Jesuits & Friends by First Sight Graphics

Jesuits and Friends A faith that does justice Spring 2009 Issue 72

Focus on Zimbabwe: challenges and hope Soup and popcorn at Holy Trinity Welcome to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Our Homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;: new presbytery at Aishalton Poverty and power: Ignatian events at the World Social Forum

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

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The Church needs you, relies on you and continues to turn to you with trust, particularly to reach those physical and spiritual places which others do not reach or have difficulty in reaching.

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(Pope Benedict XVI to the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, 21 February 2008)

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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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Contents

Spring 2009 Issue 72 Left: The Jesuits of Zimbabwe gathered recently at St George’s College, Harare, for their Province Meeting.

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

Photos: Tim Curtis SJ

Tim Curtis SJ Executive Editor Ged Clapson Editor Editorial group: Denis Blackledge SJ Dushan Croos SJ Cover photo: Scholastic Peter Musekiwa in the gardens of St Ignatius College, Harare, where he grows food for the school community

Alan Fernandes Jane King Siobhan Totman Graphic Design:

Ian Curtis www.firstsightgraphics.com Printed by: The Magazine Company

FROM THE EDITOR HEARING THE CRY OF THE POOR: Fr Tim Curtis SJ reflects on his recent visit to Zimbabwe.

SHARING A ‘MATURE’ FAITH ON THE AIR IN LUSAKA: Fr Roy Thaden SJ explains why TV discussions about faith are so important in Zambia. 14

CELEBRATING THE YORKSHIREWOMAN WHO ‘DARED TO DREAM’: The Mary Ward Jubilee ‘TO LIVE, DIE AND RISE WITH THE POOR’. Sr Pat Robb CJ looks back over nearly 60 years of Mary Ward’s Sisters in Zimbabwe. 6

Enfield, Middlesex EN3 7NT www.magprint.co.uk To protect our environment papers used in this publication are produced by mills that promote

SERVING THE NEEDS OF A GROWING INNER CITY: Holy Trinity parish in Braamfontein appeals for help to provide food and medical care for the homeless. 8

process to produce fully recyclable material in accordance with an

ISO 14001:2004.

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

UK JESUIT FUND FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: What is it and how to apply for a grant. HELPING THE HOMELESS IN LIVERPOOL: Debbie Reynolds on STREETfaith.

ECONOMICS, POLITICS OR SCIENCE: ONLINE JOURNAL OFFERS A FAITH PERSPECTIVE ON THE ALL. Celebrating the first year of ‘Thinking Faith’. 18

OUR FUTURE HOPE: Br Medino Abraham SJ on his experience at a Fé y Alegria school in Porto Alegre. 9

Environmental Management System conforming with BS EN

ANOTHER MARATHON … ANOTHER TARGET: Support the runners and projects of 2009. 17

sustainably managed forests and utilise Elementary Chlorine Free

TURNING EVERY MOMENT INTO AN APOSTOLIC INITIATIVE: Fr Michael Beattie SJ on the Pope’s Apostleship of Prayer intentions for the next three months.

A GENUINE COMMITMENT TO THE POOR. Sarah Broscombe attends the World Social Forum and Ignatian PreForum in Amazonia. A VOICE FROM GUYANA: Fr Paul Martin SJ 10

CLC – A SAFE PLACE TO DEEPEN AND SHARE FAITH: Meeting some of the people for whom belonging to a Christian Life Community is an important part of their lives. 19

BITS AND PIECES WAPADANAA OR HOTEL CALIFORNIA? Fr Simon Bishop SJ recalls some of the RECENT PUBLICATIONS highlights of the past 100 years in the Guyanese Interior and the growth of the Aishalton OBITUARIES AND OUR RECENTLY community. 12 DECEASED BENEFACTORS

20 21

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From the Editor... At a family liturgy I once asked a child during the homily what he liked about coming to Mass. The child replied, “I like it, Father, when you send us home with a tune in our heads”. We all know what this nine year old meant. It’s nice to go home from Mass “buzzing”, feeling energised, and ready to face the world and all its problems. On my travels I find that there is a correlation between the desperateness of a people and their ability to celebrate. On my recent visit to Zimbabwe, I was struck by how seriously people “celebrate” Mass. Singing uses every part of the body and the whole self is revitalised through the song that is sung. It is not just singing at Mass that gives us energy. Hearing a story or getting to know a friend can also help me realise who I am and what my place is in God’s creation. St Ignatius recommends a form of prayer called “contemplation”. In this prayer we don’t just mull over or think about some distant event. For Ignatius, contemplation situates us in the scene that we are meditating on. Being part of salvation’s story gives me the energy I need to be able to transform my own story. The energy we get from celebration is not an escape from the problems that surround me, but the source of energy that God gives me that enables me to begin to deal with these problems. In this edition of Jesuits and Friends, there are many stories of salvation – stories where God’s transformative energy is at work amongst peoples. We see this most dramatically demonstrated where the situation seems to be most desperate. We need to learn from those who know how to celebrate how we too can celebrate so that we too can become transformers of our own lives. After reading this magazine, I hope you go home “buzzing” with a “tune in your head” ready to be agents of change for God.

Apology A gremlin got into our computer programme for the last issue which resulted in some people receiving more than one copy of Jesuits and Friends. We apologise for this error and will make sure it does not happen again this time. Happily, most people to whom this happened were able to give the extra copy away to a friend.

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Hearing the cry of the poor

Fr Tim Curtis, SJ, Director of JM, reflects on his recent visit to Zimbabwe.

It was with some trepidation that I set off on New Year’s Day to revisit Zimbabwe. I was looking forward to meeting many old friends, and making some new ones. But Zimbabwe is perhaps not on many people’s “must visit” list. My co-novice, Fr Stephen Buckland SJ, took over last year as the Zimbabwean Provincial. He has the task of leading the 120 Jesuits of Zimbabwe and discerning with them the best way of serving their hard pressed people. He has assembled a great team to assist him: Fr Joe Arimoso SJ, a young and energetic priest, is now his Socius (principal advisor) and Fr Tony Berridge SJ is the new and very capable treasurer of the province. I was accompanied on my trip by Julian Filochowski, the former director of CAFOD, and together we met with Stephen and the Jesuit Emergency Relief Committee. Stephen began by thanking me most sincerely for the extraordinary generosity of so many of our benefactors who had made a shipment of food possible by Christmas. We soon identified the need to have a local coordinator on the ground to spearhead the Jesuit relief effort. JM has

Fr Heribert Müller SJ (right) with teachers at Makumbi mission station

offered to fund a post for two years to make sure this happens. We discovered that many other Church agencies are mounting relief programmes and it is vital that the Jesuits dovetail their efforts with those of other agencies. We are hoping that through this cooperation we can get more food to where it is most needed. While in Zimbabwe I had to learn some new vocabulary. The whole economy has been “dollarised”. Even a street vendor will not accept the now worthless Zimbabwe currency. Teachers need “Top Ups”, as the salary that they receive from the state is worthless. Teachers are demoralised, as no one seems to appreciate their efforts to keep the education system functioning. It is important that we appreciate and encourage the dedicated teachers who continue to serve in our schools. I was really impressed meeting ordinary Jesuits doing ordinary jobs, but under really extraordinary circumstances. Fr Roland Von Nidda somehow manages to keep St Ignatius College going, finding teachers to teach and food to feed the children. Fr David Harold Barry at Silveira House provides courses to help hard pressed Zimbabweans survive the harsh realities of life. Fr Heribert Müller at Makumbi mission station finds that sourcing fuel to visit outstations is a challenge. Fr Karl Hermann said that it was easy to tell that a hospital was functioning as you would see patients with cholera being brought to it in wheelbarrows. Fr Oscar Wermter explained that at Mass, there is no sign of peace and the Eucharistic Ministers wash their hands up to the elbows before giving Communion – all precautions against cholera. Even the scholastics studying at Arrupe College spend a good part of each day looking for water. Yet each of these Jesuits faces

these challenges with quiet equanimity. Despite all of these hardships and difficulties, people were really cheerful. The celebration of Mass was always a joyful affair. People sing with their whole bodies and are always looking out for someone who might be worse off than they are. Even on the political front, people are hopeful that the National Unity Government might bring much needed peace and stability to Zimbabwe. As I left the country, there was hope that the unity accord, which has already been signed, might become a reality. Let us keep all of these friends of ours very much in our prayers.

