders in his home on 11 September 1999 when he went to investigate a disturbance.

Father Tarcisius Dewanto SJ had been ordained a priest for only a few weeks when he was murdered in September 1999, after trying to protect a church full of women and children from attack by a waiting militia gang. A native Indonesian, his mother requested that he be buried in East Timor saying: “He belonged to the public after he was ordained. That’s why we all wholeheartedly let him go”.

Justice is still a fragile concept in East Timor, where people can still commit crimes without fear of punishment or the law.

But people are working hard to change this – by founding a justice centre that will help victims of violence access better care, and by helping others seek prosecutions or uncover the truth surrounding past atrocities and the deaths of their loved ones.

The UK government and its people

Jesuits & Friends Winter 2008 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

have a special obligation to support peace in East Timor. During the Indonesian occupation, the UK sold millions of pounds worth of arms to Indonesia, meaning we in Britain profited from the suffering and tragedy of the Timorese people.

Since independence, East Timor been largely forgotten by the world, and its people have been left to suffer in silence.

Too often in our busy working lives, we forget the courageous actions of brave souls dedicated to faith and service, by prioritising our everyday needs. However, the work of Frs Karl and Tarcisius must not be forgotten.

East Timor is still struggling to overcome its violent past, and its people continue to live in stark poverty, making it one of the poorest nations in Asia. It is important we show the UK government that we continue to care about the people of East Timor and the work that distinguished the lives of Jesuit martyrs Father Karl Albrecht and Father Tarcisius Dewanto.

To order a campaign leaflet to send to the UK government, visit www.progressio.org.uk or email wecare@progressio.org.uk.

‘Becoming one’ with the people of Guyana As the school term broke up at St Stanislaus’ College and the Marian Academy in Georgetown, the Jesuit scholastics (students for priesthood) gathered in Guyana from Britain, India and Guyana, and prepared for a packed summer formation programme. In true Jesuit fashion, there would be little time to stand still: they were sent the length and breadth of the country, engaging in a programme divided into three parts - a time of prayer and reflection; a period of spiritual ministry; and then a time of social engagement.

Oliver Murphy, a former pupil at Wimbledon College, joined them an writes...

The scholastics were part of a team of 10 Jesuits engaged in running a ‘mission retreat’ in the capital, Georgetown. It was announced as a time of prayer and reflection for those discerning God’s call in their life. There were two distinct prongs to this Mission: a Week of Guided Prayer in Daily Life for 40 pre-arranged volunteers and an evening MissionEucharist which was open to all. For the individual retreat, the pilgrims continued their normal lives but built some time for prayer into their daily routine. Their retreat began on the Sunday evening, and then from Monday to Friday, for 30 minutes each day, the pilgrim met their appointed guide at a time and place suitable to both. Each

of the evening Eucharists drew around 200 people, and each night was dedicated to one of the five points of the Examen – so the designated preacher had plenty of themes to choose from!

Fr General Pedro Arrupe SJ spoke wisely of the importance of exposure to poverty and the lives of the poor in the formation of young Jesuits. True to form, the second half of the summer programme was spent in groups of two or three across Guyana, working and living with the people of Lethem, Siparuta and Berbice.

In Lethem, in the interior on the border with Brazil, the scholastics travelled through a number of Amerindian villages and in the spirit of the papal ‘Pauline Year’ showed a film (with the aid of a generator at the villages without electricity) on the life of St Paul. This was a powerful experience. Scholastic Edwin Anthony commented: “People in the villages had no electricity, no television, no DVD players, no computers and internet, yet there was a smile on their face. This challenged my own way of living.”

In Berbice, a number of scholastics ran a self development course at the Guyana Human Development Centre in Port Mourant and Bible Classes in the town of Springlands. Additionally, scholastics Raphael Gonsalves and Rayan D’Souza travelled up the Corentyne River and camped out in the Amerindian settlement of Siparuta.

Rayan testifies that this was “challenging, adventurous, thrilling and a deeply moving experience”, as they became one with the way the people live. The Siparuta Mission climaxed with the Sacraments of

Painting the SVP hostel in Kitty, Georgetown – on time and to a high standard!

Baptism given to six children and Confirmation given to six young adults, officiated by Fr Malcolm Rodrigues SJ. I joined the scholastics then for the final stage of the summer when all nine of them in the country came back together for an ambitious project in Kitty, a suburb of Georgetown. The job was for all of us to work together in decorating the top floor of a St Vincent de Paul home for vulnerable men.

However, this work was not just an act of charity to the SVP but was rather an exercise of the deeper act of solidarity with the poor and vulnerable residents of the hostel. Much to the relief of the Regional Superior, the work was completed on time and to a surprisingly high standard! Thus, the jam-packed summer work ended having re-affirmed with renewed vigour and zeal ‘the fire that kindles other fires’ in the hearts and minds of the young Jesuit scholastics, as they departed for new ministries across Guyana and in the UK.

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JM

A Lovely Venue for Young and Old Alike The parish hall at the Church of St Martin de Porres in Soweto, South Africa, has served the people of Orlando West well for 60 years. But constant, heavy usage, combined with theft and vandalism, has taken its toll. The parishioners have managed to raise half the cost of replacing the hall; and here, parish priest, Fr Thomas Plastow SJ, appeals to Jesuits & Friends readers for their help.

