Jesuit and Friends Winter 09/10

Jesuits and Friends A faith that does justice Winter 2009 Issue 74

Royal Opening of the Dermot Gogarty Sports Centre South Africa: World Cup 2010

PL EA gr A SE

Guyana: remembering the ‘Little Padre’

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

Zimbabwe: Our Lady of the Wayside celebrates

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“You and I know that the knowledge (of Christ Jesus) of which St Paul is speaking is the knowledge of the heart … for us and especially for Religious men and women, it’s a knowledge that fills our hearts entirely, it’s a knowledge that is rooted in love and explored in love and makes us say at those key moments…‘I do it for you Lord’”.

Most Rev Vincent Nichols, to Religious men and women, on the eve of his installation as Archbishop of Westminster, 21 May 2009

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 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

“I had some problems and you listened to me and helped me. I like JRS because when I was sick you gave me a bus pass for my hospital appointment and you gave me some food”.

An Ethiopian woman

Hope and sharing at Christmas JRS provides support for completely destitute asylum seekers left in the UK with no status, no benefits and no permission to work.

Many have not seen their families for years. Please help us show that someone cares and help us provide hope along with the grants we give for food, bus tickets, or other essential items like spectacles and medicine.

Please send your donation to JRS, 6 Melior Street, London SE1 3QP or email on uk@jrs.net or more information about our work.

Contents

Winter 2009 Issue 74 The Directors of European Jesuit Mission Offices during their meeting at Loyola Hall on Merseyside. They are pictured here with Frank Turner SJ (front row, centre), the Director of OCIPE, the Jesuit European Office. See page 21.

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 Editor Editorial group: Denis Blackledge SJ Dushan Croos SJ Alan Fernandes Jane King Siobhan Totman Graphic Design:

Ian Curtis www.firstsightgraphics.com

Cover photo credit: Arthur Edwards

Editorial Tim Curtis SJ Our Lady of the Wayside celebrates: parishioner, Mike Hamilton, shares some golden moments from the jubilee in Zimbabwe 4 The World Cup 2010 Welcome to Soccer City - Thomas Plastow SJ foresees local benefits from the international sporting event taking place next year in South Africa On the ball – But Anthony Egan SJ warns that there may be an unsavoury side to the occasion And the parishioners and High School students of Soweto say ‘thank you’ 6

Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company www.magprint.co.uk

The beginnings of ‘community’ Cristina (Potty) Connolly reflects on the Baptism programme at Sacred Heart parish in south west London 8

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

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

Desperately seeking God in central London Dr Paul O’Reilly SJ of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre, on making the Incarnation a reality in Westminster

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Faith School brings harmony to West Everton How music is having an impact on a community in Liverpool and upon the children of St Francis Xavier’s primary school in particular.

From Debbie Reynolds, Zoe Armfield and Ged Clapson 15 St Aloysius Gonzaga School: a testament to faith in action Ashleigh Callow visits two schools in Kenya which are partnered with St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow 16

St John's Beaumont welcomes the Queen as she officially opens the school’s new Sports Centre 9

Skills and shelter for young Zimbawians Emilia James, Director of Zambuko House, explains how they are helping young Take time to discover life’s little miracles Zimbabweans experience a better tomorrow Kyra Noblet explains why she now leaves her 17 watch at home, after working as a volunteer in Dodoma 10 Obituaries 18-19 The Everest of Open Air Swimming The parent of a pupil at St Ignatius College, Bits n pieces Enfield, attempts to swim the English Channel News in brief from around the province 20 in support of its sister school in Tanzania. By Tim Byron SJ 11 Their voice has gone out The remarkable story of the ‘Little Padre’ Michael Beattie SJ, the Promoter of the Ged Clapson marks the centenary of the start Apostleship of Prayer, reflects on the Holy of Fr Cuthbert Cary-Elwes’ missionary work in Father’s intentions 22 the Interior of Guyana.

Plus - Jesuits are honoured at Guyanese Mass in New York 12 How can I help?

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From the Editor...

We are approaching the “season of goodwill to all” where many people, moved by the mystery of the Incarnation, seek to go out of their way to do some good deed for others. It is wonderful to see people who are normally so busy with their own lives looking out for the needs of others.

Jesuits, indeed all who are touched by the spirituality of St Ignatius, are privileged to be able to make this an all year round activity. It is our calling to seek out and help those most in need, most neglected by others where the most good can be done.

But this means that we don’t just help the first needy person we come across. Members of the Ignatian family are constantly asking themselves questions: Why am I doing this work? Could I be doing this work in a better way? Could what I do be more effective? Could more people be helped if I did what I do in a different way?

Through a constant process of reflection and review, we can make sure that we are attuned to the promptings of the Spirit who helps us make “the greater glory of God” a reality in the particular circumstances of the world of today.

Anniversaries are a precious moment for doing this.

Various works of the British Province of the Society of Jesus are celebrating important milestones, 100 years of the Amerindian Apostolate in Guyana and 150 years of St Aloysius in Glasgow are two important ones that occur this year. Obviously, these celebrations involve a lot of looking back with gratitude. We give thanks to God for the heroic work of those who have laboured before us.

However, anniversaries are also a time to look to the future. Our work needs to be constantly renewed. We know that outstanding Jesuits in the past have discerned how best to reap a rich harvest from their labours, but it is up to us today, in honouring their memory, to engage in the same process to make their work ours and take it into the future.

As you read through the various articles that we have collected together for this issue, I hope that, like me, you are struck by the great generosity of many people.

However, behind each story lies the deeper question of why this work was chosen and a prayerful reflection on how it can be continued.

It is reported that when Jerónimo Nadal, one of Ignatius’ first Companions, was asked who the Spiritual Exercises were for, he replied: “They are for Catholics, for Protestants, for Muslims, for everyone”. So this gift of being able to choose what good we should be doing is the gift we can share with the world.

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Jesuit parish in Zimbabwe celebrates golden jubilee

Fifty years ago, in December 1959, the Parish of Our Lady of the Wayside in Harare's Mount Pleasant, Zimbabwe, was founded and celebrations to mark their Golden Jubilee have been ongoing through the year. Parishioner, Mike Hamilton, has been assessing how the parish has developed over the past 50 years and what makes it so vibrant.

The Parish of Our Lady of the Wayside is unique in being a Jesuit parish - not just in the sense of being served by Jesuit priests but because the church is owned by the Society of Jesus. It has within it Arrupe College, which is a Jesuit School of Studies for Jesuit scholastics from throughout Africa, as well as the apostolic nunciature and the provincial Jesuit headquarters. There is also an establishment, Richartz House, for Jesuits who are elderly or infirm. There are a number of convents of different religious orders within the parish too.

The parish is a vibrant one. Its character has changed over the years, reflecting changes within the community of which the parish is a part. The organ has been replaced by the African drum as the main instrument accompanying hymns in the parish church. Attendance at weekday Masses in the morning and evening would probably be the envy of many parishes. The number of active organisations has multiplied. There are several active women's groups, and

more than one association predominantly for men. Throughout the week there are activities being conducted by a variety of groups. In addition to having an active Society of St Vincent de Paul, the parish has its own outreach group to assist the poor of the parish.

The parish has been divided into zones, in an effort to promote small neighbourhood Christian communities. This has met with varying success, with some zones having well attended meetings and others attracting few participants.

Within the parish there is a Catholic secondary school, St John's High School, which also serves as a Mass centre, an orphanage and school for the deaf run by the Dominican sisters at Emerald Hill and St Anne's Hospital, which was founded by sisters of the Little Company of Mary.

The country's largest university, the University of Zimbabwe, which has its own chaplain, is close to the parish church.

One of the events at the golden jubilee celebrations was an interzone choir competition. This was the first time the parish had attempted to have an all-day fun day for

parishioners and it proved so popular that it was clearly an event worth repeating.

Last year, the parish decided to make its harvest festival an occasion not only for bringing foodstuffs for donation to the poor, to be brought up during the offertory procession at Mass, but also an opportunity for bringing the parish family together.