Fighting cholera: the medical team at St Rupert’s mission.

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Celebrating The Yorkshirewoman Who ‘Dared To Dream’ The Mary Ward Jubilee here was a major celebration in York Minster at the beginning of the year as Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Congregation of Jesus marked two anniversaries associated with their Foundress, Mary Ward (1585-1645). Born near Ripon in a staunchly Catholic family, Mary dared to found an order of religious women modelled on the Society of Jesus in 1609. They had freedom from a religious enclosure and a readiness for apostolic works which would put them at the direct service of the Church. She set up communities and schools in many cities on the European continent, and her members were sent under cover on the English Mission to support the priests. But this adventurous step into the unfamiliar and unknown aroused fierce opposition from within the Catholic Church, and in 1631 Mary Ward’s Institute was suppressed by Pope Urban VIII. Mary herself was described as a heretic and imprisoned for a time by the Inquisition. Mary’s rehabilitation in the Church did not take place until 1909, so the celebrations that took place in York marked both the 400th anniversary

of the founding of her Institute and the 100th anniversary of her acknowledgement as Foundress. More than 2,000 people packed the Minster, among them Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, who was the principal celebrant, and the British Jesuit Provincial, Father Michael Holman SJ. The Cardinal opened his address by reading greetings from Pope Benedict XVI

who was himself educated by the Sisters in Bavaria. In her reflection, Sister Gemma Simmonds CJ said, “Mary Ward dared to dream the impossible and it came true, though not in her time.” In her words of thanks Sister Jane Livesey, the Provincial of the Congregation of Jesus, added, “The prophet has at last been honoured in her own country”.

Fr Michael Holman SJ (far left) concelebrates with the Cardinal, bishops and other clergy at York Minster.

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To live, die and rise

with the poor Sr Pat Robb CJ looks back over nearly 60 years of Mary Ward’s Sisters in Zimbabwe, where they are bringing life and hope to a population starved of food, health facilities and education. Mary Ward wanted her sisters to be available to “go where the need is greatest”. The sisters in Zimbabwe do not have to go far to be alongside those in the greatest need: the oppressed, sick and impoverished. They arrived in Zimbabwe in 1952, at the invitation of the Swiss Bethlehem Fathers, to help with teaching and nursing on two of their Missions: Serima and Zaka. It is said that when Sister Theresia arrived, she had only a shoe box full of medicines, but a heart full of love. She started her work under a tree, becoming more mobile with the aid of a bicycle, and she eventually took over the running of the children’s ward in the newly built hospital. The school had equally humble beginnings. Both these missions have now been handed on to a Zimbabwean congregation. In 1967, the Jesuits invited the sisters to help them at St Ignatius’ College in Chishawasha. Sister Christopher, now 92 and still involved with spiritual direction in Zimbabwe, was one of the first sisters to teach in the college. Later they built and ran a hostel for girls in the 6th form. One of the community runs the local clinic and another is a university lecturer. From Serima and Zaka, the sisters moved to Chishawasha, Harare and Kwekwe where, in 1985, they set up house and saw their apostolic work increase and multiply: social work, nursing, teaching, a children’s home for orphans, as well as parish work and the house where novices are prepared for religious life. The sisters

have a community in the town centre and one in each of the townships. In Amaveni, the Mary Ward Sisters run a pre-school children’s home for 80 orphans and also have sisters working in government schools. In these difficult times, they sometimes find babies left on the doorstep and have made room for them. The Home has four houses, each with about 20 children and a house mother. Older children look after the younger ones and all have to pull their weight in the house and garden just as they would in normal family life. If possible the children are reunited with their blood relatives, if they can be traced, and support systems are put in place for them to return to live with them. Children from the Home have gone onto college, university and apprenticeships and keep in close contact, often returning to help in the holidays. One sister in Mbizo runs the government clinic. And at the request of the local residents, funding from Germany enabled the sisters to build a large primary school and pre school in Mbizo township. Schooling certainly is not free and on top of fees the parents have to pay for books, uniform and sports funds. This means many children, especially girls, have to drop out of school. Before things became as bad as they are now the sisters had helped to fund some

vocational training of local people especially women and those with disabilities. One man, who is confined to a wheel chair, has learnt how to operate a “phone shop” (selling phone calls, not phones!) and can now support his family. Others have done dressmaking, agriculture, child care etc, and, of course, there is in-service training for others in the schools, clinics and in social work. At this time, when so many Zimbabweans are suffering extreme poverty, the workload for the sisters has increased. Each house has at least one person designated to watch out for those in dire need: grandmothers looking after many children, households run by children, households with people affected by HIV and AIDS, families with very small children; the list is endless. As far as is possible, working with local churches and whatever government welfare schemes are still functioning, the sisters and their helpers make sure families receive food supplements and get medical care. Donations from overseas help them with this work. This year, as we celebrate 400 years since Mary Ward’s foundation, the words on her tomb stone (in Osbaldwick Church, York) are very apt: “To love the poor, to live, die and rise with them, was all the aim of Mary Ward…..” God Bless and help Zimbabwe!

The author (far left) with Sister Mercy and some of the children from the home in Amaveni ABOVE: Mary Ward’s tomb stone in York.

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Serving the needs of a growing inner city Queuing for food in the car park of Holy Trinity Church

A Jesuit parish in South Africa appeals for help to renovate its kitchen for the homeless and provide private facilities for medical consultations. The daily soup kitchen at the inner city parish of Holy Trinity in Braamfontein on the west of Johannesburg currently operates from a basement under the church. It is coordinated by the parish house-keeper, Yvonne Moloelang, who three years ago was presented with a Campion Medal for her 25 years of service at Trinity. Several dozen people who live on the streets come to Holy Trinity every day for food, provided through the kindness of parishioners and fundraising efforts of the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP). However, on Monday evenings, the SVP runs a large soup kitchen at the church, at which around 250 people are served. At the same time, medical students from the university run a clinic to provide primary health care for those who do not have any other access to health care because they are not South Africans. The health care system in South Africa is in a crisis and many South Africans struggle to get care for basic conditions. In addition people are given clothes, shoes, soap, candles and – in the winter – blankets, all collected from the parish community. Holy Trinity at Braamfontein has been staffed by the Society of Jesus 8

since 1973. The parish is the home of the chaplaincy to the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Johannesburg, and is also home to many African immigrants – some of whom are ‘legal’ and others who are in South Africa ‘illegally’. “We need a major renovation to provide a better and more hygienic service to the street people of Johannesburg,” says parish priest, Father Russell Pollitt SJ. “The kitchen is inadequate and the facilities can’t cope with the growing need. There are no decent wash-rooms for those who come to the soup-kitchen; medical consultations are done in a public space as there’s no private place for them; and when it rains (especially when we have thunder-storms in summer) the soup kitchen and medical service can’t function as most of it is conducted in the open.” The SVP recently introduced a ‘movie night’ for people living on the streets. Besides their normal meal each person was given a bag of popcorn. The movie – Mr Bean ¬– was a great hit but not everyone could join in the fun simply because of inadequate facilities. The parish

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urgently needs to renovate to make this area functional and hence able to better serve the growing inner city needs. “We are also hoping to become a distribution point for antiretrovirals in the near future,” continues Russell. “We regularly have counselling and voluntary HIV/AIDS testing at the parish but many people who need further medical care are denied it simply because they’re poor. The parish, with other organisations, hopes to be able to make a difference to the lives of the poorest of the poor by providing the necessary treatment.” Holy Trinity Parish has already saved some money to renovate the existing area and reconfigured the space so that an adequate store-room, kitchen, wash-room, and an area for medical consultations would be available. The parish’s Finance Committee is continuing to raise funds but additional help is needed if they are going to complete the project. “Any help would be much appreciated,” says Russell. “But most especially by the people who come here daily for food, medical attention, material help and the odd movie night!”