The parish of Orlando West was founded in 1946. Two years later, when Apartheid laws came onto the statute books, the parish grew by leaps and bounds as forced removals shifted black people out of areas closer to the city, turning Orlando and its neighbouring villages into this huge dormitory city called Soweto. At that time, St Martin de Porres consisted of a primary school, a parish hall, and then, in 1955, one of the earliest parish churches to use African motifs and artwork.

The Jesuits came to Orlando West in 1985, right at the time when anti-Apartheid protests became so intense that a state of emergency was declared and the army occupied the African townships. Father Xolile Keteyi SJ oversaw the first refurbishment of the parish hall by accessing money from development agencies in Europe. By that time, the parish hall had become a multi-functional space. Not only was it the venue for school and parish functions, but as there were so few local halls, it was

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Mass for local people with disabilities in the Orland West parish hall, c 1960

used by youth and civic organisations, and was hired out to local people of other denominations for weddings and funerals. Pensioners came here daily for aerobics and stretching exercises, something we would like to begin again. Finally, in the first years of this decade, it became our Mass centre for a while as Father Kevin McElhatton SJ and his team worked on the extension of the parish church.

This great project, which was completed in November 2003, was financed in part through the generosity of the readers of Jesuits and Friends. The people of Orlando West are greatly in your debt, and continue to express their thanks by offering regular Masses for all their benefactors.

Jesuits & Friends Winter 2008 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

We now have a very beautiful church which can seat 800 people with ease, and we have held some memorable liturgies there, such as the ordinations of Jesuits Matsepane Morare and Rampe Hlobo, and the recent Mass for the mentally handicapped of the archdiocese at which the Papal Nuncio presided.

Each year parishioners look forward to the Easter Vigil when we baptise adults by total immersion.

But the parishioners of St Martin’s have not sat back since the dedication of their enlarged church. Each month they have been putting aside sums of money with a view to renovating the parish hall: to put in a new kitchen, renew the stage and the ceiling, and improve perimeter security. Last year the hall was

JM hit by cable thieves who ripped the wiring and the plumbing from the building to sell the valuable copper they gleaned as scrap metal. Thankfully, our insurers have paid for the necessary repairs, but our hall is a sorry sight, and in need of more than just rewiring! Waves of people have been in and out over the years, and many have not been careful users. Our parish school now caters for 550 teenagers who have used the hall as an examination centre, a place for prize-givings, as well as for indoor sports. Our parish finance committee is loathe to forbid the school access to the hall after its refurbishment, so we need to spend that little bit extra to ensure everything is of “industrial strength�!

In the past five years, the parishioners have managed to save just under half of what we will need for this new project.

Overseas developmental agencies no longer prioritise South Africa now that we have democracy and human rights, so we have to appeal once again to our friends. Perhaps there are readers who would be able to make contributions? Any help

will be greatly appreciated by this parish which is still troubled by poverty, unemployment and disease, harsh factors that drain our energies all too quickly. A lovely venue in which to teach, sing, pray and exercise will bring delight to old and young alike.

Youths playing on the street outside the hall, 2008 Photo credit: Thomas Plastow

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

On 4 October 1908, Archbishop John Maguire, then Archbishop of Glasgow, blessed and laid the Foundation Stone of St Aloysius Church, Garnethill. To celebrate the event 100 years later, the Glasgow City Council hosted a Civic Reception in the City Chambers for clergy, parishioners and colleagues on 3 October. The Rt Hon Lord Provost of Glasgow, Robert Winter, accompanied by his wife, the Lady Provost, gave a speech of welcome to the gathered company and Archbishop Mario Conti replied on behalf of the guests. Among the guests were Fr Michael Holman SJ, the British Provincial, and many Jesuits who had connections with Glasgow over the years, either working there or as Old Boys of the College and some were joined by relatives and friends.

The next day, the actual anniversary, a Mass of Thanksgiving was held in the church, beautifully refurbished over recent years by past and present parish priests. A special Mass had been commissioned from David Bednall and was premiered on this occasion, sung by the St Aloysius Choir under the direction of Dan Divers with Ewen Cameron playing the organ.

It is modelled on the traditional plainsong Mass Missa de Angelis with parts to be sung by the congregation and choir alternately. The Principal Celebrant was Archbishop Mario Conti who preached. The altar-servers had been trained by John McCabe, who had also written a history of the parish of the last 100 years and which went on sale that very evening.

Copies are £7 each and can be bought from St Aloysius Church, 70 Hill Street, Glasgow G3 6PA.

When Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ was the president of the East Asian Jesuit Conference prior to his election as Superior General, he initiated the work of translation of different essays on Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ which are found in the Curia archives. Later Fr Hector D'Souza SJ, president of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, took a keen interest in publishing this book. The outcome is a beautiful book on Arrupe in two parts. The first part contains 15 essays.

The second part is a CD which contains 18 essays. The main translator is Fr Michael Campbell-Johnston SJ of the British Province. Books are available from JM at a cost of £20 plus £5 postage.