We repeated it as part of the golden jubilee celebration.

One of the biggest challenges the parish faces is one that confronts many parishes, namely how to pass onto the younger generation a love for the Mass and appreciation of their Catholic faith, in a world where they are continually bombarded with messages that undermine Christian values. Another is the lure for young people of some evangelistic nonCatholic churches offering what may seem to them more attractive services than the Mass, particularly if they have never learnt to appreciate what Mass is all about.

There are two active youth groups within the parish, both of which are doing a good job. Keeping such groups going has proved a challenge in the past, as the dynamism of some

groups can be lost when some of its keenest members become adults and move out of them. Encouraging children to talk to the priests of the parish is another challenge, given that the priests are over 70 years of age and the young people are conscious of the generation gap.

The parish has for a long time been noted for the generosity of its parishioners, many of whom are among the more affluent members of society. That generosity, even during the difficult economic times the country has gone through, was once more demonstrated at both the harvest festival last year and at the golden jubilee celebrations. A whole cow and whole pigs were donated to ensure there was plenty of meat for parishioners to share together. Such donations made it possible to make meals affordable and helped raise money for the parish.

All in all, the priests and parishioners of Our Lady of the Wayside parish have a great deal to give thanks and praise to God for. May He continue to bless this parish and help it to do better still in carrying out His work in Mount Pleasant.

Preparing for the Parish feast

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JM

ON THE BALL

THE WORLD CUP 2010

South Africa is gearing itself up for the 2010 World Cup. While the occasion is probably going to mean good news for the country’s economy and infrastructure, there could be more sinister results from the influx of visitors. Fr Anthony Egan SJ from the Jesuit Institute of South Africa writes.

You cannot move around any major city in South Africa without being affected by the FIFA World Cup 2010 soccer tournament, whether you like football or not. Not only are there

billboards announcing it on the streets, the streets themselves proclaim it in the almost infinite number of roadworks we are forced to negotiate as we head to and from work.

None of us who works at the Jesuit Institute (JISA) or at Holy Trinity Parish, both in Braamfontein (Johannesburg), have been left unaffected. Down the hill to the north of us Empire Road is being revamped. South of us the Rea Vaya rapid bus transport system has altered the face of the inner city, swallowing the middle chunk of one of the major roads. To the east of city centre, near my community in Belgravia, not only do we have Rea Vaya but the impressively rebuilt Ellis Park stadium. To the south west our colleague, Puleng Matsaneng, must pass massive roadworks, the Rea Vaya again, or two thoroughly upgraded stadia – Orlando Stadium and FNB Stadium – from her home in Soweto to the office in Braamfontein.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) has dedicated a section of their website to 2010, posting items of news that may A view of the new stadium as seen from St Martin de Porres Church

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be of interest – possible pastoral strategies for parishes which will (hopefully) receive a significant influx of visitors. I expect, nearer the time, to see folk writing about the ‘spirituality of sport’ or of ethics of sportsmanship; if not, perhaps the JISA crew should do this.

On a more ominous note, there is a section on the SACBC site expressing the fear that three million tourists may well ‘encourage’ the less savoury parts of our society – organised human traffickers – to increase their business to meet the ‘need’ for prostitution. A coalition of NGOs, including JISA, has made written interventions to encourage the government not to legalise prostitution in anticipation of 2010. JISA member Fr Chris Chatteris SJ produced a thought-provoking article for our website (http://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za) in which, citing Sweden as an example, he argued that the focus should be on prosecuting those who solicit rather than the prostitutes themselves. A human trafficking activist friend of mine used Chris’ piece as part of her intervention in the recent NGO meeting with the government.

Meanwhile we wait to see what will happen, not so much whether Bafana Bafana (the South African team) will surprise us all and win – a cynic like me would say that even miracles have limits! – but how the World Cup will affect us during and after 2010. Billions have been invested in infrastructure; will it pay off? There is much speculation that 2010 may have a long term boost effect for tourism. But will it happen? What if there is another major economic meltdown in the meantime?

What if the tournament is marred by a terrorist attack? As the political analysts say: there are many ‘independent variables’. In other words, we have no idea what to expect!

JM

Welcome to Soccer City Thomas Plastow SJ St Martin de Porres, the Jesuit-run parish in Soweto, is eagerly anticipating the 2010 World Cup. The opening match and final will be played at the new ‘Soccer City’ on the outskirts of Soweto. This is a newly built stadium on the site of a complex that was erected between Johannesburg and Soweto, before the fall of Apartheid, in an attempt to bring people of different races together for sporting activities.

Our parish had a much older stadium made of wood and iron, and this was the

original home ground of Orlando Pirates, one of the most popular clubs in the country. In fact, their greatest rivals, Kaizer Chiefs, also began in the township of Orlando. When these two clubs clash there is more interest expressed than for an international game. The din of the vuvuzelas (long plastic trumpets) is so great during these matches that I do not have to have the TV on to know who has scored – I can tell depending on which side of the church property erupts at that time!

Orlando Stadium was rebuilt last

year. Since it seats only 40,000, it will be but a practice venue during the World Cup, but it is a valuable new asset in this part of Soweto. During night games, the sky is ablaze, enabling one to walk about outside without a torch. The parishioners love it, except for those who cannot get in and out of their houses during a match because of the way fans park across the entrance to the neighbouring houses.

Fr Thomas Plastow SJ is parish priest of St Martin de Porres Church.

Thanks from St Martin de Porres Both the parish and the High School of St Martin de Porres in Soweto have benefited from the generosity of Jesuit Missions donors and those who ran in the 2009 London Marathon.

“Thanks to you we have received financial support which is already being put to good use in the improvement of the grounds and facilities at the school,” writes Fr Thomas Plastow SJ. “In August, some unemployed men of the parish spent a few hours each day clearing the empty lot below the school which the late

The new fences which some local men have been erecting in order to provide better security around the school, which has sadly become necessary in order to discourage truancy and to prevent drug trafficking – a growing problem in high schools across greater Johannesburg.

lasting good for the school.

The St Martin de Porres parish hall has also been refurbished, using donations from Jesuits and Friends readers.

This building, And the refurbished parish hall, packed with the Ladies’ Sodality originally from the 1950s when people were forcibly relocated to this Father Xolile Keteyi had bought as a area, was in a bit of a state. They have sports ground back in the 1980s. In now been able to patch up the existing this way, they were able to take home a structure, remove all the old asbestos wage packet each week and do some ceilings, and equip the hall with ceiling

fans, a small kitchen, additional security and wheelchair access.

“Since the hall was officially reopened we have held several large church functions, a ‘health day’ on which we provided free testing for diabetes, high blood pressure and HIV/AIDS, and the South African Blood National Blood Service has begun to hold bi-monthly blood drives for those who are able to donate,” Fr Plastow informs us.

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The beginnings of

‘community ’ Sacred Heart parish in Wimbledon, south west London, is currently raising funds to replace part of the floor of the church near the baptistery. The plan is to dedicate it to the late Father Kevin Donovan SJ, who established a comprehensive programme in the parish for the families of those preparing for baptism. Parishioner Cristina (Potty) Connolly continues to coordinate Fr Kevin’s legacy and reflects here on why the occasions are so special.

The Rite of Baptism suggests starting at the church door as it is the sacrament of “Entry into the Church”. At Sacred Heart, we have a big open space so, weather permitting, we start outside with the initial welcome. A mini survey in the parish in which we asked what made baptisms here so memorable resulted in “welcome” being the most popular word. This is the sort of scene Jesus himself would have been familiar with – an outdoor setting with parents bringing their children to him to be blessed. Fr Kevin Donovan was often thought of as the Pied Piper as he led the congregation into the church playing his flute.

Fr Kevin also stressed how important preparation was for the families, so preparation courses are held on the first Sunday of each month attended by parents of children being baptised that month.