Our Future Hope

Medino Abraham SJ is a Guyanese Jesuit who is at present engaged with a University course in Pedagogy in South Brazil. Last semester, as part of his practical work, he had the chance to experience working with a branch of Fé y Alegria, run by the Jesuits of Porto Alegre. He says he found the experience very helpful “because it offered me an opportunity to catch a glimpse of one of the dimensions of the Jesuits’ involvement in education for the poor in Latin America”. Fé y Alegria (literally, Faith and Happiness) was founded in Venezuela in 1955 as a non-governmental organization to establish direct contact with the poor and the needy. It supports the educative services both on the peripheries of the big cities and among the poor of the rural areas. Fr José Maria Vélaz SJ, the founder of the movement, best encapsulated this ideal when he said: “Where the asphalt ends and the town changes its name, there Fé y Alegria began”. Fé y Alegria has its philosophical roots in the work of the famous Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, who developed a model of popular education, which was quite different to what he felt was the more traditional “elitist” system of education found in Latin America. The movement operates differently in most places and countries, depending on the needs of the people in that country. In Brazil, the movement was established in 1981;

the branch here in the southern state of Brazil has been running for the past four years. The service offered is for children who are victims of sexual abuse, enforced child labour and other forms of ill treatment. The school acts both as a symbol of solidarity and provides a place of protection, while at the same time offering an opportunity to develop and be transformed by their gifts. My weekly visits to the school were on Friday afternoons. I began by getting to know the children, and to familarize myself with the activities carried out by the institution. The small building structure serves 105 children from the ages of five to 14, and has five teachers. Because of the need to protect and developing the children’s potential, this branch of Fé y Alegria has adopted the model of non-formal education; in other words, it does not teach formal subjects like mathematics and Portuguese, but instead using the insights of Piaget and Freire. It offers classes in art, sport, music, dance, care-for-theenvironment and computing. Also

included in the curriculum is training in human formation, which is moulded by Ignatian Spirituality. My experience in the school was very consoling: I was edified, especially to see my brothers in the Brazilian Society of Jesus reaching out to the poor so creatively through education. Fé y Alegria is offering the little ones an opportunity to be better persons and, despite their own past experience of being abused by the world, help them to make a positive contribution to that same world. In protecting and caring for these children, who are our future hope, Fé y Alegria stands as an excellent example of Jesus’ own commission to the disciples: “Let the little children come to me!”

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A genuine commitment to the poor On her way to Guyana where she is taking up the role of Development Worker, Sarah Broscombe attended the World Social Forum in Brazil. But it was the Ignatian pre-forum that impressed her most. I am very thankful that we began by going to the Ignatian pre-forum, ‘Religious Faiths and Defence of Life’, which took place for the three days preceding the World Social Forum (WSF) itself. It was much more hopefilled, much more focussed and immeasurably better organised! The pre-forum was attended by 230 participants from 28 countries. It is a strange feeling to hear all the familiar slogans - ‘unity in diversity’, ‘a preferential option for the poor’ - in contexts where they are so manifestly being acted out. We had a large delegation from India, all in some way connected to the South Asian People’s Initiative (SAPI). They were mainly indigenous and from several religions, with a high proportion of women speaking for grassroots tribal movements. Overall, the global South was represented much more heavily than Europe and America (Australia was the only continent not represented at all). The meeting was conducted in Portuguese (with good translation, thank heavens!), but somehow the most special moments in the large sessions for me were when SAPI participants gave their responses in Tamil or Hindi, followed by a translation. Guest speakers were Frei Betto, Jose Comblin and Marina Silva, and

Marching in solidarity in Amazonia

all were passionate and thought provoking. Frei Betto’s talk particularly stays with me - the call to have the faith of Jesus as well as faith in Jesus, so that rather than having a political agenda, our stance is always pro-poor. He challenged us to think through a spirituality of conflict in tune with Jesus’ life. Even more special were the prayers and liturgies. We had our faces painted with Urukong, a red plant ink from the Amazon. We danced the Gloria in silence. We listened to wonderful Hindi village songs for offertories. We prayed outside under the mango trees, warmed ourselves at fires, were flicked with water for purification - we never knew what to expect. A lot of thanks were being given too for the food! We guzzled fruit juices for which there is no translation in Portuguese, let alone English. Everything seemed to belong together - the talks, the food, the celebrations, the prayers. In a nutshell, the pre-forum was fantastic – and not just for the content. I am not saying it was perfect: my head ached from the translation, there was not enough silence for me, some of the talks

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disturbed some people, and the discussion groups were not always fruitful. But some outcomes particularly struck me. One of the Dalit attendees said at the end that they had always thought Christians were not interested in poor people. Now they had got to know the Jesuits and co-workers here, they realised that this was not true - they had seen Christians committing themselves to solidarity with the poor. One Amerindian said in our last group meeting that he had been very surprised to find that his contribution mattered, that he was part of the group. One European worker for the Jesuit Refugee Service said that she had expected the WSF to be brilliant, and the pre-forum “just something to get through”. She was astonished to find such wonderful work going on among the Jesuit family, and she now sees JRS as part of a bigger picture. I have found myself asking a question many times over the last few years, especially when friends or acquaintances are hostile towards what they perceive as negative, unjust or elitist about the Church. If people observe the Society of Jesus in their own country from the outside,

JM what do they perceive its preferential option to be? ‘A preferential option for the intellect’? ‘A preferential option for education’? At the WSF, I found myself feeling very proud to be associated with Jesuit work. Marching with SAPI, I felt both proud and humble. But there is more to do. I think that when Jesus says ‘By their fruits you will know them’, he challenges us to keep asking ourselves this question: ‘When strangers look at me, where do they perceive my preference, my allegiances, to lie? Without the cloak of words, what do my choices, my career, my LIFE say about my faith?’ If you would like to hear more from a wide range of individuals about their experience of the preforum and the World Social Forum, please visit http://preforumfenamazonia.wordpress.com

Sharing the cultures: face-painting with Urukong

A voice from Guyana (at the Ignatian pre-forum) Fr Paul Martin SJ

y name is Paul Martin. I was born in Liverpool, England, and joined the Jesuits there in 1984. I first came to Guyana in South America in 1989 to do my Regency (full-time apostolic ministry between Philosophy and Theology studies). After four challenging but very happy years of theology in Brazil, I returned to Guyana in 1995 to begin working with the indigenous people there. This is the work I have been engaged in up until now. Just as the indigenous people of the world are a small and often poorly understood group within the modern globalised world, so Jesuits working with them are few in number and often encounter difficulties explaining, even to fellow Jesuits, the point of this work. I was delighted to accept the suggestion of my Regional Superior to attend the World Social Forum in Brazil and the pre-forum organised by the Amazonian Region of the Society of Jesus. This was an excellent opportunity to renew contact with others who are engaged in similar work, and at the same time to meet many whose work is very different, yet whose desire to see a world in which all have access to the necessities of life is the same.