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Celebrating the Centenary of St Aloysius Church, Glasgow

Essays of Father Arrupe

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The Spirituality of Leadership The Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life (HIREPL) has just published the latest in its Institute Series. The Spirituality of Leadership is the title of a talk given to the National Board of Religious Inspectors and Advisers earlier this year by Fr James Hanvey SJ. Published with a paper by leadership specialist Dr Danny McGuigan, it is hoped the volume will contribute significant insights to the work of the Leaders for Catholic Education project which is being developed jointly by the Catholic Education Service and HIREPL.

JM

In the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit Marc Sikkes says he was apprehensive about spending three weeks with strangers from around the world in middle of the Australian winter. However, it turned out to be one of the best trips of his life, during which he made some wonderful new friends and shared an incredibly powerful spiritual experience.

Magis is an exercise in Ignatian spirituality sponsored by five Ignatian orders, of which the Jesuits are one, and run in conjunction with World Youth Day. In early July, more than 1000 pilgrims from more than 20 countries gathered at the spectacular St Ignatius Riverview school in Sydney for Magis 08. There we were put into groups of approximately 15 pilgrims, led by religious from the five Ignatian orders, and dispersed throughout Australia for a week of service and Ignatian retreat.

This service aspect of our retreats took many forms. Some groups lived and volunteered in shelters serving the homeless. Others created murals, meditative mazes or provided the music for our liturgies. I, along with pilgrims from the UK, Pakistan and Australia, was sent to Portland, a small city approximately five hours southwest of Melbourne. The local Aboriginal people have been buying back farmland and replanting it with native species of tree, restoring the land to its natural state. We joined them in their labours for a week, and in the process became closer to God and to each other.

Ignatian spirituality was at the core of

Photo credit: Marc Sikkes

our experience. We started each day with morning prayers and had a liturgy every evening before dinner. After dinner, time was put aside for personal contemplation and journal writing, followed by small ‘Magis Circles’. In groups of five or six, we drew upon the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius to help us learn from our experiences during the day, and from the experiences of the others in the group, to help strengthen our understanding of and relationship with God. The Aboriginal people we worked with showed us their sacred sites and taught us about the ancient land we were helping to restore. In this breathtakingly beautiful natural environment, the presence of God was both powerful and close – it is not for nothing that Australia is known as the ‘Great South Land of the Holy Spirit’. The seedlings we planted became an enduring symbol for my group. With work and faith and love, we were restoring the environment with which God has entrusted to us. Through work and faith and love, the barriers of language and vastly different backgrounds were overcome and the seeds of friendship planted. By work and

faith and love, our own relationship with God was strengthened, that we might plant and nurture the seed of faith in others when we returned to our homes.

At the end of our week in Portland, we returned to Sydney and rejoined the rest of the Magis pilgrims. As we shared our stories, there was a powerful and tangible sense of God at work among us. In the days that followed, the streets of Sydney filled with joyous, singing young pilgrims and we became swept up in the events of World Youth Day, culminating in a final Mass with His Holiness, Pope Benedict. It was a truly unforgettable experience.

I returned to London refreshed in body and soul. The lessons I learned in Portland and Sydney have transformed my spiritual life. The friendships I made there will be with me forever. Many of the pilgrims at Magis and World Youth Day were supported, in whole or in part, by the generosity of benefactors of the British Jesuits.

I ask that you remember them in your prayers. They are certainly in mine, and have my eternal gratitude for supporting us on this wonderful experience.

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‘WE

SHALL NOT CEASE FROM EXPLORATION’ Through t Remem he Unknown ber Margar ed Gate by et publishe Blackie is d Voices P by New u ISBN-10 blishing; : 192009 475X

Margaret Blackie has a PhD in medicinal chemistry and is currently working in research at the University of Cape Town. She spent four years giving spiritual direction at Loyola Hall on Merseyside, work that she continues in South Africa.

Her collection of poems written over the past decade, Through the Unknown Remembered Gate, has just been published. Here she asks how poetry, spirituality and chemistry can co-exist.

I am a child of Africa although my pale skin speaks of different heritage.

In the very depths of my being, I feel a sense of rightness when I witness the harsh summer sun fade to evening.

The Southern Cross heralds the Milky Way, and Orion is upside down. In the northern hemisphere, the southern pitch of the sun throws me off. I can’t tell east from west without really thinking about it and somehow my instinctual sense of direction loses its internal bearings. I love the tension in the air as rainclouds gather on the Highveld, and the smell as the first rain begins to fall; the sound of the wind and rain in the height of a Cape storm; the sight of a crested barbet with its most ridiculous plumage; the majesty of the Victoria Falls, and the wonder of walking in the veld. Other continents hold exotic treasures, and extraordinary beauty but not one has managed to capture my soul like Southern Africa.

Over the last decade, since I discovered Ignatian Spirituality, I have been on a journey which has led me out of Cape Town, through France to Merseyside and back again. I shook the dust from my feet as I left my career in chemistry to enter that mysterious world of spirituality. I walked the path I believed I was called to follow. To my utter surprise I found myself at the threshold of a door to the career and the city I had long since left behind. The oft quoted passage from 16

T.S. Eliot’s Little Gidding is not so metaphorical for me!

“

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.

”

At the age of 24, I was encouraged to participate in a two week spirituality workshop in Kwazulu-Natal. It was there that I discovered that writing poetry can somehow bypass the internal sensor of my scientifically programmed mind. I write when I need to, usually in times of turbulence or gratitude. I never know where a poem will take me, but I have learnt to trust that the emotional space I end up in is almost always quite different from the space I began in. My poems are an attempt to process life. I doubt they will be recognised for their great literary merit, but I know that they speak deeply to some about their own experience.