This makes for the beginnings of “community”. Each family is visited at home the week before the baptism to ensure that the ceremony becomes personal.

Baptism is a community sacrament 8

but due to the size of the parish, baptisms during Sunday Mass do not prove practical. Joint baptisms of three or four babies take place on most Sunday afternoons. Every two months, the recently baptised babies and their parents are invited onto the sanctuary at the 9.45am Family Mass to be presented to the congregation and afterwards to share refreshments.

Music is an important part of the ceremony and we have had grandfathers playing oboes, guitarists, violinists, pianists, solo singers and a godfather from Galicia in North West Spain playing the Gaita Gallega (the equivalent of the Scottish bagpipes).

The ceremony is lively and participative based on the Directory for Masses with Children. Children are encouraged to take an active part by composing bidding prayers, playing instruments and preparing pictures connected with water.

Many non-church goers have commented how much they have felt involved on the day and not threatened by something incomprehensible or stuffy. Appropriate scripture readings and bidding prayers are read by members of each family, often in different languages. Over 20 different

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languages have been spoken over the years, including Cornish and Manx.

When parents are of mixed faiths, the emphasis is “what do we share in common?” Children can grow up to be bridge builders and experience the richness of different cultures and traditions. One letter of appreciation said: “I was amazed at the way you bridged the gap between our two faiths – it was very moving. I was used to such a rigid view of the Catholic Church; my faith is entirely restored.”

Follow-up pastoral visits encourage families to build community in their respective neighbourhoods. Families who have had their children baptised on the same day often continue their friendship and go on to share the sacraments of reconciliation, first communion and confirmation.

In addition to Infant Baptism, Sacred Heart parish also runs an active RCIA programme for adults and a “Minicat” (Mini Catechumens) group. Minicats provides an opportunity for children of catechetical age and their families to be introduced/re-introduced to the parish through the sacrament of baptism.

More details are available on www.sacredheartwimbledon.org.uk

St John's Beaumont welcomes the Queen Her Majesty The Queen received an enthusiastic welcome when she visited St John's Beaumont in Berkshire, and officially opened the school's new Sports Centre. On her arrival at the Jesuit school, Her Majesty was greeted by the British Jesuit Provincial, Fr Michael Holman SJ, the Chair of Governors, Fr Kevin Fox SJ, and Headmaster, Mr Giles Delaney, who proceeded to escort the Queen on a tour of the school.

Their first stop was the new Sports Hall, where boys were demonstrating the school's state-of-the-art cricket nets which are helping them improve their sporting skills. The Queen then inspected an impressive art exhibition, before moving onto the fitness suite and performance studio. She then returned to the foyer where there is an indoor 30' rock climbing wall, which the boys demonstrated for her with much energy.

Mr Delaney then escorted the Queen around other areas of the school, and she engaged enthusiastically in conversations with the pupils and staff.

On her return to the Sports Hall, the school orchestra played Land of Hope and Glory, after which pupil Joshua Steeds gave a virtuoso performance on the violin.

It was Her Majesty's first visit to the Jesuit preparatory school, although she had visited its Senior School, Beaumont College, in 1961, on the occasion of the centenary of its foundation. A painting of that event still hangs in the entrance to St John's Beaumont. The new block, which cost £2.8m to build, is dedicated to the memory of Dermot Gogarty, Headmaster of St John's Beaumont from 1987 until his untimely death in a car accident in 2005.

Mr Delaney, who succeeded Dermot Gogarty, recalled the passion that his predecessor had for the Jesuit education principles of both producing 'men for others' and also for ensuring the development of the whole person, spiritually as well as academically. He also reminded the audience, made up of parents and supporters of the school, and members of Mr Gogarty’s family, as well as pupils and staff, of Dermot’s energetic support of sporting activities among the boys and his ambition to provide St John's Beaumont with excellent facilities. This, Mr Delaney said, had now been achieved in his name. He then invited Her Majesty The Queen to unveil a wooden plaque commemorating the official opening of the Dermot Gogarty Sports Centre.

Ged Clapson

HM The Queen encourages the pupils on the rowing simulators at St John’s Beaumont. Credit: Arthur Edwards

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JM

Take time to discover life’s small miracles Kyra Noblet has recently returned from Dodoma in Tanzania, where she worked in the local school, youth centre and Cheshire Home, as part of the JM Volunteers programme. Here she reflects upon one timely effect of her experience.

There is an old Swahili proverb, ‘Mambo mazuri hayataki haraka’, ‘Good things should not be hastened’, which beautifully encapsulates one of the many things I learned earlier this year from my six month experience in Dodoma. I discovered that Africa overwhelms the senses, and I shared many incredible sights, smells and tastes with the local people. In fact, I had the opportunity to share many things: my faith with other young people, languages and dialogues with my students, my rucksack with a scorpion, and most importantly, time. I shared a lot of time with the community there and I learned that the Tanzanians are remarkably practiced in making time to greet people, to listen, to understand, to learn and to empathize. Greetings in African culture are especially important and in Airport Parish where I worked, members of the community happily and freely relinquished their minutes to take time to greet one another, ask about each others’ families, and stayed long enough to hear the reply.

We don’t tend to be as selfless with our time here in the UK, and I think we miss far more than we realise. A lot of life’s small miracles are often overlooked and fade into a frenzied,

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hectic day. For the Tanzanians, even the small things are sincerely appreciated; a warm conversation, a breathtaking view. The disabled children I worked with in the Cheshire Home in Miyuji had very little to treasure but for them an old bucket was a new hat and a tired blanket could very quickly become a magic cloak!

The pace of life in Africa is very different from that in our cities and during my stay I didn’t always cross off my to-do list or finish all my ironing; but when I climbed into bed at the end of each day, I knew that I had been listened to, I had understood and I had shared. I got up the next day and went into work (with rather creased clothes) but with a sense of integrity and value, knowing that I mattered to the community, that I belonged, and that the relationships which had been attentively developed over my months there had such depth that I found myself unable to feel alone in any problem or crisis.

It is this investment of time that leads to solid networks between parishes and families. All the ribbons of community life become

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wonderfully bound together and in time this steadfast web is able to support each individual.

Communities are supposed to be eclectic and colourful and when people from very different generations and lifestyles come together, it will not be without its problems; but as I’ve seen firsthand, strong relationships and bonds help to nourish a healthy environment where respect and appreciation of one another can flourish.

The act of listening seems to have been lost somewhere in our hectic lifestyles.

Relationships and communities can’t be expected to develop or endure on their own, they need a generous helping of time.

Benjamin Disraeli once said “But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.” We all have plenty of moments to cherish and plenty of moments to give. Since my trip, I have learnt to appreciate the ordinary as extraordinary and to leave my watch at home every once in a while.

For more information about becoming a volunteer with JM, please see www.gbjm.org.uk

The Everest of Open Water Swimming Swimming the channel between England and France is considered to be ‘The Everest of open water swimming’. Considering the numerous challenges - freezing cold water, the long distance, swarms of jellyfish, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, tides, currents – you either have to be mad, stupid or very, very dedicated to even consider attempting the feat. Fr Tim Byron SJ, Chaplain at St Ignatius College, Enfield, writes here about one parent’s attempt to swim the Channel in support of their sister school in Tanzania.

Mark Sexton (47) is a former pupil of St Ignatius College in Enfield, and his sons, Luke and Daniel, are presently students there. Mark was so inspired by their commitment to raising money for their sister school in Africa that in mid 2008 he decided to swim the English Channel to raise money to allow AIDS orphans to attend the Jesuit school in Dodoma, Tanzania. Mark used to swim every day in the school pool.

As the crow flies (or the dolphin swims) the channel is 21.7 miles across; however, due to the movement of the body of water in the channel, the distance covered is likely to be 30 miles. As well as local currents, the narrowness of the channel exaggerates the tidal effects – so on occasions you could drift up to 10 miles north or south. The major hazards in attempting such an open cold water swim are hypothermia and ensuring that you have enough energy to continue swimming. Other dangers are jelly

fish stings – although Mark was stung more often in training. The good news is that cold salt water has a healing effect, but the scars still lasted for over three weeks.

