Jesuits and Friends A faith that does justice
Winter 2011 Summer 2011 Issue Issue 8079
India From Goatherds to Graduate Students
Haiti Rebuilding enters a new phase
Glasgow
PL EA gr A SE
at ll TA ef d K ul on E ly a A re tio C ce ns OP iv Y ed
Developing students’ God-given talents
Have you or someone you know considered life as a Jesuit priest or brother? For more information, contact: BRITAIN – Fr Matthew Power SJ Loyola Hall, Warrington Road, Prescot L35 6NZ Tel: + 44 (0)151 426 4137, matthew.power@jesuits.net
GUYANA – Fr Edwin Thadheu SJ Jesuit Residence, PO Box 10720, Georgetown, Guyana Tel: + 592 22 67461, getedwinsj@gmail.com SOUTH AFRICA – Fr Russell Pollitt SJ Holy Trinity, PO Box 31087, Johannesburg 2017, South Africa, Tel: + 27 (0)11 339 2826, rp@sj.org.za Or visit www.jesuitvocations.org.uk
Volunteering: How can I get involved? Jesuit Missions Volunteering The JMV programme includes teaching, computer projects, healthcare and parish work. There are placements in Asia, Africa and South America. The time commitment is for 6 to 24 months for people aged over 18. You must be willing to adopt a simple lifestyle. Contact: Hania Lubienska, Jesuit Missions, 11 Edge Hill, London SW19 4LR Tel: +44 208 946 0466, Email : hania@jesuitmissions.org.uk, Website: www.jesuitmissions.org.uk (see volunteering)
London Jesuit Volunteers Opportunities for busy individuals to volunteer 2 – 8 Hours a week - working with people who are homeless, refugees, prisoners, vulnerable, elderly and young adults with learning difficulties etc. Volunteers meet once a month to share, reflect and pray about their experience. Contact: Andrea Kelly, Mount Street Jesuit Centre,114 Mount Street, London W1K 3AH. Tel: 020 7499 7002, Email: andrea@mountstreet.info, Website: www.msjc.org.uk/socialjustice.php LJV is now also based in the Hurtado Jesuit Centre, 2 Chandler Street, London E1W 2QT
Jesuit Volunteer Community Spend a year, or a summer, living a simple lifestyle in community, exploring Ignatian spirituality, and working as a full-time volunteer. with marginalised people in the UK. Programmes are fully-funded, and the wide age-range (18-35) includes people seeking a career break or change of direction. Contact: Clare Lewis, JVC Britain, Green Fish Resource Centre, 46-50 Oldham Street, Manchester M4 1LE. Tel : 0161 234 2933, Email : admin@jvcbritain.org, Website: www.jvcbritain.org
Glasgow Jesuit Volunteers GJV places busy adults of all ages in direct service for a few hours a week with those who are living within some of the most socially disadvantaged communities in Glasgow. Volunteers meet monthly for prayer and reflection. Contact: Lindsay Renucci, St Aloysius' College, 45 Hill Street, Glasgow G3 6RJ Tel: 0141 331 9251, Email: secretary@glasgowjesuitvolunteers.org, Website: www.glasgowjesuitvolunteers.org/index.html
Contents
Winter 2011 Issue 80
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 Cover photo (front): Children in Pannur, southern India, among one of the building projects supported by Wimbledon College’s Project Manvi.
Ged Clapson Editor
Editorial group: Denis Blackledge SJ
James Conway SJ
Richard Greenwood
James Potter
Graphic Design:
Ian Curtis www.firstsightgraphics.com
Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company www.magprint.co.uk
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
Archbishop William Slattery OFM and the other celebrants process to the altar for the closing Mass of the Festival of Hope&Joy in South Africa. See page 19 Editorial Fr Tim Curtis SJ
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Ten Years of Project Manvi by Sharon Wheatley of Wimbledon College
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Who is listening to the people of Haiti? Esther Trewinnard on life in post-earthquake Haiti 6 Being and Doing in Kyrgyzstan Ashleigh Callow finds energy and passion in this post-Soviet country 7
Ged Clapson traces 160 years of musical excellence in Mayfair
Circle of Silence A witness in Liverpool on behalf of refugees. From Robert Ritter 15 For the Beauty of the Earth Michael Beattie SJ reflects on the Pope’s latest Apostleship of Prayer intentions 16 Stories and prayer lie at the heart of Central African meeting From Puleng Matsaneng 17
Hope for the Future What about you? Plans for “a good school” for Malawi’s children. News about a fund to help fight injustices Peter Henriot SJ 8 Many Small Miracles! Dominik Markl SJ sees at first hand what the Jesuit Refugee Service in Eastern Africa is doing 9
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A Festival of Hope and Joy Being ‘a Church in the modern world’. From Raymond Perrier at the Jesuit Institute South Africa 19
Bits and Pieces Christ in Chile: poor, sick and homeless a selection of news items from around the Dushan Croos SJ among the poorest people of British Province 20 Chile 10 Recent Publications A Hogar de Cristo in Wapping? Including two books about the Jesuits in Continuing the work of St Alberto Hurtado SJ in Wimbledon 21 London’s East End. From James Conway SJ 11 May they rest in peace Finding God in all things Jesuits and friends who have died recently 22 Laura McLoughlin at St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow 12 How to get involved and donate to the work of the Jesuits in Britain and worldwide Advancing Farm Street’s Musical Tradition 23 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Winter 2011 Jesuits & Friends
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From the Editor... St Ignatius’ gift of the Spiritual Exercises transformed many people’s lives; and they continue to do so. Reflecting on our place in God’s plan for creation unlocks in many people the need to express their faith in action. It inspired hundreds of young men to enter the Jesuit noviciate, so that they could take their place “under the banner of cross” (from the Formula of the Institute, 1540), to labour in the Lord’s vineyard. Ignatius was also aware that many people were similarly moved to be generous with their lives, and wished to collaborate with the enterprise he had begun, but were just not in a position to become Jesuits themselves. Resisting the logical solution to institute a “third order” for lay people to live out their lives with an organic connection to the Society of Jesus, he invited them instead to use their material resources to help build up the institutions founded by the Jesuits all over the world. He realised the vital role played by benefactors and was determined that they share too in the work of the Society. By the time Ignatius died in 1556, not only were there more than 1,000 Jesuits worldwide, but the Society had also founded numerous universities, colleges, missions and churches. Ignatius laid down rules about how our benefactors should be treated as “partners in mission”, sharing in the spiritual benefits of the Jesuits’ work. Times change, and the Society has to adapt to new circumstances. It cannot be denied that vocations have fallen in Europe and North America; nonetheless, there are real areas of growth in Asia, Africa and South America. One of my privileges as Mission Director is to have first hand experience of these new centres of energy in the Society of Jesus. And it is part of my job to facilitate those who are not free to be Jesuits themselves but who want to contribute to this new growth, to become partners in mission. Readers of Jesuits and Friends are always very generous in supporting individual Jesuits and Jesuit projects around the world, in expressing their faith in action. I hope that through these pages, you will recognise the importance of the work you are sponsoring and that you are an integral part of the work of the Society as we confront today’s frontiers. Have a blessed Advent, and enjoy Christmas when it eventually comes.