The atmosphere both at the pre-forum and the Forum itself has been one of joyful celebration of life built on a sincere desire to act justly, valuing the unique contribution of each individual. Frei Betto put it so well when he said that Christian faith is a call to share in the faith of Jesus; to understand ourselves and our lives in the light of our relationship with the Father and to allow this understanding to determine the way we act. If I were to offer one criticism it would be to say that in emphasising the call to share the faith of Jesus and act as he acted we cannot ignore the cross. If we wish to model our lives on the life of Jesus we need to hear his warning that "anyone who wants to be a follower of mine, must take up his cross and follow me". Just as those who held power at the time of Jesus chose to use that power to silence him, so those who hold power in today's world will use that power to silence the voice of those who call for a different world. Christians must therefore also have faith in Christ. That is to say we are called to believe that the cross is not the final word. Rather Christ who was

crucified “is risen”. He does not rise to prove his enemies wrong - if that were the case we would be reading of his appearances to Pilate, to Caiaphas, to those who called on him to come down from the cross. Rather, he rises to prove his friends right - to confirm those who followed him in the faith that they shared with him. The new world begins not when the powerful are overthrown but when those whom they seek to dominate no longer allow fear to control their lives but live in the freedom of the children of God. That is a different world, one that is, in one sense, already here, and in another, will always be a dream for tomorrow. The World Social Forum could so easily become either a protest rally dominated by passionate speeches denouncing the evils of the world or a carnival in which people for a while forget the harsh realities of life in a wild party of music and dance. Yet, in the spirit of the pre-forum, it could also be a joyful celebration of how the world could be with a commitment to the struggle that it will take to make it so.

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Wapadanaa or

Hotel California?

‘You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.’ From ‘Hotel California’, lyrics by Felder/Frey/Henley

In the second of three articles to mark the centenary of the Jesuits’ work in the Guyanese Interior, Fr Simon Bishop SJ looks at some of the highlights of the past 100 years and how the work is growing in the south of the country. The Jesuits first came to the south Rupununi in 1909, led by Bishop Galton, vicar apostolic of what was then British Guyana, accompanied by Fr Cuthbert Cary-Elwes SJ. Fr Cary–Elwes had been born in Boulogne, France, where he spent his early childhood and, after being educated at Stonyhurst College, joined the Society of Jesus at the age of 18. He was ordained at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, in 1900, and arrived in Guyana, aged 37, in 1904. For the first five years he worked in Georgetown and

in the Northwest District and then, on 19 November 1909, he headed up the Demerara River to join the Essequibo which finally, on 10 December, brought them to the Rupununi Savannah. The savannah had been the home, for at least two centuries, of the Makushi and Wapishana Indians, divided more by the east-west line of the Kanuku Mountains than by the north-south international border between Guyana and Brazil. Fr Cary–Elwes had been keen to start up a mission far from the Brazilian border and nearer to the Indians but the bishop wanted the mission to be nearer to the Catholic community in Brazil. So began the mission of Zariwa, St Ignatius – present day Lethem – which is still today the hub of the Rupununi mission and from where Fr Cary–Elwes was able to head out to meet the Wapishana Indians. So, it was that for 60 years, the Jesuits based at St Ignatius and then, later, in Sand Creek, would cover vast distances to support and encourage the Catholic faith, embraced by the Wapishanas.

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Fr Cary-Elwes SJ Fathers Bernard McKenna SJ and Manus Keane SJ began building a presbytery for a resident Jesuit community in 1968 but were barred from the area by the then president, Forbes Burnham, after the Christmas rebellion of 1968 in which cattle ranchers and other supporters protested against the president’s reclaiming of the land. It was not until February 1969 that a resident Jesuit community was established in Aishalton, a fulfilment of Fr Cary–Elwes’ dream. Fr Derrick Maitland SJ – a man trained during the war in motor

mechanics – was the ideal choice, given the amount of driving in such isolated territory, and he was accompanied by Fr Doc Loretz SJ, who took on the role of local GP. There are now four Jesuits living in the community of St Robert Bellarmine: Fr Amar Bage, the parish priest, from the Ranchi province in Fr Simon Bishop blesses Northern India; Fr Paul the new house Dominic, from the Andhra province; Jerry Dias, a scholastic from the Karnataka province, who is doing his regency in the parish, and then Fr Peter BrittCompton, like Fr Cary-Elwes an alumni of Stonyhurst College. It was very moving, therefore, as a former student of Stonyhurst College myself, to be part of that extraordinary legacy, if only for a few days at the end of 2008. Maybe it is the lush quiet of this ‘sweet especial Welcome to scene, Rural scene, a rural scene, ‘Our Home’! Sweet especial rural scene’ (Binsey Poplars, Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1879) which, reminiscent of the pray for the needs of everyone in their Ribble Valley, so attracted Fr Carycare and be strengthened and filled Elwes and Fr Britt-Compton to this themselves with God’s love and life, beautiful place. so that they, in turn, would bring Fr Amar arrived in Aishalton at the God’s love and life to everyone to beginning of February 2008 and, with whom they are sent. The home is the encouragement and blessing of called, in Wapishana, ‘Wapadanaa’ – Fr Dermot Preston SJ, the regional ‘our home’ – meaning not simply the superior, work was begun on home of the Jesuit Community, but constructing a larger and more the house of and for everyone. This permanent home for the Jesuit was in no doubt when, after the Community. The building was blessing, everyone, especially the completed ten months later, on 19 children, took great delight and pride November – on the very day, in running all over the house! remarkably, that Fr Cary-Elwes had However, it seemed, for a moment, set off for the Rupununi, 99 years that the house might be called by a earlier – and was officially blessed different name ... For, after all the and opened on the feast of Christ the blessings, prayers and speeches King. about houses and the Holy Spirit, the In his address to the hundreds Amerindian DJ, who had been gathered for the opening, Fr Dermot pumping fairly anonymous Brazilian spoke of the presbytery as a house of “musak” out over the campus, started prayer and as a house of mission. He the highly recognisable guitar riff for wanted the house to be a place where the beginning of Hotel California. I the Jesuits, individually and in suspect neither he nor anybody else community, would come together to in the village (except perhaps Fr

Dermot and myself) realised the suitability of the lyrics. It did not take long for the DJ to become bored with the record as he switched it off half way through ... but by then the imagination had been fired! The house, the church, and the Jesuit Community, now supported and strengthened by the arrival of four Ursuline nuns, also from the Ranchi area of India, are a wonderful sign of the Society’s and the Church’s commitment to the people of the Rupununi. In my blessing of the house, I spoke of the Lord’s desire to come close to us, to make His home in us (cf. John 8: 31-2; 14:23; 15:4): ‘Behold I stand at the door of your heart, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.’ (Rev.3:20) I was overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity with which the people of the Rupununi had opened their doors and their hearts to me. I am so proud and so delighted that the Church and the Society of Jesus – 100 years on - continue to open their doors and hearts to the people of the Rupununi. It was with a deeply grateful and sad heart that I left the people and place of Aishalton. I thought I might have struck lucky when, on my return journey with Jerry Dias and Percy, the parish’s expert driver, we arrived at the river Rupununi only to discover that it had risen too high to cross by jeep and there was no one around to make use of the pontoon – the ferry made from disused barrels to carry vehicles across. “Would it be best if I wade across?” I asked Percy. “Not only would that be the best way, Father,” replied Percy, “it is the only way!” Wading through the Rupununi, with my bags held high above my head, it seemed the perfect ending to my visit - a kind of baptism into the people and country of the Rupununi. I had ‘checked out’ but I truly wished I might never leave.