There is a whole subculture to the intrepid breed we call channel swimmers. There are strict rules that mark any channel swim which reflect the first crossing by Captain Matthew Webb in 1875. Men must only wear swimming trunks a hat and goggles.... no wet suits allowed, and contrary to popular myth no-one wears goose fat. Although a bit of extra fat is necessary to keep you warm – as Mark points out you never see thin seals!

The temperature of the water is 2.5 degrees centigrade, which is swimming in water that is colder than a can of Coke in the fridge.

Because of the cold water you are using more energy to keep your body warm – so you need to feed regularly; that is where the back-up crew comes in. You need to drink hot carbohydrate drinks frequently, refuelling every half an hour.

However, this refuelling is closely monitored, the swimmer is not allowed to touch the boat so their food is thrown to them in a bottle on a string and they have to consume it lying on their back in the water. The cost of hiring a boat and a pilot, as well as the medicals you need to undergo, and joining the Channels Swimmers and Pilots Federation (CSPF) is roughly £6,000.

The strangest visual experience crossing the channel is the phosphorescence, according to Mark.

“Just before dawn you get these little sparkles of light from the tiny

microorganisms in the water. This gives a very beautiful effect, swimming in the dark and seeing these sparks as your hand breaks the water.”

After 15 months of training – on average 20-25 miles a week, some weeks up to 60 miles - Mark had already swum the distance of the Channel 38 times. On Friday, 25 September, he embarked upon his epic swim. He swam for 9.5 hours – and had just 5.8 miles to go to the French coast – when a shoulder injury lead to him swimming with one arm for the last half hour. He couldn’t get his arm out of the water so kept swimming into the boat. The attempt was aborted, but it was a heroic effort nevertheless.

Mark’s first feelings at not finishing was that he had let everyone down; but these feelings soon disappeared when he got home and realised how much support he had received from everyone . Now he realises that it is unfinished business. His bravery and commitment have inspired many in north London and beyond. The money he has raised will go to pay for the education of orphans in Tanzania, at St Ignatius primary school in Dodoma. Please join in by contributing at www.justgiving.com /channelswimfordodoma/ But that’s not all: at a recent dinner at St Ignatius College, the next challenge was revealed – a team of parents swimming a relay from Europe to Africa.

If you are interested in joining in contact timbyron@jesuits.net.

Follow Mark Sexton’s adventure on www.marksswimsthechannel.blogspot.com

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The remarkable story of the ‘Little Padre’ In the latter part of 1879, a 12year-old boy by the name of Cuthbert wrote to his uncle in South Africa, informing him that he wished to pursue the same vocation as him, as a missionary priest. He also wished to become a Jesuit like his uncle – Father Augustus Law SJ, one of the great missionary pioneers of the Zambesi. Cuthbert followed his uncle both into the Society of Jesus and to the missions, though to South America not Africa. And this year, the British Jesuits have been celebrating the centenary of Father Cuthbert Cary-Elwes establishing the first missionary post in the Interior of Guyana in 1909. As Ged Clapson recalls.

Fr Cuthbert Cary-Elwes’ first missionary ambition was to be sent to China or among “the very wild Indians” of Brazil.

In June 1902, he wrote to the Jesuit General, Father Luis Martin SJ: “From my earliest childhood I have had a great desire to work among savages who know nothing of Jesus Christ, and this has always been coupled with an ardent desire of dying for Him who died for me – a grace I have never failed to ask for every day at Mass. It was this desire, together with an admiration for St Francis Xavier, which made me seek admission into the Society and to ask during my noviceship to go to the mission.” Such references to the non-Christians of the Far East and South America obviously pre-date political correctness!

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The General left the decision in the hands of the Provincial of the English Province who eventually agreed, in 1904, to send him to British Guiana (now Guyana). After three years in Georgetown, Fr CaryElwes was stationed at Morawhanna, offering the Mass and teaching the catechism to the children. The biggest event of the year was the Assumption Day procession on the river, with the boats lit up with Chinese lanterns and the people united in prayers and singing hymns.

At that time, the Bishop of British Guiana, Compton Galton SJ, decided to open up new missions in the

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interior of the country. He commissioned Fr Cary-Elwes for the work and, at the end of 1909, accompanied him as far as the Takutu River. For the next two years, Cary-Elwes had to rely on interpreters – a particular frustration when dealing with issues of faith. But the priest diligently practised and learnt the Makushi and Wapishana languages until he became fluent and was able to travel extensively among the Patamona Indians, instructing, baptising, preaching and building churches and mission houses.

The missionary’s pastoral area extended almost 300 miles and he

preferred to make his journeys on foot, rather than by boat or on horseback, saying that he found it more helpful to prayer: “And without a real spirit of prayer my life as a missionary would be impossible.”

Indeed, it was Cary-Elwes’ prayerfulness that attracted people – alongside his gentleness, his zeal for souls and love for the Indians. He mastered Makushi – one of the most difficult languages of the region – after eight or nine years in the Interior, and used to sit late into the night surrounded by men, women and children instructing them, or talking or singing with them. “He had a deep-rooted respect for them,” wrote one of his contemporaries, “and was very careful to observe and fall in with their peculiar customs and points of etiquette. All this made him loved and revered and most heartily welcomed wherever he went.”

The Indians’ name for Fr CaryElwes was the ‘Little Padre’ – a term of endearment and deep affection.

It was in January 1923, after 23 years in the Interior of British Guiana, that Fr Cary-Elwes was struck down by sickness. He was on his way to the

Wapishanas and became serious ill and disorientated, wandering around the forest for several weeks. He was taken back to Georgetown and from there to England, where he gradually started to recover. But back in British Guiana, his congregation sought news of him, enquiring when their ‘Little Padre’ would be returning to them. He never did. He remained in Britain for the next 20 years, giving lectures, missions and retreats. He also spent a great deal of time writing up his notes about the Makushi, Aroak and Carib languages, and writing hymns for the Wapishanas. His affection for the Indians was undiminished, and Bishop George Weld SJ, who had succeeded Bishop Galton, commented that this incapacitation and his separation from his people in British Guiana was “a kind of martyrdom harder to endure than that which he had prayed for among ‘the cannibals of Brazil’”.

A friend of his wrote after the death of Fr Cuthbert Cary-Elwes in August 1945:

“His missionary exploits were known widely, and had almost cost him his life; yet because they had not been crowned by martyrdom, for which he ardently longed, he considered them worthless. When he talked of his beloved Indians, one gathered that he felt he had been more privileged to live among them than they to have him there. He fulfilled the injunction of St Ignatius to ‘see God, Our Lord, in every creature’, but I think he found it easiest to do this in the case of those whose simplicity had been least tarnished … children, unlettered folk and the so-called backward races. His courtesy to them was unfailing and exquisite.”

JESUITS HONOURED AT GUYANESE NEW YORK MASS Guyanese Catholics in New York celebrated their 20th annual Mass recently at the Church of St Gerard Majella in New York; the church was full to over-flowing.

The Guyanese Mass was the brainchild of Monsignor Paul Jervis, who was born in Guyana and served as an altar boy of St Pius X parish in Georgetown. The Mass has, and continues to be, the occasion when Guyanese Catholics in New York and beyond, worship together, pray for their country, make generous donations to projects back home and socialize for about two hours.

Part of the tradition is to invite a priest from Guyana to travel to New York to be the chief celebrant of the Mass. This year it was Fr Malcolm Rodrigues SJ, the Superior of the Georgetown Jesuit Community. He informed the congregation of the

planned pilgrimage from Georgetown to St Ignatius in the Rupununi, to observe the centenary of Jesuit work in the Guyana hinterland.