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Jesuits Jesuits & Friends & Friends Winter Winter 2011 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk
10 Years of Project Manvi Sharon Wheatley, hen we set off for India in July 2003, who would have believed that 10 years later we would still be going and that so much would have been achieved? Our first visit was driven by a desire to give students an opportunity to serve others in a developing country. We were lucky enough to have the now ordained Rudy Noronha SJ on the staff at Wimbledon College and he was the link to the Karnataka Province in India. We were also lucky enough to have Michael Holman SJ as our Headmaster, someone who was willing to allow us to step into the unknown. The first group was made up of four teachers and 12 carefully selected students. We set off for Bangalore not quite knowing what to expect but prepared for anything. After touring around Karnataka for a week, we finally arrived in Pannur village and the most fantastic experience of our lives. Nearly ten years on, it is hard to remember just how difficult those first trips were: rudimentary living conditions, hard backbreaking work and travelling everywhere slowly in the heat on the back of a tractor. Yet the welcome we received and continue to receive meant that the difficulties were easily borne and the joy and the vibrancy of the people were the memories we carried home with us. Ten years on and the work in Pannur Mission has been amazing. When we first arrived there were three priests, a church and the beginning of a hostel housing about 30 children who were attending the government school and receiving supplementary lessons. The dream was to build a school for Dalit (untouchable) children and perhaps a clinic or medical centre for the villagers. Local doctors were reluctant to treat patients from the Dalit caste, as higher caste Indians would regard this as unclean. Now, nearly ten years later, there is still a hostel in Pannur with the same number of children. Fifteen kilometers away however, there is a school catering for children from the ages of 4-18 with a population of over 1200. Next year, those students in the 6th form will begin undergraduate studies; these are children who ten years ago were condemned to a life of working in the fields or bonded labour. In Pannur,
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there is a minor hospital catering to the needs of the people in surrounding villages. The sisters who run it also visit villages in the evening, taking medicines and delivering advice on health care. New houses are going up to improve the quality of life for Catholic families and kindergartens are being provided in a number of villages. Not everything has gone well; some of the progress is hampered by corruption in the Indian system and a refusal to pay bribes has slowed things down. Major floods two years ago saw a number of villages destroyed and many of our families are still living in temporary accommodation. Not all of our original group of children lasted the course; many families attracted by wages in construction have taken their children out of school and into the slums of Bangalore. The scourge of AIDs has also visited Pannur and other villages, in part because the lack of work in the countryside has led to a number of men going to work in the cities. Yet the overwhelming image is one of
2003: The original group from Wimb ledon
progress and hope and this is much to do with the Jesuit Mission in Pannur and the work in particular of Fr Eric Mathias and Fr Maxim Resquina. Fr Maxim should have retired years ago but his love for the people and the children means that he remains active in his pastoral work and his teaching. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Mission and our Project, the villagers of Pannur have asked for a new church to be built to replace the
with their hosts
small church so badly damaged in the floods. Donations to this would be gratefully received. Ten years on, over 200 of our students and staff have had the opportunity to spend time with our Indian brothers and sisters, some returning several times. It has been an amazing partnership and a fantastic opportunity for our students and teachers. www.projectmanvi.co.uk
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Who is listening to the people of Haiti? From Esther Trewinnard
ollowing the devastating earthquake in January 2010, the reconstruction process in Haiti has been slow and chaotic. Most Haitians continue to live in extreme poverty. And it is hardly surprising that many ordinary people and organisations in the country are saying that ‘No one is listening to the voices of the Haitian people’. The widespread loss of many Haitian government structures and officials, coupled with the urgency and enormity of human need, resulted in many cases in an influx of well-meaning, but all too often uncoordinated, responses from international governmental and nongovernmental organisations. Many asked whether Haitians themselves ought not be determining the way in which their country is rebuilt. After all, who knows better than them what their communities need and what their aspirations and vision for a better future might be? These concerns have led to a Jesuit response from the Interprovincial Committee for Haiti which has expanded its network of more than 200 social centres around the world by funding CERFAS (the Institute for Research, Reflection,
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Training and Social Action)1. Since the earthquake, UK Catholic charity Progressio (formerly CIIR) has been working with the Jesuits to help local Haitian organisations to be better organised and to ensure that their voices and concerns have been heard - an essential part of the huge task of rebuilding a new and better Haiti. CERFAS will help support local Haitian organisations to think about and reflect on current social and political processes and, through conferences, sharing information, direct support and training, CERFAS will help to ensure Haitian organisations get the sort of development they need and want, development that will be sustainable and will most benefit the country for the long term. It will enable people to analyse the progress of international aid efforts and the development of public policies. This is an important means of ensuring that local people in Haiti can hold their authorities to account, and find ways of making sure that when initiatives are undertaken they can respond in the best way to the needs of the poorest. In the UK, a new All Party Parliamentary Group, with Progressio’s support, has been formed to help to channel the interest and generosity of the UK public towards Haiti’s long-term reconstruction and to maintain the government’s commitment to its
Some of the CERFAS team 1
Jesuits & Friends Winter 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk
JM It is estimated that Haiti is going to need at least US$11.5 billion over the next three years in order to repair and rebuild. The international community has pledged almost US$9.4 billion in debt relief and recovery funds, but releasing these funds and putting the money to work to meet the needs of Haitians affected by the crisis has not been straightforward. Not least, because of the absence of an established elected government to release aid to.
pledge to help rebuild Haiti. Ensuring that the voices of ordinary Haitians and local Haitian organisations are listened to in high level forums will mean that the rebuilding of Haiti will be something we can all be proud of. To be part of rebuilding Haiti by supporting Progressio’s work with CERFAS, visit www.progressio.org.uk/give You can also continue to support Haiti by donating through JM (see page 23 for details).
GUYANA JESUITS’ WEB SITE It is almost three years since we first launched the region’s site on the feast of St Francis Xavier. Since then, it has seen a remarkable spread in making our presence and work visible. According to some overseas Guyanese, the site is indeed a real resource to keep abreast of the Jesuit mission in Guyana. Google analytics provides useful web statistics such as number of hits per page, service provider, country, city, browser, traffic-source, bounce rate and even userbehaviour of every single hit. Above all, our presence among the Amerindians in the Interior is something that intrigues and inspires many. Though there is a lot happening in the Interior and in mainland Georgetown, there is still a struggle in making our mission vibrant. Perhaps, our use of the latest social media like Facebook and Twitter are some possible means to network and collaborate with local and international organizations. This is exactly what Jesuit Communication in Guyana (JESCOM-Guyana) dreams of making a reality. Justin Prabhu SJ (Webmaster) www.guyanajesuits.org
Centre de Recherche, de Réflexion, de Formation et d’Action sociale
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Father Kawas François SJ, director of CERFAS
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Being and Doing in By Ashleigh Callow ver the summer I had the opportunity to volunteer for three weeks at summer camps for Kyrgyz youth at a Spirituality Centre that has recently been built by Brother Damian Wojciechowski SJ on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. During the course of the summer, 600 young people attended camps being run at the centre. Scholastic, Toon Cavens SJ and I participated in two of these camps: one for 60 Kyrgyz students from Dzalal-Abad and the other for Catholic youth from Bishkek and Uzbekistan, along with young children from the surrounding villages. My primary task on the camps was to teach English. Eager to learn, the students and younger children were a pleasure to teach. Some of the older students had an understanding of English, but when I spoke to the younger pupils they looked as baffled as I did when I heard the brook-like sounds of the resonant Kyrgyz vowels. After a fashion, we did make progress, only to find my Zimbabwean accent bouncing back at me with “hid” and “rid” as the children triumphantly pronounced their new English words. (I did labour vigilantly to stress that these words were in fact, “head” and “red”.)