The twists and turns of my life continue to surprise me. To say my route has been unconventional is something of an understatement. And yet at each turning point, I have been

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convinced of the companionship of Jesus. I believe I am responding to a call, and I believe that my journey is far from over. Where it will end I do not know. But for now I am grateful for the opportunities I have had and the experiences which have led me to this place.

I know that chemistry and spirituality seem a strange combination of passions, and there are those from both worlds who fail to understand my interest in the other. But chemistry grounds me in the real world. My research is focused in developing new anti-malarial drugs – a disease which afflicts 5% of the world’s population every year. Spirituality continually brings me back to a recognition that we are created for relationship.

Relationship with God, relationship with self and relationships with others.

Without these relationships, we cannot comprehend love; and without love, daily life is seriously impoverished. I pray that, in attempting to be true to myself and this dual calling, I manage to live a life of love. And I pray that those who read my poems find echoes of their own experience.

JM

Fr Michael Beattie SJ, the Coordinator for the Apostleship of Prayer in Britain, believes there is no contradiction between how Jesus instructed us to pray and what St Paul advised. And it seems that St Ambrose agreed …

In the gospel according to St Matthew Jesus tells us that we are not to pray like the Scribes and Pharisees who stand on the street corners so that everybody can see them praying.

We are to go into our private room, and when we have shut our door we pray to our Heavenly Father who is in that secret place. Our Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward us. (cf Mt 6.5) We are not to make a show or a song and dance about our daily prayers.

However, Saint Paul tells us that we are to pray continually, to pray without ceasing. (1 Thess 5.18) Is Our Lord telling us to do one thing and Saint Paul telling us to do another? If we are to pray without ceasing and to remain in our inner room when we pray how can we live our lives? Is Jesus condemning us to some sort of solitary confinement?

The Christian community in fifth century Milan became aware of this apparent contradiction and some of them questioned their famous Archbishop, St Ambrose: “How can we live our lives if we have to pray without ceasing and at the same time pray in secret?” “Are we called to a solitary life and to have no contact with other people?”

St Ambrose’s reply is famous. “Your secret place, your inner room is your heart.” This satisfied those early Christians and it should satisfy us, too.

When we make our daily commitment of the Apostleship of Prayer we offer the whole day to the Lord, in our hearts, and then we begin our day that is so often full of a hundred and one different things to do and situations to manage. The commitment remains in our innermost selves even though our minds are, in the nature of things, elsewhere.

St Ambrose’s most famous convert to Christianity was Saint Augustine. A saying is attributed to St Augustine that could well be the motto of the Apostleship of Prayer. “Laborare est orare – working is praying”. This profound dictum also throws light on the problems of those early Milanese Christians.

“Jesus, I offer my day to you” solves all these problems. If the Apostleship of Prayer as a worldwide method of praying had been in existence all those years ago I am sure that Saint Ambrose would have offered it as part of his response to the Christian community in Milan!

St Ambrose baptizing St Augustine Benozzo Gozzoli (1464-65) Apsidal chapel, Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy

Pope Benedict’s Prayer Intentions December 2008 For those stricken with AIDS. For all who live in Asia.

January 2009 For loving families where there is growth and faith and maturity.

For unity among all Christians.

February 2009 That the pastors of the Church may be open to the promptings of God the Holy Spirit as they teach and serve the People of God. For the Church in African countries.

March 2009 That the dignity and value of womanhood be recognised worldwide.

For the Church in China.

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Bits ‘n’

Pieces LEST WE FORGET

SAY YOU’RE ONE OF THEM Fr Uwem Akpan SJ is a Jesuit of the North West African province, currently teaching at Arrupe College in Harare, Zimbabwe. His book, Say You’re One of Them, consists of five short stories about the beauty of Africa and the resilience of children in the face the horrors of child prostitution, slavery and death. “Since Akpan is a Jesuit priest,” wrote David Grylls in The Times, “it is scarcely surprising that religious imagery pervades these stories, which interweave themes of martyrdom, betrayal and the threat to innocence. But they are never dogmatic or didactic. On the contrary they indict blind partisanship, whether racial, religious or political. And although they often deal with horrific material, they retain an astringent clarity.”

Published by Abacus at £11.99.

Two Stonyhurst College pupils experienced the present and the past when they visited Auschwitz and its concentration camp to learn about the Holocaust. Rhetoricians (Year 13 pupils) Gabriel Box and Gabriel Cohen who are both studying A-level History, heard first hand experiences of life inside the concentration camp from a survivor who spoke at a special seminar.

Later they took part in a one-day visit to the Auschwitz Birkenau camp under the auspices of the Holocaust Educational Trust.

After the visit and seminar, in which they discussed the importance of visiting such places to understand the Holocaust and the genocide that took place, the boys discussed their experiences with Rabbi Marcus, who stressed the importance of not forgetting what occurred at the camp.

CONTEMPORARY SACRED ART FROM JESUIT SCULPTOR Twelve works by Jesuit sculptor, Fr Rory Geoghegan SJ, formed the central focus of the Chilworth Friary Festival in October. The sculptures provide a prayerful meditation on the story of Salvation, and are described by Fr Rory as "contemporary sacred art".