Certain individuals or groups who have made a special contribution to the Church in Guyana are regularly honoured at this annual Mass: the Jesuits of Guyana were one of the four honoured on this occasion. In accepting the award on behalf of the scores of Jesuits, both Guyanese and non-Guyanese, alive and dead, who have worked tirelessly in British Guiana and later Guyana, for well over a century, Fr Rodrigues stated that he was also accepting the award "for the Church in Guyana".

In his homily, Fr Rodrigues focused on the role of technology, in particular the computer, in modern-day education. He implored his listeners to take the knowledge they have in their heads

down into their hearts and into their actions.

During the reception which followed the Mass, many took the opportunity to greet Fr Rodrigues and share memories of Guyana. One of the guests had brought a photo taken at his wedding and took great pleasure in showing it to the others. In that photo were youthful Jesuits Fathers Fred Rigby (d. 2001), Andrew Morrison (d.

2004) and Harold Wong, who is still a member of the Georgetown Community.

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JM

Desperately seeking God in central London Location! Location! Location!

The true story of an institution is often more its geography that its history, according to Dr Paul O’Reilly SJ, the Director of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre.

Mayfair in the City of Westminster is the country’s largest single confluence of power, influence, money and debt, coach - and train-stations, drugs and prostitution, hope and fear in the United Kingdom. All of those things are obviously inter-related. It is a place of transience Westminster has a resident population of 222,000 and a day-time population of 1.2 million. It is what people of my age used to call a ‘happening place’.

Photo credit: MSJC

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And in this place, five years ago, something happened that, with hindsight, we think of as a very small, but rather special Incarnation. At the Provincial’s inspiration, a group of lay people and Jesuits came together to form the Mount Street Jesuit Centre on the model of ‘cluster-working’ already pioneered in other Jesuit centres in Edinburgh and Preston.

He told us that “an apostolic cluster is a grouping of Jesuits engaged in characteristic missions of the society, coming together in an apostolic team and networking beyond that to maximise their impact, influence and effectiveness”. He hoped that it could be a new way of responding to the needs of the emerging Church – building a praying, worshiping, learning and working community out of an inchoate and hyper-diverse group of shifting, transient urban people, mostly adrift from any real fixed points in their lives and desperately seeking personal experience of God. And now, after five years of trying, prayer, discussion (and even a little fasting), I believe we have now come to be a place of Faith – Faith of many kinds.

It is a place of Faith in Christian Truth, that by thought and reflection, reason and revelation, we may come to understand something of who God is in the world and what God’s Presence can achieve in our lives.

We learn together the word of God revealed in Scripture and the Church's teaching.

It is a place of Faith in Christian Prayer – that by coming to know God’s presence

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in the depths of our own hearts, explored in the richness of many spiritual traditions, we can come to appreciate how God lives in and through our own lives. So, we spread the benefits of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius in all of their usual adaptations and a few new ones. We have a burgeoning network of spiritual directors and a near insatiable demand for their services. We pray together with the God who inhabits us.

It is a place of Faith in Christian celebration – that by celebrating the sacraments of the Church we may know the power of God’s grace within us. We have a lively, active and growing parish with a well-deserved reputation of liturgical excellence and Christian welcome. We celebrate together the God who unites and inspires us.

It is a place of Faith in Christian action – that being inspired by God’s presence in us, we may find ourselves drawn to God’s work in the world. We earth all we pray, learn and talk about in the real experience of the poor and marginalized in Westminster – especially that of the largest population of homeless people in the country.

Like the people of Faith who come to us, our programme is rich, diverse and multi-faceted. We hope that there is something for every person, no matter where they are on the journey of Faith. And we hope that it will inspire in our participants and in ourselves a constant growth of the Faith that we profess.

One of my favourite poems is John Betjeman's Christmas 1954. He speaks of an Incarnation that touches the hearts and lives of the greatest and the least – from the “oafish louts” who “remember Mum” to the ‘shining ones who dwell, safe in the Dorchester Hotel’. He believed that no one is so rich or so poor as to be entirely immune to the Incarnation – the presence of God in a particular time and place. And we happen to think he was right.

JM

FAITH SCHOOL BRINGS HARMONY TO WEST EVERTON From Debbie Reynolds, Zoe Armfield and Ged Clapson The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is helping to make major social changes in one of the poorest parts of the city, hoping that the initiative will help residents feel a greater pride in their community and more importantly, increase confidence and self-esteem among its young children. In the five months that it has been running, it is already helping to nurture the aspirations, self-esteem, creativity and teamwork of the pupils of Faith School – the primary school of St Francis Xavier’s parish in West Everton. It has also involved their families and the wider community.

In Harmony was launched over the summer and aims to make music an integral part of the children’s everyday lives. Almost 100 musical instruments were provided for 81 pupils and 11 teachers, ranging from violins and violas, to cellos and double basses. In less than three months, they were performing with world-renowned cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall as the

West Everton Children’s Orchestra.

This was followed by an Open Day for local residents at the West Everton Community Centre. The day was hugely successful, and included an impromptu performance by some children from Faith School, which is a joint Anglican/RC primary school. The In Harmony team also offered local parents and children the chance to have a concert in their own homes in the school holidays, with each child playing their own instrument for family and friends. Over 20 homes were visited in three days, and in some of them, the audience was made up of four generations!

The RLP have a long history of taking their musicians into schools, but on this project they are also working with musicians from the Liverpool Music Support Service and with staff and students of Liverpool Hope University, as well as the resident-led West Everton Community Council, Faith Primary School and the Jesuit parish of St Francis Xavier.

“The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

is absolutely committed to more music making for children and young people in Liverpool and Merseyside, and this provides a massive opportunity to get more children learning instruments,” says Peter Garden from the RLP. Earlier this year, they opened a new centre for the orchestra at what was the Friary Church, which they have transformed into a rehearsal room, recording centre and community and education venue. “We had been talking to West Everton council and local schools about what programmes we could run, so In Harmony came along at a perfect time,” says Peter.

“The rehearsal centre is right next door to the schools where all of the children are going to be drawn from, so we’re literally side by side.”

Peter concedes that the plan is an ambitious one, to get every one of the 93 children at Faith Primary playing an instrument. “If this is going to work we felt we had to have a really intensive programme, with every child in the school, linking to early years, and a programme of working with adults.

Then, we feel, we could have a real impact. We believe In Harmony could lead to real social change. We hope to see a shift and a change in the confidence of the children and young people, and the way families are viewing their whole community.”

Photo credit: RLPO

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St Aloysius Gonzaga School: a testament to faith in action As part of the Companions’ Programme, St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow is partnered with St Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School in Kibera, Kenya. Earlier this year, Ashleigh Callow of JM visited Kibera and the programme’s two partner schools to discuss the Companions’ programme, which sees the exchange of culture and ideas and the sharing of a common Ignatian ethos.

The children of Laimi Saba school.

Photo credit: Ashleigh Callow

I have been to several townships in Southern Africa, but nothing prepared me for Kibera. All my senses were engaged on arrival!

Tiny dusty alleyways are the pathways not only for human traffic, but they are the sewage system and the rubbish dump.

In order to get to the different parts of the school I had to hop, skip and jump to dodge puddles and get from rock to rock in the narrow alleyways that wend their way between the mass of shanty dwellings that approximately one million people call home.

What impressed me more than anything is the hop, skip and leap of faith the community at St Al’s (as it’s affectionally known) has taken to provide quality education for children who have nothing and who come from very difficult home environments: children who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS; children adjusting to living with their extended family where, in many instances, they are very aware of being an additional burden to the family or are exposed to abusive situations.

The classes have limited resources and are dark and hot, with tin roofing, and the only natural light coming from the narrow corridors. Despite the haphazard nature of the school structure and surrounds, classes happen in a quiet and orderly fashion.

From the labs, which are precariously balanced on the roof of classrooms 16

below, the site for the new school building can be seen. Most pupils don’t believe that the promises that they’ve heard of a “new school” will bear fruit, but when I was there earlier this year building contractors were submitting their bids. Soon after, foundations were being laid, and in August the external walls were up to the level of the ceiling of the ground floor. Seeing dreams becoming reality is always inspiring and even more so when the obstacles of getting there have been seemingly insurmountable. St Al’s is certainly a testament to “faith in action”.