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

Sharing a ‘mature’ faith on the air in Lusaka

Last November, Loyola Productions in Zambia made four weekly half-hour programmes about Advent faith. As Fr Roy Thadden SJ explains, the concept is being repeated and developed for the season of Lent. The heart of the Advent series was a 20-minute lively informal discussion by five lay Catholic adults: a business consultant, a headmistress, a social analyst, a director of an NGO which promotes small projects and a university student. Jesuits were visible in the programmes: scholastic Privilege Haang’andu introduced each of them and Fr Emmanuel Mumba SJ made a commentary after each discussion. Invisibly in the background, Fr Charles Chilinda SJ and I contributed to the production. The aim of this series was to address the more “mature” Christians in the country with questions about the background of their Christmas faith. For example, “Can and does God come into our world?” “If He does come, does he take away our freedom or does He respect our choices?” “How does Christ coming into the world impact

our lives?” At the end of the programmes hopefully each viewer was stimulated to reflect and ask themselves, “What do I think and believe about my personal freedom vis-à-vis God’s ‘control’ in my life?” To encourage this, the discussions were filmed absolutely spontaneously and in common surroundings: one around a kitchen table, another in someone’s garden, and so on. This allowed the viewers to identify with one or other of those discussing. Another aim was to get away from the teaching/preaching style of so much religious television. Too often viewers look at their screens and see pastors haranguing their audiences about their sin and their Saviour, followed by cutaways showing tearyeyed people emotionally responding with handkerchiefs. We believe the expression of Christian faith in Zambia needs something deeper than that if it is to be authentic. So in a bid to show the present level of faith in the country to the country and at the same time to encourage personal reflection about faith by means of example, we asked these five adult Zambians to share their faith before a national television audience. Most feedback was quite positive. “Well done”; “A challenge to my faith”; “Why haven’t we seen more programmes like these before?” A few said the content was too intellectual, or that such ideas should be left to the theologians. But generally these four presentations for Advent were well received. A surprise response was that quite a

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Talking part: local headmistress and CLC member, Josephine Shamwana Lungu, agreed – without hesitation – to take part in the Loyola Productions programmes

few non-Catholics offered very favourable evaluations – a giant step for ecumenism in the country! The needs for our Lenten series are the same; and the target audience will probably be the same too. But the content will be different. So the format we decided on is a series entitled "Food for the Journey"; each weekly programme built on one of the following six themes: Journey, Desert, Living Water, Manna, Cross and Palms. The "Bumper" (opening montage) tries to show a number of ways we are fed and we feed others. The heart of the programme is again the Christian reflection/discussion this time with a priest and sister participating and an intelligent strong-willed anchorman keeping the ideas flowing. The longer clips from outside the studio (e.g., a "Zambian pilgrimage site" and "Charcoal burning turning the forests into deserts") stimulate the discussions. What people see and hear from their televisions influence their values tremendously, especially the tender youth. We hope that this Lenten series will make some sort of a positive contribution to these minds.

TURNING EVERY MOMENT INTO AN APOSTOLIC INITIATIVE “The Church needs you, relies on you and continues to turn to you with trust. “ (Pope Benedict XVI, 21 Feb 2008) These words were spoken by the Holy Father when he addressed the Jesuit members of the 35th General Congregation, held in Rome last year. As the Society of Jesus depends so much on the help, expertise, the prayers and good will of so very many lay men and women worldwide, I think that these words of the Holy Father are legitimately applied to them and to all the readers of Jesuits and Friends who, one way or another, associate themselves with Jesuit apostolic initiatives. The Pope’s words are particularly pertinent to those of us who try to base our prayer life on the simple yet authentic discipline of the Apostleship of Prayer: a commitment in the morning to offer the day to the Lord, united with the great prayer of Jesus in the Eucharist and offered specifically for the intentions of the Holy Father. So what are the apostolic initiatives, concerns and prayers of the Holy Father for the next three months? In April, the Pope asks us to pray for the farming community throughout the world. Farmers produce our food. We pray also that the efforts of those who are in a position to alleviate the dreadful hunger that afflicts so many

people will be successful. We could remember especially our Jesuit priests and brothers in missionary territories who, with their lay helpers, are desperately trying to find enough food to feed their people. In May, we pray that young men and women will be found who are prepared to dedicate the whole of their lives to the service of Jesus Christ in the Church of today and tomorrow. We ask the Lord that lay people may seriously take this intention to heart and be active promoters of priestly and religious vocations. We remember new Christian communities especially in missionary areas and we remember those who have been received into the Church at Easter. May their dedication and enthusiasm be instrumental in bringing others to know, love and serve the Lord. The Holy Father wishes us to dedicate each day of June to those people who are desperately poor. Rich nations must be generous, especially in wiping out the intolerable burden of foreign debt. We should remember also

those Christian communities who live in fear of violence, who are persecuted because of their belief in Jesus Christ. So many Jesuits and their helpers in different parts of the world are deeply involved in all these situations. Pope Benedict, as Vicar of Christ, relies trustingly on them as he does on us to offer each day to the Lord for the papal prayer intentions. Such is our mission and our prayerful task in the midst of a world that seems to be so full of doom and gloom! Not so for us. In faith we know that “God is on our side and who can be against us”! (Rm 8.31) Saint Ignatius ceaselessly exhorts us to “find God in all things”. Through the daily living of our Apostleship of Prayer we turn every moment into an apostolic initiative and live out our lives Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam – for the greater glory of God.

Fr Michael Beattie SJ, Province Promoter of the Apostleship of Prayer

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

Helping the Homeless in Liverpool

Debbie Reynolds writes about STREETfaith and particularly the Liverpool Homelessness, Street Sex Workers and Faith Based Communities Network. Among the projects supported recently by the Jesuit Fund for Social Justice has been STREETfaith in Liverpool. The Jesuit Church of Saint Francis Xavier (SFX) in the Everton district of the city is neighbour to and has a strong working relationship with the Whitechapel Centre, which serves the homeless and those living in inadequate housing. Through this connection it was realised that there were communication difficulties between faith based communities and agencies in both the statutory and the voluntary sectors. Regularly, faith based communities would give help to homeless people

without consulting or seeking guidance from homelessness agencies. For instance, they would hand out sleeping bags to rough sleepers, seeing it as a genuine act of human kindness; but it would frustrate the City Council authorities who would consider this to be prolonging rough-sleeping. Similarly, a rough-sleeper might tell a worker in a faith based group – but not a secular agency – that he was scared of accepting hostel accommodation because of the number of people with addiction problems under one roof, which could result in violence or robbery. And while the City Council were looking for premises for cold weather provision, there were some unused church buildings available, but no one at the council knew. The need to simply invite service-users to gather, worship, grieve or celebrate was also considered essential by faith communities such as SFX. So two years ago, STREETfaith was set up to address this confusion. STREETfaith is a network between Liverpool Homelessness, Street Sex Workers and Faith Based Communities. The forum meets

UK Jesuit Fund for Social Justice Since it was established in 1992, the Jesuit Fund for Social Justice has supported Jesuits in many varied projects: refugee work, homelessness, reconciliation and much more. Today, many lay men and women in our schools, our parishes, our volunteering schemes and elsewhere play a full part in the social justice work of the Jesuits in Britain. The Fund for Social Justice is available to everyone who is connected with the Society of Jesus, either Jesuits themselves or those who work with the Society through schools, parishes, retreat centres, volunteering etc. Grants are normally quite small, up to around £2000, intended principally to help develop modest new projects and initiatives in works where the applicant is already involved. These may be one off or long term, and can be involved as a part-funder if more substantial funds are required. For more information and an application form, go to: www.jesuitfsj.org

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three or four times a year, to share good practice, raise awareness and network. More recently it has responded to training needs and held an information day for leaders and members of faith communities on how to help homeless people in crisis. A further training day on food handling is also planned; both were part funded by the Jesuit Social Justice Fund. Last year, STREETfaith was invited to a ‘Faith and Homelessness’ workshop, which was more about having a church building converted into a hostel than that of faith support for homeless people. When the question was asked about the spiritual needs of a homeless person, the answer was “We don’t and shouldn’t ask the person their religion!” But neither does STREETfaith – this forum is trying to consider the well being of the whole person regardless of race or religion. The continued generosity and support of the Jesuit parish of SFX, Liverpool, means that the work with and for the poor and the vulnerable in the district can continue and the work of STREETfaith can develop and grow.