"My purpose has been to appeal to people who spend time in prayerful reflection," he says. "I encourage people to 'spend time being with the sculptures'. Explore all sides of the piece.

Wander around them. Make your time with any one piece a time of discovery and personal enquiry.” Fr Rory says the ideas for his sculptures have often come out of prayerful and challenging times in his own life or world events such as 11 September 2001.

NEW DEAN OF ARRUPE COLLEGE Fr Lawrence Daka SJ has been appointed Dean of Arrupe College in Harare, Zimbabwe.

He replaces Fr Stephen Buckland SJ. Fr Daka was born in 1963, entered the Society of Jesus in 1987 and is a member of the Zimbabwe Province. He was ordained in Zimbabwe in 2000 and completed his PhD at Boston College, Massachusetts, with a thesis on the thought of Amartya Sen and Social and Economic Development. He taught at Arrupe College in the mid-1990s and rejoined the staff there in 2007.

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STAMFORD HILL'S SPONSORED WALK RAISES £10,000 St Ignatius Parish raised £10,000 for the Sickle Cell Society in this year's sponsored walk. A Mass of thanksgiving was followed by a short reception at which parish priest, Fr Peter Randall SJ, and organiser, Pauline Daly, presented a cheque to the charity. This follows a long tradition of raising money for external charities. So far, the walkers of St Ignatius have raised £100,000 for good causes. Well done!

FATHER PROVINCIAL DELIVERS TABLET LECTURE This year’s Tablet lecture was delivered by the British Jesuit Provincial, Fr Michael Holman SJ. The former Headmaster of Wimbledon College was invited to deliver the annual lecture after writing on youth violence in the Catholic periodical in June. His theme was Our lost children - the challenges of raising young people today.

He was joined on the panel by novelist Anthony McGowan, Cathy Corcoran OBE, Director of the Cardinal Hume Centre, and Terry Connor, Director of the Catholic Children's Society (Southwark, Arundel and Brighton, Portsmouth). The text of Fr Holman’s lecture will be published in The Tablet.

THE PAULINE YEAR ON

As part of the British Jesuits’ contribution to the Year of St Paul launched by Pope Benedict XVI in June, Thinking Faith is running a series of articles about the apostle. Fr Peter Edmonds SJ introduced the series by looking at the man from Tarsus who, he says, ‘influenced the course of Christianity more than probably any other saint’. Fr Jerome Murphy-O’Connor OP then goes on to consider St Paul as a pastor. “It took time for Paul to think of himself as a pastor,” he wrote in the British Jesuits’ online journal. “Originally he believed that he had done his duty by establishing churches and by staying with them for a year or so in order to initiate them into what it meant to live as Christians.”

Scripture expert, Fr Nicholas King SJ, not only looks at the change effected in the apostle by his encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, but also the demands that St Paul’s letters still place on their readers, two millennia after they were written. And in the latest article published on the Thinking Faith site, Fr David M. Neuhaus SJ delves into the recent Pauline scholarship that has revealed new perspectives of the life and environment of St Paul. David (pictured above) is an Israeli Jesuit, lecturer in Scripture at the Latin Patriarchate Seminary in Beit Jala and Bethlehem University and Secretary-General of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic Vicariate in Israel.

For these articles on St Paul – and many more – visit www.thinkingfaith.org

BOYS HONOUR LATE HEADMASTER WITH MUSICAL PREMIERE Photo: Simon Caldwell

DECREES AND DOCUMENTS OF THE 35TH GENERAL CONGREGATION The 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, at which Fr Adolfo Nicholás SJ, was elected Superior General, took place in the spring of 2008. This book, published by The Way, details the process leading up to the Congregation and what took place. It presents the official texts of the Decrees of the Congregation and other supporting documents, as well as a list of delegates and four colour plates.

Price: £10.00 ISBN: 978 0 904717 32 7 Available from The Way, Campion Hall, Oxford OX1 1QS – the.way@campion.ox.ac.uk

The Choristers of St John's Beaumont sang the world premiere performance of a new commission by Dr Barry Rose OBE this autumn at Farm Street Church. The work was dedicated to Dermot St John Gogarty who was Headmaster of the Berkshire school from 1987 to 2005. The text, called In Memoriam or 'As generations come and go', was written by James Scholes, a pupil of St John's Beaumont, upon news of the tragic death of Mr Gogarty in a car accident in November 2005. It quickly became a collective expression of the boys' great admiration for their Headmaster. Dr Barry Rose OBE is considered to be one of the finest choir trainers and composers of choral music in Britain.

Ian Keatley, the Director of Music at St John’s Beaumont, says that the piece will form a preface to the St John's Songbook, a collection of new commissions from British composers written for the Choristers, which is dedicated to Mr Gogarty and acts as a learning tool for Catholic children.

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The Master of Suspense 2008 is the centenary of the start of Alfred Hitchcock’s Jesuit education.

Fr Dermot Preston SJ reflects on the values the director’s films contain and the degree to which he might have been influenced by his teachers and his faith.