The pupils at St Al’s, with their smart green and white uniforms, stand out in the community as they move from class to class in between people’s homes. In true Jesuit fashion the school has an active community service project which involves most of the graduates from the school. These pupils are positive role models for a community struggling from decades of government neglect.

St Aloysius Junior School in Glasgow and Laini Saba Primary School in Kibera have recently joined the Companions' Programme. We wanted to have pupils of a similar age in communication and so Laini Saba Primary, which is one of the feeder schools to St Al’s in Kibera, was decided upon.

Laini Saba Primary School is in the heart of Kibera; to get there, three St Al’s graduates accompanied me on our

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50 minute walk. En route we passed numerous hairdressers and butchers all colourfully adorned to lure passersby. We mainly walked along the railway line that intersects Kibera.

“Laini Saba” means “line seven” and this is the closest station stop to the school.

Laini Saba is next door to Christ the King parish where an enormous church is being built to accommodate the burgeoning number of parishioners.

Sister Margaret, the headmistress of Laini Saba, told me about the dramatic happenings early last year when they found themselves in the epicentre of the political conflict in Kibera. She recounted how worried they were because buildings around them were being set ablaze and the school building is made of wood. She spoke of the groups that came in to counsel the children after the conflict. A number of children were very traumatised, but the fact that they were able to receive some kind of counselling certainly helped.

The heads at both schools are very keen to see the partnership developing and Mr Kiambi the headmaster of St Al’s said, “We are excited about our partnership. It is very mind-opening and it is good for the students to explore new possibilities. We hope that the partnership goes from strength to strength so that it will be of mutual benefit to our students in Glasgow, and here in Kibera.”

Skills and Shelter for

Young Zimbabweans

Zambuko House in Zimbabwe is a Jesuit initiative which started operating in 1994. The focus is on providing rehabilitative services and skills training to young people within the Greater Harare urban areas. Emilia James, Director of Zamuko House, explains how the provision of shelter and spiritual, moral, personal and skills development to the less fortunate young males of Zimbabwean society can lead to them becoming self-reliant responsible citizens with a “better tomorrow”.

Most of the youths we work with at Zambuko House are drawn from the streets, although many of them are now coming via other child welfare institutions. Services offered include a ‘home’ environment which accommodates an average of 16 to 20 homeless teenage boys and/or young adults at any given time, and a ‘drop in’ facility for a maximum 30 to 35 boys

per month for their personal and hygiene needs. We have a ‘jewel box’ approach whose aim is to be practical in a small but very effective way. The driving force in the achievement of our objectives is guided by our passion to instill in the beneficiaries the sense of family living and belonging, and the dignity they lost as a result of their harsh background (street life).

Through our comprehensive Outreach programme, we manage to visit most of the homes and communities or social support systems of all the boys on our programme. Outreach is an ongoing activity as well as the cornerstone and an important aspect of our work. For example, two brothers were referred to us from a government institution which had ‘expelled’ them because of their ages. They were reported as having no relatives but some relatives were traced as a result of our intensive Outreach efforts. They now have a social support system to fall back on, even after they finish their individual intervention programmes.

Another achievement is that we no longer have school-going youngsters resident at Zambuko House. Those who are academically gifted are being assisted with fees, and they are encouraged to stay with their identified support systems so as to avoid the boys making Zambuko House their permanent home. After observing that the majority of the boys

were always spending holidays at Zambuko House, we began encouraging them to spend weekends and holidays with their families and communities; this re-integration is yielding positive results.

Challenges and Future Plans Most of the activities within our Skills Training Department are being managed mainly by volunteer and part-time staff. Funding in this regard is important and has to be considered by funding agencies, if the project is to have a professional approach in its activities and be able to retain professional staff as well: most donors are not keen to fund staff salaries.

There is a need to upgrade our metal workshop, which is not well equipped and some major items need replacing. We also need money to help our Skills ‘Graduates’ start up their own projects within their chosen line of training. For example, we have one young man named Shepherd who was trained in metal work.

Unfortunately, we are not able to buy him a welding machine because of limited financial resources on our part; hence the need to have funds available as starter capital for any projects the youngsters may wish to embark upon.

The gardening project is being affected by the erratic water supply which is a major setback for us.

Though we have a small well, we believe that it would be better for a place like Zambuko House to have its own borehole sunk so as to boost our gardening project, which promises to be our major income earner in our endeavors to be self-reliant. Some of our worn-out household items were replaced with a grant we got from Jesuit Missions, UK, but a lot still needs to be done, including new beds and linen for the boys’ dormitories and some shelving for storing their clothes.

We are very grateful to our friends who help us financially through our account at Jesuit Missions UK.

Shepherd, the young man in desperate need for a welding machine and ‘starter’ capital so that he can be more independent. Photo credit: Zambuko House www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Winter 2009 Jesuits & Friends

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DEATHS & OBITUARIES

Brother Franz Gabriel SJ

Fr John Grumitt SJ

Franz Gabriel was in his quiet, smiling way a man of great charism and the perfect example of a brother who lived his Jesuit vocation to the full.

Born on 7 October 1919 near the German/Polish border, Franz was called up for service with the German Navy in Norway, only to be dismissed from the armed forces in October 1941, because, as a Jesuit he was not “worthy to defend the fatherland”.

He was trained as a tailor, but he was also an excellent cook. In the aftermath of the war, Br Franz was indispensible in rebuilding many shattered Jesuit communities. In 1951 he was sent to help build a separate community for the East German province. He worked in both noviciates for a while and many German novices regarded him as their “second novice master”.

At the age of 52, Franz’s dream to be a missionary was realised and he was sent to learn English in London so that he could go out to what was then the Rhodesia mission, serving mainly in the Chinhoyi diocese. In 1990, he was moved to Arrupe House as Minister of a new community of young Jesuits, which became the origin of Arrupe College.

He found it very easy to engage with the young Zimbabweans who were in training to be Jesuits.

After two years, Franz returned to a very different unified Germany where he served in the retreat house in Biesfeld. However, he was recalled to Zimbabwe on two further occasions to help at Arrupe and Canisius.

On 1 December 2006, he finally retired to PeterFaber-House in Berlin, which he had helped build as a house of formation many years earlier. He would have celebrated his 90th birthday (and 72 years in the Society) in October 2009, but he died on 16 August 2009. Masses of thanksgiving were celebrated for him in both Germany and Zimbabwe.

John Francis Grumitt was born in Penang in the Malai Straits and spent much of his childhood in Australia, attending Riverside Jesuit College in Sydney, before his family moved to the UK. He then completed his secondary education at Stonyhurst College. In September 1947, at the age of 17, John entered the Jesuit novitiate at Roehampton, studied philosophy and theology at Heythrop College, Oxfordshire, and qualified for his Teacher’s Certificate in 1955.

As a scholastic, John taught for three years in St Mary’s Hall preparatory school, Stonyhurst. He was ordained priest in 1961 and made his tertianship at St Beuno’s, north Wales. In 1963, he was assigned to St George’s College in what was then Rhodesia.

He was based at Hartmann House and Prestage House in Salisbury (Harare) and was awarded a BA by the University College of Rhodesia in 1969. He taught at St George’s College for a further two years until he returned to the UK. Between 1972 and 1976, John taught at St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow, before being appointed headmaster at Mount St Mary’s College, Spinkhill, a post he held for 15 years. He then moved to Enfield, Middlesex, and served as chaplain at St Ignatius’ College, before assuming responsibility for the alumni of the Society’s schools in Britain and establishing the YBJA (Young British Jesuit Alumni). In the mid-1990s, John undertook a series of trips overseas to coordinate GAP year assignments for alumni.

On moving to Wimbledon in 2004, John was appointed chaplain to Donhead, the preparatory school of Wimbledon College. He moved to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in 2007 in Boscombe, Bournemouth, where he died on 19 October 2009.