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Kyrgyzstan is an undeniably beautiful country, with its soft hued snow-capped mountains and vast vistas. In Kyrgyzstan I found the space to be. Literally, there were the vast stretches of glorious space which I particularly miss when squashed in a London tube, but there was also space and time to be with the Kyrgyz students. In the evenings there was often a campfire – sometimes games were played and songs sung; and on other occasions a topic was presented and then discussed. For example, students presented us with information about the history and culture of Kyrgyzstan and we in turn had a chance to talk about our respective countries with Brother Damian, who is fluent in many languages, acting as the interpreter. One of the most memorable campfires was one where we discussed faith – the university students from Dzalal-Abad spoke about Islam (80% of the Kyrgyz population is Muslim) and we in turn spoke about different facets of Christianity. Students were interested to find out more, and lively and open discussions ensued until the fire embers were a gentle glow.
The Jesuits I met at Issyk-Kul were each very different and distinctive in their personalities. It is their energy and passion that is enabling the emerging Catholic Church to find its identity in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. As well as the tremendous work that they are doing, their individuality also gave me a sense of being able to be and I am reminded of a quote used by Mandela: “We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” I am immensely grateful for the chance to visit this fascinating country and for the opportunity to be, for a few weeks, with the young people of Kyrgyzstan. Volunteering at the summer camp is open to all former JMV and XVP volunteers
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alawi is the “Warm Heart of Africa” – that is what the tourist posters say; and that is what Jesuits working in this beautiful country for many years can echo, writes Fr Peter Henriot SJ. Malawi is indeed a beautiful country with great potential in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and tourism. A peaceful country where multi-party democracy has its ups and downs, but still moves forward. And a very vibrant and growing Catholic Church. But for all its potential, Malawi is a very poor country, ranked 153 out of 169 on the United Nations Development Programme index, with 75% of the population living below a poverty line of basic subsistence. This is particularly troublesome in a country where 45% of the people are under 15 years of age. One major factor influencing this is the lack of a good educational system. No country can develop unless it puts great emphasis on educating its youth. But today less than 35% of Malawian youth have a chance to go to secondary school –
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less than 30% of the girls. And of those who complete secondary school, only 45% actually have pass marks on the final exam. Looking at the potential and the problems of this country, Jesuits of the Zambia-Malawi Province did some prayerful discernment and came up with a significant commitment: to open a good school in Malawi. And now Loyola Jesuit Secondary School is in the planning stage. We are making a real “option for the poor” in setting up this school. It is located in Kasungu, a poor rural area 120 km from the capital city of Lilongwe where many schools are available. It will be a boarding school of 500 students, co-educational with a strong commitment to gender equity. And its curriculum will emphasise the Jesuit vision of educating “persons for others” who will see their duty to be committed to the development of their country. With generous help from several Jesuit Provinces in Europe (including the British Province), and other church institutions around the world,
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we have raised over half the funds necessary for beginning construction. But we still have a long way to go! We are encouraged by words of the Jesuit Superior General, Fr Adolfo Nicolás: “It has been said that one of the best ways to serve the present is to give hope for the future. I am confident that your efforts to establish Loyola Jesuit Secondary School in Kasungu will be effectively serving the needs of the present youth who are surely the future hope of Malawi.” Fr Peter Henriot SJ is the Director of Development at Loyola Jesuit Secondary School, Kasungu, Malawi. Donations to help the building of the school can be sent to JM (details on page 23).
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arlier this year, Fr Dominik Markl SJ, a lecturer at Heythrop College, University of London, saw at first hand the work that the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Eastern Africa is doing, particularly among Somali refugees in Ethiopia. Their work in education and counselling depends on the generosity of readers to Jesuits and Friends and other donors ... “Children, everywhere children! It is heart-breaking to see all these children, who have nothing to do. In the desert of rocks, there is no shade, no
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Credit – Angelika Mendes/JRS East Africa.
tree, just dry thorny bushes, they sit in their tents, many of them suffering from severe malnutrition. They smile at us, they greet us with big open eyes.” This is how Father Frido Pflueger SJ, Director of the JRS in Eastern Africa, recalled the experience of his first visit to the refugee camps in Dollo Ado, south-east of Ethiopia last summer. About 128,000 people from Somalia are living in four camps now, almost three quarters of them are children and youngsters below 18 years; over 87,000 refugees have arrived since the beginning of this year from the drought-affected regions. “I have seen many refugee camps, but this belongs to the worst that I have ever experienced. NGOs (non-government organisations) are providing food and shelter for the refugees, yet something needs to be
done for these young people. We want to set up a school as soon as possible. The start-up team is already in the planning stage and is putting the finishing touches to a detailed project design; this design will then be used to start construction and to develop further activities. As the situation in Somalia is not likely to change soon, we will also need to plan for the years to come. At JRS it is our duty to serve the poorest of the poor; and we have met them in these camps. JRS urgently needs your support to realise these projects. We must begin now.” While Fr Pflueger was in Ethiopia, I visited Kakuma to see the great work JRS has been doing there. This camp in the north-west of Kenya was formed in 1992 for refugees from southern Sudan (now the Republic of South Sudan), amongst them the “Lost Boys”. Today there are more than 83,000 refugees
living there, of which over half are Somalis. While the UN refugee service (UNHCR) provide for the basic needs, JRS is working mainly to provide both education and emotional healing for the inhabitants of the camp. Many of the refugees have experienced murder and rape. By training refugees as counsellors, this service reaches thousands every year – many small miracles are happening. JRS is working with an international team of 16 people, including three workers from overseas and almost 200 incentive workers who are refugees living in the camp themselves. Hezekiah Ombiro, the Kenyan Project Director, proudly tells us about a man who was traumatised and had been walking through the streets naked and confused. After having spoken about his experiences with JRS counsellors, he is now once more capable of providing for his family. In the premises of “Safe Haven”, JRS houses in particular endangered women and girls, who have suffered rape or are being threatened and forced into early marriage. See www.jrsea.org for more information. Additional reporting by Katie Allan, Regional Communications Officer, JRS Eastern Africa, Nairobi, October 2011
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Christ in Chile: poor, sick and homeless From Fr Dushan Croos SJ, Assistant Chaplain, Oxford University n the longest and possibly coldest night of the year, two homeless people died of cold on the streets of the capital. I don't think that this would make the headlines in Britain, but I heard it on the television news and read about it in the national press, in Chile, with the underlying question “How could this happen in our country?” In October 1944, after meeting someone in a similar situation, Fr Alberto Hurtado SJ commented, “Christ roams through our streets in the person of so many suffering poor, sick, dispossessed and people thrown out of their miserable slums; Christ huddled under bridges… Christ is without a home! Shouldn’t we want to give him the joy of a comfortable home?” This experience inspired him to found the Home of Christ or Hogar de Cristo, now the largest charity in Chile, working all over the country, with people in seemingly every imaginable situation of poverty, literally from the cradle to the grave. During the month of the Tertianship (the third stage of Jesuit formation) Apostolic Experience, I helped as a volunteer nursing assistant in the hospice ward of the Hogar de Cristo near the tomb of Alberto Hurtado, who was canonised in 2005. Like many hospices, it welcomes those who are diagnosed with only a week to live, but the Hogar welcomes the poorest in Chile, some of whom have been living on the streets. Fr Joss van de Rest SJ, born in Belgium but working in Chile for over 50 years, told me that he often meets people there who had been regulars at the homeless shelter 20 years earlier and on asking them “Why haven't you done something more with your
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life?”, they reply, “But Father, we are people of the Hogar de Cristo!” If this gives an impression of people dependent on welfare, to chill the heart of our government, in reality, the Hogar works in many ways to help people to move out of poverty; but sometimes the odds are stacked just too heavily against them, such as the man with no family, whom three of us from the Hogar accompanied for burial in the General Cemetery. Seeing us, a lady at another funeral told us “It's good that the Hogar de Cristo buries people who have no family and no resources”: they would otherwise be buried in a common grave. Fr Joss told me, after baptising and giving First Communion to another man in his 30s, “You know, he doesn't know who his parents are. He was abandoned on the streets as a child.” Another patient on the ward told me how he had moved north to Santiago, cutting corn in the fields, and had lived in his own flat in Santiago for nine years,
but he was now suffering the effects of liver failure and could no longer walk or feed himself. In addition to the compassion naturally evoked by working with terminally ill patients, my abiding impression of the Hogar de Cristo is awe at the tenderness, generosity and love with which nurses, doctors, assistants, cleaners and priests care for people who would otherwise suffer and die unloved and unmourned, as they do in many other countries, including, alas, our own. For more information about the work of the Hogar de Cristo in Chile, see www.hogardecristo.cl
Giving Hope: (Top) Fr Alberto Hurtado SJ among the street children in Chile and (above) through the continuing work of the hospice for the terminally ill
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he influence of St Alberto Hurtado SJ stretches deep into the British Province which chose to name its new centre in Wapping after him writes Fr James Conway SJ. Today this corner of Tower Hamlets, the old London Docks, is a thriving residential part of East London. Snuggled between
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the City of London to the north, Tower Bridge to the west and Canary Wharf to the east, it is home to the ‘indigenous’ Eastender, the Syheti Bangladeshi and the multinational financier. Planning and development of the Docklands in the 1980s and 90s through to the present day have
A Hogar de Cristo in Wapping? The Hurtado Jesuit Centre is bang in the middle of this milieu. It seeks to be what the 34th and 35th Jesuit General Congregations called a Community of Solidarity. Its mission and outreach is shaped by a passion for social justice, by the spirit and pedagogy of St Ignatius Loyola and by a desire to be in relationship with people of other faiths and none. How to do this in a place like Wapping where the materially wealthy and secure live side-by-side with people struggling to make ends meet and where the planning of the last three decades has produced segregated and gated communities, is something to be carefully discerned and lived with. The three ‘Hurtado’ wings of the Centre are social ministry, Ignatian spirituality and inter-faith relations.
It is hoped that through working together these will come to characterise the Jesuit presence in East London. The first wing is expressed through the Jesuit Refugee Service, the primary users of the Hurtado Centre, in its service of destitute and detained asylum seekers. Secondly, the London Jesuit Volunteers will attempt to bring Ignatian spiritual reflection to volunteering. And eventually, the Centre intends working in ChristianOutside the Hurtado Jesuit Centre: Fr Michael O'Halloran SJ, Muslim relations, both in the Faith Phellie, Diluckshan Joseph, Arnold Mbanga. neighbourhood and beyond. Having the Hurtado Jesuit the Centre in the neighbourhood and Community living on site – a in the parish. community of six Jesuits, three Please pray for the mission and priests and three students, gathered work of the Hurtado Jesuit Centre & from four different countries – roots Community.
produced a patchwork of housing styles. Walk for five minutes through the narrow streets of Wapping and it is likely you will pass a slab of prewar social housing on the one side, an extremely expensive warehouse conversion on the other and an exclusive celebrity-filled penthouse nearby on the river.
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St Aloysius’ College Study At St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow, the emphasis is on the importance of both academic and human achievement. As such, staff strive to develop the God-given talents of every young person, preparing them for life in the 21st century. The College’s exam results are a reflection of this. This year’s results were excellent and a tribute to the hard work of pupils and staff, and to the support of parents. The Scottish exam system is very different to England and Wales. Most of the 132 university entrants from last year proceeded to a Scottish university, with 31 studying various science and engineering courses, 23 medicine/dentistry, 17 law, as well as various arts and finance degrees.
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Sport
Retreats
Sport plays a huge part in the lives of the pupils. Hockey and rugby are the main team sports, and the girls and boys play fixtures against all the leading schools in both sports from P6 through to U18 level. However, many pupils choose to take up another popular sporting activity within the school, such as cross-country running, basketball, swimming, tennis or football. St Aloysius’ College won the Scottish Independent Schools Cup for the second time in three years in 2011, beating Stewart Melville College with an injury-time winner.
The extensive and innovative retreat programme, for pupils from P6 through to S6, is one of the school’s most significant features. Its young people are encouraged to be “men and women of faith” as well as being “men and women for others”. Pupils take part in discussion, meditation and prayer, in addition to listening to visiting speakers or their peers and teachers speak about their own journeys of faith. Three residential retreats take place in the Senior School, beginning in S3 and ending in S5, when the pupils undertake the ‘Kairos’ retreat, which takes place in December and focuses on each pupil and his or her own relationship with God and God’s role in their lives.
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Service to Others The College has a long-held commitment to the wider community, supporting the work of Starter Packs Glasgow, SCIAF and Pro-Life, as well as Jesuit Missions and many other charities. Each summer, the College Children’s Fund takes pupils from the local area on a week-long residential holiday, and in July there is the annual Lourdes pilgrimage. St Aloysius is also part of the Jesuit Companions Programme: it is twinned with St Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School and Laini Saba Primary School in Kibera, Kenya. The College’s voluntary service programme became the pilot for other Jesuit Schools and is named after Father Pedro Arrupe SJ. It is designed to allow S5 and S6 pupils, the two most senior years in the College, to use their talents and gifts to help others, including local schools, nursing homes and hospices.
The Arts Music, drama, debating and public speaking are amongst the other activities in which pupils use their talents. There is a large Senior School choir and a thriving opera group which later this year will be singing Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. The Junior School Choir came first in the Primary School Choir Competition at the Glasgow Music Festival. Pupils with a thirst for performance can take part in the various school productions, with previous shows including Oliver! and Calamity Jane.
Buildings A substantial part of the city centre of Glasgow can be called Jesuit, as the Church of St Aloysius, the Ignatian Spirituality Centre, the Jesuit residence and the College are located together in Garnethill. As Headmaster, Mr John Stoer, notes, the College campus reflects the tradition and innovation of the school as it stands today. “We are lucky enough to be blessed with listed buildings, the original 19th century Jesuit residence, now used by the College, and the Mount which houses the kindergarten, music and art, as well as awardwinning modern structures, including the Junior School and Clavius Building, which won the prestigious title of ‘Best New Building in Scotland’ in 2004.”
Old Aloysians St Aloysius College has a close and very supportive network of former pupils who keep the school up to date with their achievements. For instance, two College captains from 2008/9 recently won the National Law Mooting Championship in the 40th year of this prestigious competition: the first time a Glasgow team has won. Francesca Ruddy and Katy Docherty, who both study Scots Law at the University of Glasgow, saw off tough competition from Cambridge and King’s College, London to win £3,000 and the Silver Mace Trophy.
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Advancing Farm Street’s Musical arm Street Jesuit Church in central London is renowned for many things, including its fine decorative interior and altarpiece designed by Augustus Pugin; and indeed, its reputation for orators and preachers for over a century and a half. No less impressive however is the church’s reputation for music, a tradition that continues to this very day. In its early days, the choir of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, consisted of men, and boys drawn from Catholic schools in the area. Founded by the Jesuits, Farm Street did not serve as a parish church until welcome visits to 1966. But it boasted the church some of the finest Other regular organists of their musical styles and generations, including performers Guy Weitz, who had include the JCFL been a pupil of Widor (Jesus Christ, and Guilmant, and Fullness of Life) Nicholas Danby, who Prayer Vigil; this succeeded Weitz as Choral guests at Farm Street Church: the ecumenical group organist in 1967. Its boys of St John’s Beaumont for prayer and choral repertoire worship gathers every first Thursday consisted largely of 16th century and uses Taizé, Hebrew and Gaelic polyphony, performed at the Sunday chants. Young Adults celebrate with morning High Mass, as well as a wide Mass on the First Sunday of every variety of modern and contemporary month with a mixture of traditional music. Today, the music is still very and contemporary music; and Soul varied and reflects the great range of Sanctuary – the Gospel Choir that cultures, styles and ages in the area. performs at Farm Street once a At the core of Farm Street’s music month – injects animation and remains the choir, singing at services enthusiasm into the Sunday evening for Holy Week, Easter and Christmas, Mass. as well as at weddings and memorial The church stages occasional services. On designated feast days, evening concerts in support of the Schola Gregoriana will add solemnity to the liturgical various charities, the latest being for celebrations by providing Gregorian The Passage, a Catholic charity chant: their weekly workshops based in London which works with always welcome new members; homeless people. And choirs from while the Sunday morning Family overseas, including Zimbabwe, Mass gives the younger members of Germany, Spain and France, bring an the parish the opportunity to international dimension to Farm perform. The choir of St John’s Street: few would forget the musical Beaumont, the Jesuit preparatory introduction to the New Year that the school in Berkshire, has also made bell-ringers from Texas in the USA
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provided! Christmas is, of course, a great opportunity to engage in and enjoy musical activities. Farm Street’s annual Christmas Concert - this year on 20 December - will support the work of Providence Row, which helps homeless and vulnerable people in London; and the parish’s Filipino community will provide a unique style of music on December 22 when all will be invited to join them for Simbang Gabi, an evening Mass during a pre-Christmas novena. Various recordings of the Farm Street Church organ are available on CD; and future plans include the commissioning of new liturgical choral music. Next year, a specially commissioned setting of the 4th century Latin prayer Tota Pulchra Es by Gabriel Jackson will form part of the liturgy for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. So, whether modern or traditional, local or global, the music of Farm Street Church continues to enhance its reputation in worship and performance for the Greater Glory of God.
By Ged Clapson, with additional research by Fr William Pearsall SJ and David Graham.
obert Ritter is a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Community in the UK. JVC provides opportunities for volunteers aged 18 – 35 from Britain and overseas to work in inner cities for a year, or for a month during the summer. He explains here how his experience of meeting refugees and asylum seekers prompted him to take to the streets of Liverpool.
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A world full of conflicts and oppression always produces refugees. We can think of Albert Einstein who had to flee from the Nazi regime or former Chelsea player Mario Stanic who escaped the Bosnian War. Joseph and Mary had to run away with little Jesus from the wrath of King Herod. Unfortunately, the list goes on and on. Refugees often have traumatizing experiences in their home countries and find little support or even acceptance in the countries where they seek sanctuary. It is too easy to scapegoat asylum seekers, projecting them as a problem, associating them with extremism, portraying them as opportunists who want to take advantage of the NHS or our benefits system. Sadly, misinformation and “a determination to be tough on asylum” is perceived as a vote winner in elections. Despite what some media and politicians would have citizens believe, there is a sharp decrease in the numbers of people claiming asylum in the UK. According to Eurostat, statistical office of the European Union, 103,000 people applied for asylum in the UK in 2002 whilst only 22,000 did in 2010. Most people who applied for asylum came from Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka, countries well known for war, inner conflict or political oppression.
During the last 20 years, the rights of asylum seekers have been eroded more and more; the reasons for claiming asylum have been narrowed; and the assessment system has became much harsher. The results are often entirely irrational. The regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe was often criticized for human rights violations at international conferences and even expelled from the Commonwealth. However, asylum seekers from Zimbabwe are told they have no reason to claim asylum because they are coming from “a safe country.” The Human Rights Act protects the right to life and acknowledges that ‘nobody shall be subjected to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment of punishment’ but the Medical Foundation found that victims of torture are all too often sent back to their countries. Everybody has the right to family life, although deportation often splits families. Every normal person is free to choose their place of residence or to marry, but not if you are an asylum seeker. As a Jesuit Volunteer with
Faiths4Change in Liverpool and Asylum Link Merseyside, I frequently met people and listened to their stories.” I was appalled by their unfair treatment. I was determined to do something about this. It was then I came across the Circle of Silence movement. The Circle of Silence takes place in Liverpool every second Saturday of the month from 1 till 2 pm. The gathering place changes according to situation but is usually around Bold Street/Church Street. Although we are not a huge group, the reactions of the passers-by are often astonishing. Normally, we distribute about 400 flyers and hardly any can be found on the street. The silence clearly speaks to people and provokes interest and thus fulfils their main aim: to change the public attitude of indifference or scorn towards asylum seekers. For more information see www.faiths4change.org.uk
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APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
he words of hymnist and poet, Folliot Sandford Pierpoint, penned in the middle of the 19th century express so well the prayer intentions of the Holy Father for the first months of 2012. “For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies. Christ our God, to Thee we raise, this our sacrifice of praise” The beauty of a tranquil sea as the sun goes down can be stunning and that same sea if whipped up by the forces of nature can cause enormous devastation. In January, we are asked to offer our prayer each day for those who are suffering from natural disasters. There must have been natural disasters centuries ago as well as beautiful scenery. The eighth psalm expresses human wonder and helplessness so well. “I look up at
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your heavens, made by your fingers, at the moon and stars you set in place – ah, what is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him?” Our planet is not short of water, an essential ingredient for life. Pope Benedict asks us to pray in February for the correct managing of water supplies that every human being may have access to fresh and clean water. So essential is water to life that Jesus used water for Christian initiation in baptism, a symbol of union with him and a symbol of washing away all that is displeasing to Almighty God. As we turn to March 2012, we recall that our planet is the home of human beings who are all created in the image and likeness of God. The Holy Father asks us to reflect on the essential nurturing and life-giving role played by women. As one papal document stated recently: “Because
they have been gifted by the Creator with a unique ‘capacity for the other’, women have a crucial part to play in the promotion of human rights, for without their voice the social fabric of society would be weakened.” Michael Beattie SJ
January That the victims of natural disasters may receive the spiritual and material comfort they need to rebuild their lives That the dedication of Christians to peace may bear witness to the name of Jesus before men and women of goodwill.
February That all people may have access to water and other resources needed for daily living. For a blessing on health-workers in the world’s poorest regions.
March That the whole world may recognise the contribution of women to the development of society. That the Holy Spirit may be with those who suffer discrimination, persecution or death for the name of Christ, particularly in Asia.
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Stories and prayer lie at the outh African-born Puleng Matsaneng grew up in Soweto and joined the Centre for Ignatian Spirituality in 2002. She is now part of the Jesuit Institute of South Africa where she works in Spirituality and researches Ignatian Spirituality in an African context.
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Earlier this year, I went to a meeting of the Apostleship of Prayer in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), central Africa. We stayed at the Jesuit Retreat Centre in Kinshasa, a beautiful place, in the middle of a forest. I was happy to be there, going back to nature and listening to birds singing all the time. For me that was the best music to listen to. Each time I entered the chapel I felt a strong connection with the community. We had personal prayers at 6:15am and community prayer at 7:00am. The prayers set the tone for us to begin and to end the day. We talked about just about everything at meals, which in my heart and mind I saw as incarnating the whole idea of the African Renaissance of the former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki. Our stories brought us closer, and that gave us an opportunity to think and pray about and for each other. Night time was also special; we played music from different countries represented. We had a lead dancer from each country and for each song that we danced. We had fun. I love dancing; it completed my day. On Saturday I shared with the group the article which I wrote on Inculturation that was published in The Way in July 2010. The subject was: Spiritual Direction in Africa, A need for a Different Approach? and part of it talked about our own Ancestors. I referred to
this because on one of the Sundays during the meeting we went to visit the Congo River and passed by Laurent Kabila’s graveside. The only thing we knew was that he had been President of Congo and was assassinated in 2001. Visiting the area became special to many of us in a way, because of the importance of Ancestors in our lives as Africans. We all took a moment to pay our respects to his soul, and made a prayer. Another person whose life and death touched many of us was a young Jesuit student who was killed last year by an unknown man in Congo, when he and his friends were coming back from an outing. We also took a moment to honour his life. People from 17 different countries in Africa were represented at the meeting, which was also attended by Fr Claudio Barriga SJ, the director for the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM) and the Apostleship of Prayer (AP), from Rome. We also had words of wisdom and encouragement from Fr Michael Lewis SJ, President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JESAM) and Fr Nkanza Ntima SJ, the Provincial of the Central Africa Province. At the end of the meeting I was
left with the memory of the Pope’s intention, to pray for our countries. We need to pray. Each country has its own problems, whether it is a First or Third World country. God reveals himself in many ways, in places that he sends us to go and work. My trip to Congo was partly sharing my article; and also listening and learning from others about the things they do in their respective countries. St Ignatius also spoke to me in The Principle and Foundation: “To attain this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, in regard to everything which is left to our free will and is not forbidden.”
Puleng is now organising, with St Augustine’s University College, the first ever conference on Spiritual Direction in an African Context. It will take place in Johannesburg in June 2012. If you want to know more then contact her on p.matseneng@jesuitinstitute.org.za
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When this photo was taken, the police were trying to interrupt the funeral of four black youths who were shot because of political activities in apartheid South Africa. The police vehicles steadily approached and threw tear gas canisters into the crowds to disperse the crowd gathering to attend the funeral. Father Gerald Lorriman SJ steadfastly continued in the face of this injustice because he knew that if black people were to have any rights in South Africa, their last rights – to have a proper funeral – would have to be respected.
his stirring image reminds us of the courage and persistence it takes to engage in a “faith that does justice” and to stand against injustices that confront us. Whilst we may not have to confront the reality of a government’s armed tanks looming down on us, social justice (or lack of it) happens wherever we are, in the day-to-day activities that surround us.
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What about in the UK? The Jesuit Fund for Social Justice was set up to challenge inaction and to encourage and enable anyone involved in or associated with Jesuit works to actively further the call of a “faith that does justice”. The fund is intended to provide grants of up to £2,000 to help develop modest new projects and initiatives in works in which the applicant is already involved. The Fund is available to anyone who is connected with the Society of Jesus, 18
either Jesuits themselves or those who work with the Society through schools, parishes, retreat centres or one of the Society’s volunteering programmes. The Fund for Social Justice has supported a wide variety of projects in the UK. They range from one-off projects such as a field trip for children who might otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in a particular activity; purchasing computer equipment to assist in developing useful skills for the homeless; helping people to learn how to cut their energy bills and protect the environment; to more long-term projects such as developing a website to raise awareness of social justice issues (e.g. www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk)
Meeting the Needs The Fund supports creative and practical responses: for example, a London Jesuit Volunteer found
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himself presented with a situation where his community was given rentfree access to a church hall for a homeless project. There was an immediate need for showers to be fitted and for repairs to make the hall habitable. The Fund assisted with setup costs and they now provide 30 destitute refugees with meals and accommodation. In addition to meeting a very real physical need, they are also trying to ensure they accompany those who come into the church. The needs are many, and there are many ways of meeting these needs! If you would like to establish or further a project that tackles a local injustice and you need to some funding to assist the project in meeting the needs in your community, please get in touch with the Jesuit Fund for Social Justice: www.jesuitsfsj.org Ashleigh Callow, Development Education Officer, JM
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A Festival of Hope and Joy ope&Joy is the network of dozens of Catholic organisations in South Africa convened by the Jesuit Institute to prepare for the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. In October over 250 people assembled at a High School in Johannesburg to enjoy a Festival of Hope&Joy: a range of talks about being ‘a Church in the modern world’. Raymond Perrier, the Director of the Jesuit Institute, explained: “Some talks were on traditional religious subjects such as Scripture, prayer and liturgy – how do we as a modern Church develop the traditions of the past? But Vatican II tells us that anything that is genuinely human finds an echo in the hearts of Christians. So we also had talks on film, economics, refugees, science, literature, radio, education, politics and the environment. Given the numbers of people and speakers, these not only found an echo – they found a loud cheer of response.” “It was set up like a school day,” said Frances Correia of the Jesuit Institute. “Each hour we would ring an old-fashioned bell and people then disappeared into ten different classrooms off the main quad to listen to a different speaker.” The event was not exclusively Catholic but included speakers and participants from other Christian traditions. “Pope John XXIII was keen to invite other Christian leaders to contribute to the Second Vatican Council. I am pleased that as an Anglican deacon I was invited to speak at the Hope&Joy Festival,” commented Rev Dr Maria Frahm-Arp of St Augustine’s College who talked on God and money. Additionally, talks included the following: • The Bishops’ communications director shared his experiences of World Youth Day, showing how young people were challenging the
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Church to embrace modern communications. • The Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office talked about constructive ways of bringing God into politics. • A Pauline sister visiting from Los Angeles showed how we can find our deepest religious values in the most apparently secular of films. • The Head of Education at the Origins Centre at WITS University explained how it is possible to believe in both creation and evolution. • The Regional Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service explained how Catholic social organisations (like JRS) are ‘children of Vatican II’. • The head of the Catholic Institute of Education talked about the state of South African schools and suggested that Catholic schools might provide a model for the wider education sector. The day ended with a rousing Mass celebrated by Archbishop William Slattery OFM with music from the youth choir of the Jesuit parish in Soweto. The Archbishop shared a story from his recent visit to Assisi. “Many people believed that St Francis was still alive but waiting to wake up and renew the Church. It feels as if
Vatican II was a chance for the Church to wake up after hundreds of years of slumber and be renewed.” Asked at the end if they would come back to a similar festival next year, every hand went up. For more information about Hope&Joy go to www.hopeandjoy.org.za
In August, Mass was celebrated in the Holy Name Chapel of Arrupe College, Mount Pleasant, Harare, in thanksgiving for six Jesuit jubilarians, including two who had entered the British Province of the Society of Jesus and transcribed (transferred) to the Province of Zimbabwe when it was formed in 1978. The celebrants above are: Fathers Oskar Wermter, Tony Bex, Stefan Kiechle (German Provincial), Stephen Buckland, Andrews Thekkekara and Norbert Gille. The sixth Jubilarian was Bro Joseph Mandaza - the first Zimbabwean Jesuit to reach 50 years in the Society of Jesus.
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BITS’n’PIECES Moves he British Province welcomed its new Provincial on 1 September 2011. 53-year-old Fr Dermot Preston SJ had been the Regional Superior in Guyana, South America, since 2006. Before that, he was Socius (Assistant) to the Provincial for four years after his return from South Africa where he was Catholic Chaplain at Cape Town University and Ecclesiastical Assistant to the Christian Life Community. The position of Regional Superior in Guyana has been taken by Fr Paul Martin SJ who first came to the country in 1989 to do his Regency—two or three years in Apostolic Ministry before ordination. Former Provincial Fr Michael Holman SJ will take up his new appointment as Principal at Heythrop College in January 2012. Fr Adrian Porter SJ has moved
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from Wimbledon College where he was headmaster to be Provincial Delegate for Education at the new Jesuit Institute for Education in Oxford (see below). Mr Adrian Laing, formerly deputy head at All Hallows Catholic School in Farnham, Surrey, has replaced Fr Porter in Wimbledon. Fr James Crampsey SJ has taken over as Director of the Lauriston Jesuit Centre in Edinburgh, succeeding Fr Chris Boles SJ who has taken on new responsibilities at the Curia in London. Fr Peter Scally SJ is the new parish priest at Sacred Heart Church, Edinburgh. More details of moves and appointments can be found in the August 2011 edition of SJ, the newsletter of the British Jesuits. Go to www.jesuit.org.uk/SJ
Father John Enslin ohn Enslin SJ was ordained to the priesthood by the Archbishop of Johannesburg, Buti Tlhagale OMI, on 13 August 2011, at Holy Trinity Church, Braamfontein, Johannesburg. John joined the Society of Jesus in 1996 and, after completing his novitiate in South Africa, studied at Boston College in the USA. He completed his theological studies at Heythrop College in London and spent a year working as a deacon at St Ignatius Parish in Stamford Hill, north London. He has now returned to Boston College to complete his doctoral dissertation before being appointed to a ministry in South Africa.
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Jesuit Institute for
Jubilees throughout the Province – and beyond
t Ignatius stated that the aim of Jesuit education was: "improvement in living and learning for the greater glory of God and the common good." This objective is at the heart of the Jesuit Institute, which was set up in Oxford in September 2011. It is a collaborative endeavour of Jesuits and laypeople in the UK to provide inspiration, resources, support and training for schools, by working with pupils, teachers, school leaders, parents and governors. In its first three months, the Jesuit Institute held several conferences – for, among others, teachers and deputy heads, sixth formers and chaplains, and those involved in Religious Education – and there is already a comprehensive programme planned for 2012. “We’re about providing excellent pastoral care to the children of our schools,” says Fr Adrian Porter SJ, the Institute’s Director said. “We’re about growing in our faith. We’re about the service of others. In a Jesuit school, those elements will come together in a unique way.” In addition to the ten Jesuit schools of the British Province, other schools, especially those in the Ignatian tradition, are warmly welcome to participate in the conferences and courses organised by the Jesuit Institute. See www.jesuitinstitute.org for more information.
ictured here are Jesuits who celebrated their Jubilees in the Society of Jesus at Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Dorset in September. Their respective anniversaries are indicated in brackets. Back, l to r: Bro James Harkess [50], Fr David Gornall [50], Fr Peter Hackett, Fr Denis Blackledge [50], Bro Bill Jordan [50], Fr Chris Dyckhoff [Superior]. Behind table l to r: Fr Robert Murray, Fr Bill MacCurtain, Bro Norman Smith [50] [Wing Commander, Battle of Britain pilot, aged 93], Fr Clarence Gallagher. Front of table, l to r: Fr Patrick Purnell [70], Fr Derrick Maitland [60], Fr Ian Brayley. The only Jubilarian missing from the photo is Fr Michael Flannery [70].
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RECENT PUBLICATIONS Edith Arendrup - Triumph over Tragedy by Richard Milward (published by Sacred Heart Parish, Wimbledon: £5.00) dith Arendrup was a remarkable woman. Born in 1846, she was a successful young lady who was able to support herself through her art. Another love in her life was Catholicism: she was baptised in 1863. But her life was also beset by tragedies: her marriage to Sooren Arendrup whom she met in Cairo lasted only four years due to his premature death; her baby daughter died at the age of two months; a son who was born after her husband had died did not survive; and their surviving son, who was never very robust, died at the age of 20. On her return to England from
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Egypt, Edith seems to have given up all ideas about becoming a famous painter. But through all of her personal tragedies, her Catholic faith sustained her. In 1873, she found herself in Wimbledon, a new suburb of London, and arranged for her home to become a Mass centre. Initially, she was able to convince the rector of the Jesuit community in Roehampton to send a priest to say Mass there each Sunday. But by 1886, more than 450 people were trying to squeeze into her house chapel, so a substantial church was needed. Overcoming many
Jesus, an historical approximation by Jose A Pagola (Convivium Press £30.00) Available from JM his book was a theological “bestseller” in the Spanishspeaking world a couple of years ago, and thanks to the lively translation by Margaret Wilde, Pagola’s insights are now available to English-speaking readers. Despite being sound theology, the book is accessible to a non-academic readership because of its down to earth language and simple story line. Fr Pagola makes some startling claims. He helps us get as close as the biblical texts will allow us to the Jewish man who proclaimed a merciful God who wishes to forgive, and was executed by those who could not stomach his message. And in stripping away the layers of faith-inspired interpretation, the reader is confronted with a man as enigmatic as the Christ of faith with whom we are more familiar. The author is no stranger to controversy, and his methods have been questioned by his own bishop in Northern Spain where he is a seminary teacher. However, in introducing a larger audience to theological method, and in bringing the person of Jesus alive for many people, I feel he is doing a great service to the Church: this would make a great study resource for a parish reflection group.
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obstacles, a plot was bought and a church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, was built and opened in 1887. Wimbledon College followed quickly and a Jesuit community was established for this new mission. This book by Richard Milward, who spent 40 years as a history master at Wimbledon College and died in 2006, also recounts her later life, as a religious in France, as a social worker in the East End of London and as a nurse tending wounded soldiers of the First World War. It gives a fascinating insight into the life of this great woman of action and prayer.
Carry on, College by Simon Potter must read for anyone who attended or taught at Wimbledon College between 1972 and the present, the years during which the author taught at the school and became one of its unforgettable characters. As Simon points out, this work is not a history of the college, or a list of its achievements, but rather it is an entertaining series of stories and pictures that give an insight into what makes Wimbledon College a unique community of learning and fun! Many of the chapters focus on the reign of an individual headmaster, (from Fr Robert Carty - aka the Penguin - to Fr Adrian Porter) each of whom was able to stamp a little of his personality on the school, and on its drama productions, which were always ambitious, flamboyant and the highlight of the school year. The work concludes with a wonderful collection of photographs which capture, not just what was happening at the College, but also its spirit. A Jesuit school is not just a place where excellence can flourish, academic, sporting and artistic activities pushing pupils to their limit; it is also a place where the whole person is developed so that the student becomes an expert in humanity, trained to be one who puts others first. In this the College succeeds admirably. “Carry On, College!” is published by History and Social Action Publications, ISBN No: 978-0-9548944-6-8. Send a cheque, with your address, for £23 inc P&P to Sean Creighton, H&SAPublications, 18 Ridge Road, Mitcham, Surrey, CR4 2ET.
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DEATHS & OBITUARIES Fr Kevin McElhatton SJ Fr Kevin McElhatton SJ was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 10 February 1933. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at Roehampton in 1951 and studied philosophy and theology at Heythrop College, Oxfordshire. Between 1957 and 1960 he taught at St Michael’s College in Leeds, and on completing his tertianship at St Beuno’s College in North Wales, he studied modern history at Campion Hall in Oxford.
From 1968 to 1972, Fr McElhatton was assistant to the Novice Master, and for a short period afterwards worked in the parish of St Michael and St John in Clitheroe. On being appointed to Loyola Hall retreat house in 1973, he directed the Spiritual Exercises and, from 1975 to 1977, was also Superior of Loyola Hall and Novice Master, until the novitiate moved to its current home at Manresa House in Birmingham in 1977. On stepping down as Director of Novices in 1982, Fr McElhatton worked for almost
ten years in Corpus Christi parish in Brixton, after which he moved to South Africa where he was parish priest first at Braamfontein (Johannesburg) and then at Orlando West (Soweto). Latterly he was Spiritual Father at St Kizito’s seminary. Fr McElhatton returned to the UK in 2009 and enjoyed a brief spell at St Aloysius’ parish, Glasgow, and then in Sacred Heart in Wimbledon. He moved to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Dorset in December 2010, and died on 8 July 2011.
Fr Vincent Hawe SJ Fr Vincent Hawe SJ died on 19 July 2011, at the age of 96 and after 60 years in the Society of Jesus. He came from a large and supportive family in Stoke-on-Trent. After High School he worked in an earthenware factory in Stoke and became European and then South American sales representative. On the outbreak of the Second World War he joined up in the Canadian Army. He was detailed to the Artillery Survey Group, becoming a
Bombardier and later a full lieutenant. At the end of the war, he returned to work as a sales agent for agricultural and industrial machinery back in South America, and then entered the Jesuit Noviceship at Harlaxton in 1950. Ordained priest in 1958, he did a Spanish tertianship in Salamanca. Then his strong administrative abilities were used at Jesuit Missions for almost ten years. Fr Hawe spent 18 years in Peru, both in retreat-giving, but especially in fundraising for Fe y Alegria (Faith and Joy) an educational institution throughout South
and Central America, for teaching the very poor how to read and write, and giving them hope and dignity. Fr Hawe eventually returned to the British Province and was on the church staff at Farm Street from 1987 until his retirement in 2006. On joining the parish team at the age of 72, he almost immediately proposed the re-starting of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. He served at Farm Street for almost 20 years, before moving to Preston for the last four months of his life.
Father Joseph Dooley SJ Father Joseph Dooley SJ was born on 31 March 1920 in Walthamstow, north east London, and was educated at St Ignatius College in Stamford Hill. On leaving school, he entered the Society of Jesus, studying philosophy and theology at Heythrop College in Oxfordshire and achieving his MA in history at Campion Hall, Oxford.
Fr Dooley spent much of his ministry as a Jesuit as a teacher: at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire (both prior to his ordination in 1952 and in the 1960s), St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow, Mount St Mary’s College in Derbyshire and at his alma mater, St Ignatius College. While teaching at Beaumont College in Old Windsor, he edited the Beaumont Review; and during a 22-year period at Stonyhurst between 1969 and 1991, he
was editor of the College Magazine for 15 years. He also taught at St George’s College in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) which was, at that time, part of the British Province. In 1995, Fr Dooley returned to London and worked at Farm Street Church. He moved to the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community in Dorset in 2007 and died there on 29th October 2011.
Please pray for those who have died recently. May they rest in peace. Mrs Barbara Hayes Mrs M D Selwood Mr Joseph McGinn Mr John Sloper Major H M J Robertson-Young Mr B J Collins Mr Richard T Mangan Mr Michael Nash Monsignor Thomas Fallon Miss Angela J Crawley Mrs Joan Everson Mrs Mary Gaughan Prof Richard Murphy Mr Sean O'Sullivan 22
Mr John Topping Mr Denis Mulvaney Mr Rick Murphy Miss Alison Charmaine Schofield Miss Catherine M Laithwaite Mr Redmond Mullin Fr Dean Brackley SJ Fr Kevin McElhatton SJ Fr Paddy Moloney SJ Fr Vincent Hawe SJ Fr Luis Ruiz SJ Fr Joseph Dooley SJ Fr William Flaherty SJ Rt Rev Bishop Michael Evans
Jesuits & Friends Winter 2011 www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk
Mr J A Slattery – Brother of Fr W J Slattery SJ Mr Gerard Gallen – Father of Fr Gerry Gallen SJ Mr Jack McHugh – Uncle of Matt Malone SJ Mr Philip Twist – Brother of Fr John Twist SJ Sr Elizabeth Basset – Sister of Frs Edmund and Bernard Basset SJ Mrs Jesuthasan Pakiam – Aunt of Elil Rajendram SJ Mr Matthias Soreng - Uncle of Vinod Soreng SJ Mr Vinod Kullu - Uncle of Vinod Soreng SJ Sr Anne Redmond RLR Sr Petra Cooijmans Sr Beatrice Fernandes OSU
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 25p, thanks to the government scheme. If you need further details contact the JM office.
All Benefactors are remembered in the Masses and prayers of every Jesuit in our Province.
Thank you for your generosity 1
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1: The students of Wimbledon College need your help to continue their projects among the Dalit of southern India. Please give generously. 2: By training refugees as counsellors in East Africa, many small miracles are happening. Your donations are needed to continue the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service. 3: The mission and outreach of the Hurtado Jesuit Centre in Wapping, East London, is shaped by “a passion for social justice”. Please support their ministry with your prayers and donations. 4: The Jesuit Institute South Africa seeks to promote the relevance of the Church in the modern world and empower people to fully contribute to it. Your support is always greatly appreciated.
You can send your donations to the address below, or log on to our website where you can increase your donation by 25% through the Just Giving scheme. Thank you!
JM · 11 Edge Hill · London · SW19 4LR T: + 44 (0) 20 8946 0466 F: + 44 (0) 20 8946 2292 E: director@gbjm.org Reg. Charity Nos. England and Wales: 230165 Scotland: SCO 40490
www.gbjm.org www.jesuitsandfriends.org.uk Winter 2011 Jesuits & Friends
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“Christ roams through our streets in the person of so many suffering poor, sick, dispossessed and people thrown out of their miserable slums …Christ is without a home! Shouldn’t we want to give him the joy of a comfortable home?” St Alberto Hurtado SJ
Credit – Angelika Mendes/JRS East Africa.