“Que sera, sera… Whatever will be, will be …The future’s not ours to see… Que sera, sera…”

Doris Day singing in Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much”

In 1908, when the nine-year old Alfred Hitchcock walked through the gates of the Jesuit school of St Ignatius at Stamford Hill in Tottenham, only God knew that the most famous film director in cinema history was about to begin school.

By all accounts, Hitchcock the pupil was a quiet and studious child and his presence in St Ignatius doesn’t seem to have left much of a mark on his classmates; and indeed the effect that the school had on him remains something of an enigma. There is one powerful anecdote that he used to recount from his school life (which he also mentioned in an interview with the St Ignatius College magazine in 1973); he said he learned the art of suspense from waiting outside the Jesuit Headmaster’s Office.

Despite his famous cameo-roles and a shrewd showmanship promoting his own films, Hitchcock was painfully shy in real life and guarded his privacy until his death in 1980. He remained a practicing Catholic throughout his life and was happily married for over 50 years. Although he took an almost sadistic pleasure in projecting onto celluloid some of his uncomfortable questions and reflections about the darker side of human existence, in his own life he was rather straight-laced and well-behaved and he had an almost neurotic desire to please and perform well – his movies always came in on-time and under-budget, which made him the darling of the cost-conscious Hollywood moguls.

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Although Hitchcock’s film I Confess (which circles around a young priest, Montgomery Clift, and the secrecy of the confessional) is overtly religious, other references to the Catholic Church in his films are rare and tend to be rather tangential to the story like the fall from the tower of Westminster Cathedral in Foreign Correspondent.

What does emerge, however, (and this he shares with someone like the US film director, Martin Scorsese) is an intense portrayal of human nature which has Christianity - and Catholicism in particular - as the defining frame of reference for the drama of human existence. For Hitchcock, God is never mentioned but the universal qualities of those who would be his disciples - truth, faithfulness, courage, self-sacrificing love etc - are the primary colours on Hitchcock’s canvas. The world is essentially fair; people are trustworthy; ultimately good will always triumph over evil.

In a Hitchcock film, seemingly “average” people find themselves being subjected to unusual and powerful forces beyond their control; these people then show themselves to be not as average or predictable as they at first appeared to be. Bad people are glimpsed as not entirely bad; good people are found to be not entirely good. Thus in his films, human beings are neither plastercast saints nor devils incarnate, but they are to be found in the subtler

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shades of the spectrum between the extremes of goodness and evil and therein lies the drama. Clean-cut James Stewart in Rear Window is quickly shown to be a morally-neutral, uncommitted observer of humanity, but through the film he learns that he cannot be so in real life. Norman Bates, the iconic slasher from Psycho, is not some modern automaton killer (like Ridley’s Scott’s creature in Alien or the mute and brutal Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween) but Norman is a man whose violence comes from a collapsed and obsessive love for his dead mother.

At the beginning of a Hitchcock film, trusts are often broken. An unexpected change in the central character’s life reveals a complex past which provokes a dormant fear or guilt. Thus we perceive that although grace is at work in our world, so also is Original Sin – and that fatal flaw,

which runs through the soul of a human being, allows the forces of evil to infiltrate God’s creation. A Hitchcock “hero” (they were almost always men) thus finds himself challenged and needing to respond - to

face his fears, to reveal his guilt or (perhaps belatedly) to act with integrity and do what it right, often against overwhelming odds. For Hitchcock, redemption always comes when love takes a risk.

The 39 Steps (with Robert Donat), North by North West (with Cary Grant) and Spellbound (with Gregory Peck) all show an individual having to demonstrate grace-under-fire. As viewers of these films we become engaged, not because the heroes are terribly skilled in such things (unlike all the contemporary “Special Ops” alumni - Steven Segal in Under Siege, Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon or Bruce

Willis in Die Hard) but because in a Hitchcock film we see an ordinary person having to learn to cope in extraordinary circumstances with coolness, ingenuity and a touch of humour.

In a documentary about the beginnings of American cinema, Martin Scorsese once quoted an early Hollywood film director saying, “Love and adversity make the heart grow strong – so I make films about love and adversity”.

Hitchcock would resonate with that.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS Political Theology, a New Introduction by Fr Michael Kirwan SJ, published by Darton Longman and Todd This guide is designed for both theology students and students from religious studies programmes.

It avoids, or explains where necessary, technical theological terms, and supplies a helpful glossary. ISBN: 9780232527452 (2008) £14.95

An Approach to Saint Ignatius of Loyola by Fr Michael Ivens SJ, published by The Way, £7

The Church in the Later Middle Ages by Fr Norman Tanner SJ One of seven volumes in the I. B. Tauris History of the Christian Church. Covering the period 1300 to 1500, Fr Tanner examines what was both a period of vibrant ecclesiastical history and a period of papal schisms, heresies, disease and wars. It was a time of ecumenical councils, the start of the Renaissance and mystics.

This series of books is described as “the most complete and authoritative treatment of church history ever to be published in English”. For more information, see www.ibtauris.com

A small cache of Michael Ivens’ early writings came to light after his death in 2005, the largest section consisting of trial sketches for a ‘Life’ of St Ignatius that was never completed. To these have been added further papers devoted to Ignatian themes: the Spiritual Exercises, the Society of Jesus, and characteristic features of Ignatian Spirituality. Taken together they round off our picture of Michael’s work, and at the same time open up fresh perspectives on the great saint who won over Michael’s heart.

ISBN: 978 0 904717 31 0

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DEATHS & OBITUARIES BROTHER MATTHEW (Benny) GOODMAN SJ

BROTHER FRANCIS FITZSIMMONS SJ

Matthew Goodman – known familiarly as ‘Benny’ after the jazz musician and band leader – was born in January 1924 in Manchester where he attended St Augustine’s School. In 1942, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Royal Navy where he served for two and a half years, and on being demobbed after the Second World War, he trained as an apprentice electrician. He worked as an electrical salesman for the General Electric Company before entering the Society of Jesus in 1959, at the age of 35.

After taking his first vows at Roehampton, Brother Goodman worked as refectorian at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire and St Beuno’s College in North Wales. From 1966 to ’69, he was receptionist at Mount Street and sacristan at Farm Street in Central London. He made his Brothers’ Tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle in Dublin, then returned to St Beuno’s as assistant infirmarian.

It was during the early 1970s that Brother Goodman underwent medical tests and began treatment for a form of Parkinson’s Disease.

But for the next 27 years – except for a brief term at Xavier High School in New York – he served as receptionist at the Mount Street Jesuit Residence in London. He retired to St Peter’s Residence in Vauxhall in 1999, and died there on 29 June 2008.

Harold Francis Fitzsimmons was born in Manchester on 23 June 1932 and never knew either of his parents. He was brought up by the Sisters of Charity at St Vincent’s Orphanage in Preston and was educated at St Vincent’s School. At the age of 15, he left to become a French polisher, but from an early age, he had always considered a vocation to the priesthood. In his mid-20s though, he reconsidered this after talking with the Bishop of Lancaster, who suggested he should think about life as a brother.

Brother Fitzsimmons entered the Society of Jesus in 1957 and served his noviceship at both Roehampton in Surrey and Chishawasha in what was then Rhodesia. He continued working in the country throughout the 1960s: at St Ignatius College and Silveira House (both in Chishawasha), and at St George’s College in Salisbury (now Harare). Between 1970 and 1973, he was responsible for youth work at Silveira House, after which he was made Secretary to the Superior, based at Garnet House.

When the Jesuit Province of Zimbabwe was created in 1978, Brother Fitzsimmons applied to become a member, working principally at St George’s College, Harare.

In 2003, Brother Fitzsimmons returned to Britain and became a member of the Stamford Hill Jesuit Community. He served as Minister and Bursar until July 2008 when he retired to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Boscombe, Dorset. He died on 13 June 2008.

Please pray for those who have died recently.

May they rest in peace.

Miss Winifred Mary Barnett

Mr Nicholas Cooper

Mrs Sonja Holman

Mr R D MacFadyen

Mrs Martine Clark

– Mother of Fr Provincial Michael Holman SJ

Miss M V Fernandes

Mrs Alicia Gonzalez Garcia

Mr Roger Church

Sr Patricia Whitehead DMJ

Mrs Vera Cooper

– Brother of Fr Aloysius Church SJ

Mr P H Wilson

Mrs Mary Monica Baker

Br Francis Fitzsimmons SJ

Sr Margaret Lonergan LSA Miss M C S Lewis Mrs Joan Fleming

Mr Philip Naughton Mrs Norah Rigby Mr Charles Miller Mr Brian Dillon OB

Mr Jaison Maturure Mr Alan Jackson Mr Richard Mills

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Mr Francis Calnan Miss K Lally “Genevieve”

Br Matthew Goodman SJ Fr Austin Budworth SJ Fr Hans Zwiefelhofer SJ Fr Kevin Donovan SJ Fr Joseph Gelineau SJ Fr Jack Donovan SJ Fr Robert Manning SJ

Mrs Elizabeth Ann Slinger

Miss Mary Curran

Miss Mary Easton

Mrs Beradine Holmes

Fr Richard Randolph SJ

Mr Basil O’Brien

Mrs A Zacaroli

Fr Otto Messmer SJ

Mrs Frances Kelly

Mrs Nora Allan

Fr Victor Betancourt SJ

Fr Edward Gould

Mr Francis Moniram

Fr Josef Kadlec SJ

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DEATHS & OBITUARIES

FATHER KEVIN DONOVAN SJ Kevin Jean-Marie Donovan was born on 26 September 1931 at Montrécourt-par-saulzoir (Nord) in France. After his family moved to Britain, he attended the Salesian Prep School (St Joseph's) in Burwash, Sussex (1940-43), and then the Jesuit school in Berkshire, Beaumont College (1943 – 49).

On leaving school, Kevin entered the Society of Jesus at Manresa College in Roehampton, Surrey, and made his first vows as a Jesuit at the newly acquired Novice House at Harlaxton in Lincolnshire. He studied Philosophy at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire (1952-55) and Roehampton, and trained as a teacher in the mid-50s. He then moved to study Classics at Campion Hall, Oxford, where he achieved a BA – later converted to an MA. He returned to his alma mater, Beaumont College, in 1960 and taught there for two years before returning to Oxfordshire for his theology studies at Heythrop.

Kevin was ordained a priest by Archbishop Thomas Roberts SJ on 1 August 1965 at Sacred Heart Church in Wimbledon, after which time he moved to Paris where he studied liturgy and catechetics at the Jesuit College on Rue de Sevres. On returning to Britain in September 1969, he was appointed Professor of Liturgy at Heythrop College. He was transferred temporarily to St Ignatius College in Chishawasha, where he taught in the school and seminary. He returned to the UK in October 1979 and resumed his professorship in liturgy at Heythrop, a post he held until his death. He also served as parish priest in St Ignatius Parish, Stamford Hill, from 1982 – 91, and worked on the church staff at Sacred Heart, Wimbledon from August 1992. He died on 21 August 2008.

FR JACK DONOVAN SJ Fr Jack Donovan SJ, a member of the Irish Province, worked for many years in the 1970s in the Stamford Hill parish and was also the much-loved parish priest of Custom House in the East End of London. Bishop Thomas McMahon presided over his funeral at St Margaret’s, Canning Town, on 13 October. AMDG, the newsletter of the Irish Province, reported: “All through his life (Jack) had opted for obscurity. He was described at the funeral Mass as a ‘low maintenance priest, a humble servant’. He was a voracious reader.

He slept in a chair because his bed was buried under books; so was the gas meter in his sheltered accommodation - that nearly got him evicted. But his death brought out the crowds. London traffic was held up as the funeral procession walked for half an hour from St Anne’s church where he had been PP, to St Margaret’s where he died. His beloved Filipinos held an all-night vigil for him before the funeral, and escorted him to St Patrick’s Cemetery, the resting-place of the nuns immortalised by Hopkins in the Wreck of the Deutschland.

FATHER AUSTIN BUDWORTH SJ Liverpool-born Austin Budworth entered the Society of Jesus shortly before his 20th birthday, in September 1938.

He had been educated at St Francis Xavier’s College in the city and worked briefly at the Airframe Factory in Speke before entering the novitiate in Roehampton. He studied Humanities at Craighead, Bothwell, and Philosophy and Theology at Heythrop College, Oxfordshire. Much of his ministry was taken up with teaching: at Corby School, Sunderland, from 1944 to 1948; St John’s Beaumont in Windsor from 1953 to ’59 (where he was also Assistant Prefect of Studies); and Wimbledon College, where he was Spiritual Father between 1968 and 1970.

In 1970, Austin moved to Liverpool to serve on the parish staff at St Francis Xavier’s, a post he held for seven years, before he was transferred to Corpus Christi parish in Boscombe, Dorset. He retired from active ministry in 2002 and spent his latter years in retirement homes on the South Coast. He died in Bournemouth Hospital on 17 July 2008.

FATHER RICHARD RANDOLPH SJ Richard Herbert Randolph was born in Bath on 10 May 1916 and was educated at Winton House, Winchester and Radley College, Abingdon. He read botany, zoology and human physiology at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was received into the Catholic Church at the Chaplaincy to the Catholic Undergraduates in 1935. He sat (unsuccessfully) for a Diploma in Agriculture but on leaving Cambridge in 1938, he joined the Agricultural Department of a London firm.

On the outbreak of World War II, Richard served as an Emergency Officer in France and Belgium, then in the Middle East and North Africa (including at the Battle of El Alamein). On being released from the army with the honorary rank of Major in 1946, he joined a government training scheme in agriculture and then worked for three years as a farm assistant in Tanganyika in East Africa. In 1951, he decided to apply to the Society of Jesus and was admitted to the late vocations college at Osterley. He gained his degrees in philosophy and theology at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire, and made his tertianship at St Beuno’s in north Wales. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1959.

Richard served briefly as assistant (or Socius) to the Master of Novices in Roehampton before he was assigned to Rhodesia - what is now Zimbabwe (then part of the British Province) in 1961. He studied indigenous languages at Monte Cassino, Macheke, and was appointed the Regional Superior in 1963. In the late 1960s, he worked for the Bishops’ Conference of Rhodesia: first on the Land Tenure Act, and then as Secretary of the Conference, a position he held for 13 years. During the 1970s, he wrote a series of books on the Church and the State in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, including one on racial discrimination (The Land Tenure Act and the Church, 1970) and Dawn on Zimbabwe (1977).

When Zimbabwe became a province in its own right in 1978, Richard remained there, but returned to the UK in 1983 as Minister at Mount Street in central London. In 1987, he assisted with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Zimbabwe. The following year, he was assigned to Sacred Heart Church in Tisbury, Wiltshire, where he served for 11 years.

In 1999, he retired to Campion Hall in Oxford, where he resumed writing. Among his later books were Beyond Belief – an instruction of the Roman Catholic Faith (2001), and what he termed ‘a brief history of salvation’ entitled Faithful Witness. Father Richard Randolph died peacefully at Campion Hall on 18 October 2008. www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Winter 2008 Jesuits & Friends

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To The New Born (in these times) It was not the broken look on the face of the woman who was begging that touched me. It was not even her shabby dressing and her bare cracked feet. It was that baby loosely strapped on her back.

A cry in the night‌ Darkness host your Innocent arrival So bring more tears To shed in this world But we still say Congratulations As weary arms hold You to a chest heavy With despair So I pray That your swaddlings Not become shrouds To your dreams As for now Suckle from these stricken Breasts of misery Yet grow stronger by day Till you greet sunrise for us

By Joe Arimoso SJ Photo credit: Lucian Coman