Fr Stanley Maxwell SJ Stanley Thomas Maxwell was born on 1 April 1922 in Cumberland and was educated by the Society of Jesus at Preston Catholic College. He entered the Society at St Beuno’s in 1942, and studied for degrees in philosophy and theology at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire, where he was also ordained in 1955.

During his formation, Stanley taught at Mount St Mary’s College near Sheffield, St Michael’s College in Leeds, and St Francis Xavier’s preparatory school in Liverpool. After his ordination, he was assigned to British Guiana (now Guyana), where he worked for the next 18 years. He served four years at Sacred Heart parish in Georgetown, seven years at the cathedral – during which he also taught at St Stanislaus College – and a further two years at the St Ignatius Mission in Lethem, in the Rupununi.

Between 1969 and 1972, Stanley taught at St Paul’s Seminary at Better Hope, and then spent a further two years serving at the Catholic church in Victoria, before returning to the UK in 1974 for medical reasons. He then spent 33 years at St John’s Beaumont in Old Windsor, as a teacher from 1974 to 1987, and thereafter as Spiritual Father to the boys.

Stanley Maxwell moved to Boscombe, Dorset, in December 2007 and was a member of the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community, until his death in Poole Hospital on 29 June 2009.

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DEATHS & OBITUARIES

Fr Geoffrey Holt SJ Thomas Geoffrey Holt (known as Geoffrey) was a historian, a writer and a Jesuit priest. He died at the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Boscombe, Dorset, on 28 September 2009, having recently marked 79 years as a member of the Society of Jesus.

Born in Hereford in 1912, Geoffrey was a pupil at Stonyhurst College and entered the Jesuit Juniorate at Roehampton at the age of 20. He studied philosophy at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire and achieved his BA in history at Campion Hall in Oxford. During the war years, he taught at Corby School in Sunderland and Stonyhurst College, before being awarded a Licentiate in Theology at Heythrop.

After three years of teaching at Mount St Mary’s College, Spinkhill, Geoffrey did his tertianship at St Beuno’s in North Wales in 1949 and then spent the next 16 years teaching at Stonyhurst College.

In 1966, he was appointed Assistant Archivist for the British Province, based in Mount Street in London, a position he held for the next 20 years until he became the Provincial Archivist in his own right. During this time, he wrote extensively about the history of the British Jesuits and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London (1973) and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (1985). He also lectured in Church History at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, from 1974 to 1979.

Geoffrey Holt’s articles covered many aspects of English Catholic history – from biographies of such celebrated figures at Cardinal Vaughan and St Thomas More, to recusant history and the suppression of the Society of Jesus. He moved to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Centre in Dorset when it opened in 2007, but his funeral was celebrated at Farm Street Church in London, a church with which he had been associated as a Jesuit for over 40 years.

Please pray for those who have died recently.

May they rest in peace.

Mr Victor Charan

Mr L Porter

Mr Nero Singh

Mr Alexander Carlton

Sr Theresa La Rose RSM

Brother-in-law of Godfrey Veerasammy SJ

Mr Derek Brookshaw

Mr Richard Nute

Mr Peter Anthony

Sir Michael Quinlan OW

Mr Francis Clark

Brother-in-law of Godfrey Veerasammy SJ

Sr Christina SSA

Mr Roland MacIntosh

Mr Donald Knott

Mr John O’Brien

Mr Tadeusz Filochowski

Brother of Fr Peter Knott SJ

Mr John Scullion Mrs M L Pearson Mrs Geraldine MacFarlane Mr Ambrose Remedios Mr Peter Rennison Dr E B Butler Sr Mary Joseph OCD

Miss Nora Lavery

Mr John O. Persaud Snr

Aunt of Fr Andrew Cameron-Mowat SJ

Mrs Lucille Yip

Mr George Plowman

Mr John Gillham

Cousin of Fr Tom Jackson SJ

Brother-in-law of Fr Kevin Fox SJ

Mrs May Burscough

Mr Felix Britt-Compton

Sister of Fr Ted Rogers SJ

Brother of Fr Peter Britt-Compton SJ

Br Franz Gabriel SJ

Mrs M Mendonca

Mrs Elizabeth Howard Madigan

Fr Stanley Maxwell SJ

Mrs Annie Smith

Mother of Fr Patrick Madigan SJ

Fr Fabian Sitolo Masina SJ

Mrs Mary O’Connell

Mr Sylvester Kerketta

Fr Charles Edwards SJ

Sr Bryan D'Arbreu RSM

Brother-in-law of Gabriel Xess SJ

Fr Geoffrey Holt SJ

Mr Peter McCarthy

Mr Paul Smulders

Fr John Grumitt SJ

Mr Philip O’Brien

Brother of the late Fr W Smulders SJ

Fr Jim Henderson SJ

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Bits ‘n’

Pieces

MARION'S COMMITMENT Marion Morgan, a parishioner of the former Jesuit parish of St-Mary-on-the-Quay in Bristol chose the Feast of St Ignatius Loyola for a very special occasion.

During Mass, Marion was consecrated to celibate life by Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton, and is now a member of the Order of Consecrated Virgins (OCV).

There are currently about 200 Consecrated Virgins (usually known as consecrated women) in the UK. It is a way of leading a dedicated and vowed life for those who do not feel called to life in a specific religious community or who are not free to join one perhaps because, like Marion, they are fulltime carers.

“The community of an OCV is her parish and Diocese,” she says. “There is no common spirituality, apart from the common commitment. OCVs express their ministry in many different lifestyles. For me, it will always be Ignatian spirituality which attracts me. I revel in the freedom to go out and about, to meet different people and to engage in conversation.”

BOOK EARLY IF YOU WANT TO RUN! At the final count, this year’s London Marathon team of 21 runners raised a total of £65,350 for JM and JRS (UK) projects. In Africa, orphans are being supported in Zimbabwe, parishes are being refurbished in Zambia, funds are helping feeding programmes in South Africa, and support is also being given for a number of educational developments across southern Africa. In Guyana, a number of pastoral projects have received vital support, while at JRS they have been able to fund a number of their works in the UK. All places have been taken for the 2010 Virgin London Marathon, but the list for 2011 is open already, so if you would like to register your interest, please call JM.

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NEW OFFICERS FOR CLC BRITAIN Una Buckley has been elected President of Christian Life Community Britain and Eamonn Hamilton has been elected Treasurer. Una replaces Evelyne Maloret who now becomes Convenor of the European Team of CLC. At the National Assembly of CLC, gratitude was expressed by Evelyne for all the support she has been given during her term of office from the Province and both she and Una looked forward to increasing cooperation between the Society and CLC.

INTERNATIONAL FORMATION The British Province in September welcomed 46 Jesuits in formation from 24 provinces of the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits come from as far afield as Lithuania, Korea, Zambia and Chile. Most men will be pursuing courses in the traditional subjects of philosophy and theology at Heythrop College in London and at Campion Hall in Oxford, while others will be studying in specialized programmes at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the London College of Communication, Roehampton University, the Institute of Education and the London School of Economics. The British Province was recently named a formation centre for Jesuits in studies.

GLASGOW CELEBRATIONS The celebrations in Glasgow to mark the 150th anniversary of St Aloysius’ College have continued throughout the autumn.

The beginning of term was marked by Masses for the Junior and Senior Schools, celebrated by the Most Reverend Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, and His Eminence Keith Patrick Cardinal O’Brien respectively. At both Masses Fr Michael Holman SJ, the British Provincial, spoke of the College not merely as a good and a fine school, but as an outstanding school. He acknowledged the energy, enterprise and foresight of the Society of Jesus in establishing St Aloysius’ which has contributed to society in the West of Scotland.

As Guest of Honour at this year’s Prize Giving, the Right Honourable Lord Gill, Lord Justice Clerk (a former student of St Aloysius) said that although the College enjoys an outstanding academic reputation, there is more to St Aloysius’ than academic success. He particularly commended the way that pupils are urged to dedicate their talents to the welfare of others. In the same week, a Civic Reception was held at Glasgow City Chambers.