Another

marathon … another target

Development has been possible at St Martin’s School in Soweto thanks to funds raised by Fr Rampe Hlobo SJ who ran in last year’s London Marathon.

Alan Fernandes, Assistant Director JM

2009 Projects Zambia Zambia Zambia Zambia -

Roofing St Peter's Outstation Roofing Chipokolo Outstation Dedema School Canisius High School Refurbishments

2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000

Guyana - Liturgical Items Interior Guyana - Small Business Project Berbice Guyana - East Coast Feeding Guyana - Catholic Magazine Revamp Guyana - Amerindian Scholarship Top Up

4,000 1,000 2,000 2,000 2,000

Zimbabwe - Orphan Projects Zimbabwe - St Peter's Kubatana

5,000 6,000

Tanzania - St Ignatius School Dodoma

8,000

South Africa - Soup Kitchen

5,000

Emergency Appeals 2009 JRS (UK Office) Total:

In 2008, JM runners raised just over £55,000 for projects overseas. This year, the team is slightly up with 31 runners taking on the task of running 26.2 miles and attempting to raise £60,000. The runners are taking part because they have a keen interest in the work of JM. Some are part of the JM Companions programme and are aiming to provide financial support for their partnership school overseas. Some runners will also be raising funds for the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service in the UK. Although Africa may have dropped out of the news recently, the needs are still there and the majority of funds raised will go towards Jesuit works in the continent, where the focus is on improving the quality of life for local communities. Amongst the runners this year are: Patricia Gadd, Tim Byron SJ, John-Paul Morrison, Robert Dolinar SJ, Joanna Konieczna, Bill Blackledge, Tony Carroll SJ, Nicholas Isola, George Joliffe, Clare Brotherhood, David Hurst, Rupert Bell, Ben Gogarty, Ruta Navyte (JRS), John Marshall, Christopher Cuttle, Declan Linnane, Zita Noone, Jonathan Smith, Eddie Gilmore, Ed Pike, John McCann, Alain van West, Virginia van West, Jonathan Conlin (JRS), Josephine Hayward, Rafael Morrison, James Conway SJ, Mary Kirkham (JRS), Noel Sainsbury and Ged Brumby. You can sponsor them by sending your cheque to JM, or on-line at www.gbjm.org/marathon

12,000 5,000 £60,000

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

ECONOMICS,

POLITICS OR SCIENCE:

ONLINE JOURNAL OFFERS A FAITH PERSPECTIVE ON THEM ALL In the 13 months since the launch of Thinking Faith, over 65,000 people have visited www.thinkingfaith.org to read the articles, film and book reviews that the site offers. Deputy Editor, Frances Murphy, has been assessing its appeal. As the second project of Jesuit Media Initiatives, Thinking Faith is the online journal of the British Jesuits. It followed pray-as-you-go which began in Lent 2006, and its ministry is to be a source of intellectual nourishment for its readers, in the belief that encouraging people to think honestly about a wide range of issues in terms of their faith will lead them into a deeper relationship with God. Just as pray-asyou-go offers a daily reflection to aid people in their prayer life, Thinking Faith offers thought-provoking articles, written from a faith perspective, to inspire and challenge its readers, and to aid their knowledge and understanding – an equally important aspect of Ignatian spirituality. People don’t need to be trained in theology to visit Thinking Faith, it is not intended to be an academic journal. We aim to pitch our articles at people who

are interested enough in questions of ‘faith and life’ to look at the site, so we hope that the pieces we publish are accessible to people of all levels of experience and understanding. In a society where people are increasingly looking to the internet for news, comment and information, it is crucial that there is a Catholic voice in and amongst all others. The Jesuit mission of promoting the Gospel in society today necessitates an online presence, which is what Thinking Faith aims to provide. The journal offers articles on culture, ethics, politics, science and events, as well as reflections on liturgy, scripture, Church affairs and spirituality. The reviews on the website are an opportunity to offer opinions on what our readers may be interested in watching or reading: film reviews comment on films that are on

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general release, as well as art house, independent and foreign features; book reviews offer informed opinion on publications which are addressing important and topical issues, often in the fields of theology and social sciences. Thinking Faith is free, and it has a “rolling” format, which means that there is no weekly or monthly issue, but new content is added at any time. More than 1,400 people have now subscribed to receive the email alerts that are sent out whenever new content is added to the site, and the journal is currently attracting an average of 400 visits each day. So what has been attracting people to the journal in its first year? The monthly articles on St Paul, which are forming a yearlong series to mark the Pauline year, have been very popular: authors of these articles have included Bishop

John Arnold (who pressed the button to launch Thinking Faith in January 2008), and renowned scripture scholars Peter Edmonds SJ and Nicholas King SJ. The coverage of the American elections also received a great deal of attention: Gregory Chisholm SJ’s ‘What scares me about Obama’ was very widely-read at the time of the new president’s election; and more recently ‘A Tale of Two Presidents’ by American political commentator, Michael Sean Winters,

was hugely popular. The current economic situation has also been as much a topic for debate on Thinking Faith as it has been in the rest of the media: articles such as ‘The Scandal of Extortion’, ‘Our Economic Problem – Greed or Ignorance?’ and ‘St Thomas Aquinas and the Temple of Mammon’ have explored the financial crisis from the perspectives of various thinkers in the Christian tradition. Over the coming months, Thinking

Faith readers can expect to see a series of articles for Lent on the theme of austerity; the continuation of the Pauline year; a series to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of influential Jesuit, George Tyrell; articles on Charles Darwin and the relationship between religion and science; more reflections on ethics, politics and the role of faith in society; and much more. www.thinkingfaith.org

CLC: a safe place to deepen and share faith This May, representatives of the Christian Life Community from all over Europe will be meeting in Spain. High on their agenda will be the question of collaboration, particularly in the light of the Decree at the 35th General Congregation last year: Collaboration at the Heart of Mission. Una Buckley, Jen Schooling and Brother Alan Harrison SJ have been talking to some of the people for whom belonging to CLC is an important and enriching part of their lives. The Christian Life Community (CLC) has its origins deep in the history of the Society of Jesus. Among the wide family of ‘Jesuits and friends’, it has pride of place, since its original inspiration was the groups of lay people that St Ignatius founded to maintain good works that he himself had established. Today, this Ignatian lay association operates in 67 countries world wide; 20 countries will be represented at the CLC European Assembly in 2009. CLC in Britain is growing. Across the country, groups of six to ten people meet usually fortnightly for an hour or two to pray and share their lives in an Ignatian way and to engage in Christian ministry. Each group is supported by prayer and

reflection materials, and possibly by a guide, through which people are helped to grow in their grasp of Ignatian Spirituality. Barbara Hughes, an Anglican, was introduced to CLC four years ago. “I went to a first meeting, simply observing, as I thought,” she recalls. “I left that night knowing I had found what I had been searching for: a safe place, a place to deepen my faith, a place to share and love others. I found myself the only Anglican in the group of Catholics. But after a few weeks I realised I had found a group of companions to journey with.” For some religious, belonging to a CLC group can help acceptance of self, as well as empowering a person to relate better to others. “CLC is very precious to me. It points me to the bigger world and takes me outside my religious community,” says Sr Frances Crowe, of the Sisters of Marie Auxiliatrice. “Because it is Ignatian, it broadens my horizons and widens my vision of the world. It takes me to places that I might not go, for example, directing retreats and helping people to pray.” Kathleen Jones, a Young Adult CLC member in London since 2006, says the experience has helped her get to know God and herself more deeply. “The insights I have had through the sharing in our meetings become

part of my thoughts. Ignatian Spirituality is becoming a part of me, almost a framework for life.” Brian Austin, on the other hand, has been a member of CLC for 30 years: he says his CLC group keeps him “focused on Jesus and His will”. 88-year-old Anna Browning was introduced to CLC in 1971 by a friend who told her to 'come and see’. ”I did not imagine until then that I needed that kind of spirituality: finding God in my everyday life and in the quiet times.” Her daughter, Maria, says she joined CLC “reluctantly”, but gradually realised “that this was where God wanted me - where I would grow and learn to serve. I find the Examen the most useful tool for my everyday life not always done well, but what a lot I learn!” And the third generation of the family is Stephen, Maria's son. “My first knowledge of CLC was during my time at secondary school, wondering where on earth my mom was disappearing off to every Tuesday evening,” he recalls. “I became involved in CLC as a member about nine years ago. The CLC method of sharing encourages me to persevere with daily life and re-fires me for prayer for the next fortnight.” These are just a selection of responses from current members sharing what belonging to CLC means to them. If you find yourself attracted by what they say, further information is available from info@clcew.org.uk or www.cvx-clc.net; or you can write to CLC Office, 114 Mount Street, London W1K 3AH.

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

Bits ‘n’

Pieces

Cardinal to honour Jesuit martyrs Cardinal Keith O'Brien has announced he intends to visit El Salvador in November, to mark the 20th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuits at the University of Central America (UCA), along with their housekeeper and her daughter. The Cardinal made the announcement at the annual Oscar Romero Memorial Lecture, delivered by Father Dean Brackley SJ at the Lauriston Jesuit Centre in Edinburgh. Fr Brackley, who is Professor of Theology and Ethics at the UCA, was the guest of the Romero Trust. In his lecture, which he also delivered in York, Nottingham and Westminster, he spoke about the legacy of the Jesuit martyrs 20 years on from their assassination, and the abiding place in the life of the people of El Salvador that they and Oscar Romero have. “For us, the poor are the crucified vicars of Christ,” he told his audience. “If we don’t walk with them, then we are not walking with him. If the message is not good news for the poor, then it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. That vision and practice, sealed in blood, continues to shape the religious culture, the country and the wider region. It must continue to leaven the whole Church, even as it evolves to face new circumstances and generational change.” To listen to Fr Dean Buckley’s lecture, visit www.lauriston.org.uk For more information about the Romero Trust, see www.romerotrust.org.uk

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London Irish lead Community Rugby Masterclass at St John’s Beaumont Over 60 boys from St John’s Beaumont School were put through their paces by the London Irish coaching team during the February half-term. Over three days, there was an emphasis on the individual core skills of catching, passing, tackling, rucking and kicking. “The boys Photo credit: TG Photography must be complimented on their attitude and progression throughout the week,” said London Irish’s Community and Schools of Rugby Coach, David Williams, afterwards. “It’s now hoped that the boys can transfer the skills learnt throughout the course into their play once they return to their schools and clubs.” On day three, the boys – aged seven to 13 years – were treated to an appearance from premiership players Danie Coetzee and Tomas De Vedia, with the boys getting a chance to pit their skills against the game’s best. “The visiting players were top class, getting involved with the various groups, hosting a Q & A session, signing autographs and offering advice and assistance to the young charges,” said Mr Williams. “The sight of Danie Coetzee being tackled by 25 rampaging under-8s will remain with me for a long time!”

Seaside Retreats Just over a year ago, the British Province established its first carehome for elderly and sick Jesuits, in Boscombe Bournemouth. The core vocation of the community of 20 Jesuits (average age of 85) is essentially to pray, so if you have particular intentions needing prayer, please do not hesitate to contact them (address below). When the care-home was being built on the site of the previous presbytery, a temporary one was set up five minutes’ walk away. It is a lovely house less than ten minutes walk from the sea and the Society is going to keep it, not only for visitors but for others who may want to come on retreat. Retreats can be booked at any time that is mutually convenient, but to start with there are a number of individually-guided retreats planned: in Holy Week (April 3-12) and at Pentecost (May 22-31); also Touching God with My Fingertips (a group retreat using art as a form of prayer) July 24 – August 2. For more details or to discuss a booking, contact Fr Michael Barrow SJ at CCJC, 757 Christchurch Road, Bournmouth BH7 6AN or michaelajbarrow@yahoo.co.uk

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

AIDS, Ancestors and Salvation Local beliefs in Christian ministry to the sick By Fr Peter Knox SJ Most people writing about AIDS do so from a medical or a sociological point of view. They deal with issues to do with the health of the person infected or with social patterns of behaviour that lead to infection. Such treatments lead those who are infected with the HIV virus and those who have developed full blown AIDS to feel like objects of scientific enquiry and not human beings. Peter Knox, in his refreshing book AIDS, Ancestors and Salvation, places those affected by the pandemic into their social and religious context and suggests that acknowledging the rich cultural heritage of Africa may pave the way for all of those affected to experience salvation. Ancestor veneration is an African reality that most mainline churches would prefer to ignore. The cult maintains that the community of today

reviewed by Fr Tim Curtis SJ is intrinsically bound to those who have gone before. African society fragments and loses its focus when this vital connection is lost. Linking someone with AIDS, who is soon to join the Ancestors, with those he or she is to join, can give meaning to a life that otherwise seems pointless. In this way people are seen in their total social context – and not just as a collection of symptoms or behaviour patterns. Knox asserts that a right understanding of the cult of the ancestors can lead to salvation at various levels: for the individual, who now has a meaningful place in their cultural history and finds that they can be esteemed and cared for by those around them; for the Church, which can find a positive response to a situation that was previously looked at in purely negative terms; and for society, which can now steer a course

whereby the incidence of infection will be curtailed and the sexual rights of women respected. I found this to be a fascinating book and a wonderful contribution to an African understanding to the crisis of AIDS in Africa, but one which we in the North can learn from. The book is available from JM, 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR, priced £12 (inc postage and packing).

The Ages of Faith: Popular Religion in Late Medieval England and Western Europe by Fr Norman Tanner SJ The Ages of Faith: Popular Religion in Late Medieval England and Western Europe collects together 20 articles published since 1990 by Fr Norman Tanner SJ. Fr Tanner is Professor of Church History at the Gregorian University in Rome. The essays are divided into four sections: Church councils, Norwich (city), England and Europe. The novelty of the work, according to the publisher (I.B. Tauris), is in showing that “Christianity in the later Middle Ages was flourishing, popular and vibrant and the institutional church was generally popular – in stark contrast to the picture of corruption and decline painted by the later Reformers and which persists even today. Weaving together key themes

of religious history – the Christian roots of Europe, the crusades, the problematic question of the Inquisition, the relationship between the Church and secular state, the central role of monasticism, and the independence of the English Church – The Ages of Faith brings together a lifetime’s research into this period of history. But to many readers the central fascination of the book will be its insights into popular and individual spiritual experience: sin, piety, penance, heresy, the role of the mystics, and even ‘making merry’.” Also included are articles on Ignatius of Loyola and the Council of Trent. The work contains an Introduction by the author, three maps and extensive indices. The Ages of Faith: Popular Religion

in Late Medieval England and Western Europe by Norman Tanner is published by I.B. Tauris, price £52.50, ISBN 978-1-84511-760-3. More information from www.ibtauris.com

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

DEATHS & OBITUARIES Fr Gerard Marsden SJ Gerard Marsden – known as Gerry – was born in St Helens in Lancashire on 29 May 1923. He attended the De La Salle Grammar School in the town, and at the age of 18, entered the Royal Air Force. He worked as an Equipment Accounts clerk, and served in India from May 1942 until 1946. At the end of the war, Gerry applied to enter the Society of Jesus and studied for a year at Campion House Osterley before being admitted at Roehampton. After studying philosophy at Heythrop College, Oxfordshire, he taught briefly at St Francis Xavier’s Prep School in Liverpool, then resumed his studies (in theology) at Heythrop. Following his ordination to the priesthood in 1955, he worked in St Ignatius parish, Stamford Hill (north London) until 1962, when he was moved to Holy Name Church in Manchester. He served as hospital chaplain in the city and was appointed Superior to the Jesuit Community there in 1966. From 1969 to 1975, Gerry guided retreatants in the Spiritual Exercises at St Gabriel’s Retreat House in Birmingham. He was then appointed as Vicar for Religious in the Portsmouth Diocese, first at Cosham, and then at the Park Place centre in Wickham. After undertaking a renewal course at Hawkstone House and St Beuno’s in north Wales, Gerry worked on the parish staff at St Aloysius, Glasgow (1980 – 85) and Sacred Heart, Blackpool (1985 – 90). In 1991, he became Spiritual Director at the English College, Valladolid in Spain, returning to Britain in 1995 to give the Spiritual Exercises at Loyola Hall in Rainhill. In the mid-1990s, Gerry served at both Sacred Heart, Blackpool, and Sacred Heart, Edinburgh, before retiring to Blackpool, and then finally to St Wilfrid’s parish, Preston. He died in Preston Royal Infirmary on 17 December 2008.

Father Alexander Welsh SJ Alexander Welsh was born in Glasgow on 15 May 1917 and was educated at Woodside Secondary School (which was in the Jesuit parish of St Aloysius) and St Joseph’s College, Dumfries. He entered the Society of Jesus novitiate at Roehampton in 1936, and studied philosophy and theology at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire. After his ordination in 1945, he served for three years at St Mary on the Quay parish in Bristol, and then at Holy Name in Manchester from 1950 to 1963. Fr Welsh worked in St Mary’s parish and school in St Helen’s in the mid-1960s, before moving to Glasgow where he served in St Aloysius parish from 1966 to 1970. He returned to Holy Name Manchester in 1971, where he served for another six years. In 1977, he was appointed to St Wilfrid’s parish in Preston, where his duties included Convent Chaplain. He remained at St Wilfrid’s until his death on 19 February 2009.

Please pray for those who have died recently. May they rest in peace. Mrs Joyce Crutchley

Mrs Jennie Roletto

Mrs Nora Alan

Mrs Frances O’Farrell

– brother of the late Anthony and

Mrs Agnes Neilon

Mr Edmund Purdom

William Forrester SJ

Mrs M Le Gallez

Mr John Walker

Mr David de Caires

Mrs Mary Morris

– cousin of the late Vincent and

Mr Patrick Gumbs

Mrs D Mamok

Peter McArdle SJ

Sr Joan Sweetman RSCJ

Miss Audrey Pereira

Sr Mary Teresa Neylan

Mrs H Read

– sister of Fr Denis Blackledge SJ

Mrs D Rorke

Mrs Margaret Lyons

and Mr Bill Blackledge

Mr R Brindley

Mrs Cecilia Lawrenson

Rev C House

Mr Paolo Da Silva

Mrs Ruth Chasseaud

Sir Michael Quinlan

Mr Michael Morris

Mrs Margery Manners

Mr Seamus O'Sullivan Fr John Lane Mrs M Fijalkowski

– sister of the late Fr R Manners SJ Mrs Evelyn Jessie Rowan

– mother of Fr D Rowan SJ

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

Mr Peter Forrester

Mrs Mildred Eileen Latheron

Mrs Mary Criddle

Mrs Jean Crampsey

– mother of Fr James Crampsey SJ Mr Michael Harris

– nephew of Fr Malcolm Rodrigues SJ Fr Gerry Marsden SJ Fr Charles Higham SJ Fr Alexander Welsh SJ

DEATHS & OBITUARIES Fr Charles Higham SJ

David de Caires RIP

Charles Ronald Lally Higham was born in Manchester on 11 November 1923 in the Jesuit parish of Holy Name. He was the youngest of five children and attended Mount St Mary’s School near Sheffield. He said he made up his mind to become a Jesuit when he was 12 or 13 years old – following his two brothers, William and Richard, who had entered the Society of Jesus in 1935 and ’39 respectively. Charles entered in 1943 at St Beuno’s in North Wales. After his novitiate, he studied philosophy at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire, returning there in 1952 for theology studies. Between these periods, he taught at his old school – Mount St Mary’s. After ordination at Heythrop and tertianship at St Beuno’s, Charles spent seven years teaching at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, three of them in charge of games. Charles was appointed Minister at Heythrop College from 1964 to ’69, after which he returned to Mount St Mary’s College and its preparatory school, Barlborough Hall, where he was Assistant Headmaster from 1970 to 1981. In the early 1980s, Charles worked in Sacred Heart parish in Edinburgh, from where he also served as Chaplain to St Thomas Aquinas School. He moved to Stonyhurst in 1985 as both parish priest (until 1988) and a member of the Mission Team. In 2000, he started to undertake supply work, before moving as parish priest to Our Lady Star of the Sea in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire. Charles’ Jesuit brothers, Richard and William died in November 2005 and December 2005 respectively. In 2007, Charles retired to Preston, and died in Southport Hospital on 18 February 2009.

David de Caires, editor in chief of the Stabroek News in Guyana, died on 1 November 2008, aged 70 years. He was a lifelong friend of the Jesuits of the region. A memorial service was celebrated for him at Farm Street Church, London, in January. David spent his entire life, firstly as a lawyer, then as an editor, fighting for freedom of expression. Like his uncle, Fr Herman de Caires, David was educated at St Stanislaus in Georgetown and Stonyhurst College in the UK, where he excelled both in the classroom and on the cricket field. The Jesuit character of the education he received stamped the rest of his life. When the Catholic Standard in Guyana ran foul of the government for printing the truth, it was the legal skills of David, who sprung to the defence of its editor, Fr Andy Morrison, which kept it afloat. Along with Fr Malcolm Rodrigues, fellow lawyer, Miles Fitzpatrick, David and Andy enjoyed notoriety as the “Putagee mafia”. After restrictions on the press were lifted, David started his own newspaper, the Stabroek News, which quickly established itself as an independent voice in the country. The government of the day was soon to learn that, for David, the truth could never be sacrificed to political expediency. Our sympathies go to his wife, Doreen and their two children Brendan and Isabelle.

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

ZIMBABWE: Thank you so much for your generosity. Funds are providing food and other vital supplies for those most in need.

GUYANA: Supporting and encouraging the Amerindians of the Guyanese Interior. Your generosity ensures the Jesuits’ work in the Region can continue and grow.

SOUTH AFRICA: For those living on the streets in Johannesburg, the food, medical treatment and other provisions provide a life-line.

BRITAIN: Whether rough-sleepers or asylum seekers, the Jesuits’ work at home reaches out to those who are most vulnerable.

You can send your donations to JM, 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR, or log on to www.gbjm.org where you can increase your donation by 28% through the Just Giving scheme. Thank you! www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Spring 2009 Jesuits & Friends

Their bodies are perfectly laid away, But their names live on and on. At gatherings their wisdom is retold And the assembly proclaims their praise. Adapted from Ecclesiasticus 44, as quoted on the cover of AIDS, Ancestors and Salvation The illustration of the Resurrection was specially commissioned for the re-built Redemptorist Chapel in Chishawasha, Zimbabwe, after the previous building was destroyed by fire. It is one of a set of paintings by Fr Tony Berridge SJ.