One of the highlights of the Sesquicentennial celebrations was a concert at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, at which the College Orchestra and Choirs, joined by an enlarged Junior School Choir, took part in spectacular programme that include Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, and the first performance of a new work by Howard Goodall, Classic FM's Composer of the Year.

Bits ‘n’

Pieces

POUNDS FOR PANNUR

LEONARD ORDAINED DEACON

Wimbledon College has launched a ‘Pound for Pannur’ campaign, following serious flooding in the state of Karnataka in India. Their aim is to raise a pound from every pupil - and to expand the appeal to their parents and friends outside the college.

The Jesuit comprehensive boys’ school in south west London has been supporting Pannur Mission in this poor rural region of Southern India since 2002. Meanwhile, JM has set up a designated link for donations.

Jesuits working in the village of Pannur and surrounding hamlets have sought to empower the people of the downtrodden Dalit caste, the so called ‘untouchables’ of Indian society. Their work has concentrated on raising the status of women through the establishment of women’s groups and credit unions; and the building of a school for bonded labourers and children condemned to a life in the fields as goatherds and cowherds.

The Wimbledon College project (www.projectmanvi.co.uk) centres around providing education for Dalit children in Manvi. For the past five years students and teachers from the college have travelled to India to spend a month working on the project and in particular building a primary school, for which they have raised £125,000. www.justgiving.com/Emergencyappealforfloodinginmanvi

Leonard Michael SJ from the Sri Lankan Province has been ordained deacon at St Anselm’s Church in Southall, Middlesex. Throughout his schooling at St Joseph’s college in Colombo, he felt he was being called to the priesthood, and this was confirmed when he encountered a Jesuit Italian priest, whose missionary zeal and passion to love and serve the Lord so touched Leonard that he applied to join – and was accepted by – the Society of Jesus in 1997. As part of his formation, Leonard worked as a Chaplain in a technical school run by Jesuits in Sri Lanka; and since 2005, he has been studying at Heythrop College in London. He is now continuing his studies – in Psychotherapy and Counselling – as well as working in St Anselm’s parish, where he was ordained deacon by Bishop Alan Hopes, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, pictured above, being assisted by Leonard.

FIRST VOWS Six novices who completed their two years’ novitiate this summer pronounced their first vows as Jesuits on 5 September. The Mass at St Mary’s Church, Harborne, Birmingham, was celebrated by dozens of Jesuits, among them, the Provincials of Ireland, Britain, Netherlands and North Belgium, the Novice Director from Manresa House and others involved in the men’s formation.

Lithuanian Mindaugas Dijokas is now continuing his studies in Munich; and Kensy Joseph is studying in India.

The remaining four scholastics - Eddie Cosgrove from the Irish Province, Ricardo DaSilva and Grant Tungay from South Africa, and British novice, Philip Harrison are studying for their philosophy degrees at Heythrop College, University of London.

A WORLDWIDE MISSION Directors of the European Jesuit Mission Offices and NonGovernmental Organisations gathered at Loyola Hall this autumn to assess their work over the last year and identify areas for mutual cooperation. They discussed several key issues, including the fact that during the recession, though the numbers of donors has fallen, income has remained steady; new links have been established with China and other Asian countries; Irish Aid has funded a JRS project in its own right for the first time; and many new superiors and directors in African countries are taking over projects from expatriots. The offices of Europe have spent approximately 73 million euro over the past year, of which 35% went to Africa, 37% to South America, and 20% to Asia. The Mission Offices have sponsored projects submitted by Jesuit Refugee Service, Fe y Alegria, African Jesuit AIDS Network, and individual Jesuit provinces.

The Book of Furrows

by Patrick Purnell SJ The second book of poems by Fr Patrick Purnell SJ is now available. The Book of Furrows follows the pattern of the four weeks of the Spiritual Exercises with some very moving expressions of Scripture and of the text of the Exercises - with his own “empathy, intuition, insights and personal wisdom”, as the late Fr Michael Ivens SJ would have said. This could be the perfect Christmas present for some of your friends. Copies may be had from Patrick himself or from Fr Michael Barrow SJ at 757 Christchurch Toad, Bournemouth BH7 6AN Price £8.50 + £1 p & p). www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Winter 2009 Jesuits & Friends

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Their voice has gone out Apostleship of Prayer Papal Intentions We live in a world that can boast of a whole range of instant methods of communication. Just think how the history books would have to be rewritten if information technology had been available, for instance, in the 16th century, when the Church had to cope with the problems of the Reformation in Europe. It is interesting to speculate what would have happened if, for example, the Pope in Rome, Martin Luther in Germany and Henry VIII in England had possessed laptops, email

December For respect for children everywhere.

That people may come to realise that Jesus is the Light of the World.

January That young people may grow in grace as they use wisely the modern means of electronic communication.

That Christian men and women may be truly united and more effectively proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

February

facilities and the availability of fast travel offered by modern aviation. The world in which we live today could indeed be very different.

It may come as a surprise to many but thanks to the wonderful work of our redemption wrought by Jesus Christ and the Church that he founded we have always had a most marvellous means of communication available to us, not electronic but powered by the divine initiative of God made visible in Jesus Christ. December is the month most looked forward to by our children with the feast of Christmas getting closer and closer. We celebrate his birth on December 25 and shortly afterwards, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Jesus, as a child, and indeed all children are so central to the Christmas story. We are asked at this time to unite our daily offering with the prayers of the Holy Father that children will be loved and respected everywhere, and that Jesus will be seen to be our true light and theirs, shining in our darkened world. May they all grow in wisdom and grace to be good stewards of God’s creation!

The papal intention for January brings us right into our modern world of electronic communication. The Holy Father ask us to pray that all these electronic means that are at the finger

For academics: that their research may bring them to know, love and serve Almighty God. That every Christian may have a sense of responsibility for the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

March

For just and honest management of the world economy, especially with regards to poor nations.

That the Church in Africa be an instrument of justice and reconciliation.

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Jesuits & Friends Winter 2009 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk

tips of the young will be mastered and used wisely and, indeed, will be used as powerful means for communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.

St Paul, I am sure, would have revelled in the world of electronic communication if it had existed in his era. Remember his words in the tenth chapter of the letter to the Romans and immortalised for many by Handel in The Messiah: “Is it possible they did not hear? Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world”.

“Fides quaerens intellectum, Faith seeking understanding” is a hallowed phrase in academic theological circles.

Looking ahead to February, the Holy Father asks us to pray for all who are engaged in the intellectual apostolate.

And finally for this quarter, it is appropriate that our daily prayer in March is directed towards a just and honest management of the economy, especially at this time of worldwide financial crisis. The Holy Father also asks that we focus our prayers on poorer nations and pray that they may be truly helped.

Michael Beattie 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

Your donations enable the work begun 100 years ago by Fr Cuthbert Cary-Elwes SJ in the Guyanese Interior to continue and grow – see page 12

The Youth Choir of St Martin de Porres Church in Soweto sing their gratitude, but they still need our support – see page 6

The children of Laini Saba Primary School, in the heart of Kibera, Kenya, desperately need better resources and classrooms – see page 16

Your generous support for people like Shepherd at Zambuko House ensures young Zimbabweans learn a trade and become more self-sufficient.

See page 17

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

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A reflection on the birth of Christ Based on Isaiah 11, 1 A shoot sprouts A bud opens A scarlet rose Enchanting scents A shoot sprouts A tree grows Its foliage changing From green to red Leaves fall Like drops of blood Into rivers of pain Bare branches Bearing death The wind blows The spirit moves Oceans of blood, pain and death Wash seeds into rock-dark graves A shoot sprouts Buds open, trees grow Pain and death are no more Love reigns JESUS is born at last

Photo: Š Aniszewski 24

Jesuits & Friends Winter 2009 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk