Celebrating Community Links

Community Links, a project of the Jesuit Refugee Service, has been officially wound down after six years of promoting the integration of immigrant communities in Dublin’s inner city. On Thursday 15 May, a celebratory event was held in Belvedere College. For the last three years, Ruth Diaz Ufano has always been mentioned in the same breath as Community Links. Much of the day-to-day success of the project has been due to her. She is now on standby to be deployed by the UN to areas of humanitarian crisis or armed conflict, under the auspices of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. We send her our thanks and best wishes.

End of scholastics’ year

Ireland is host to a number of international Jesuit students (scholastics), studying mainly post-graduate theology courses in Milltown Institute, who are returning home for the summer. The John Sullivan community hosted the annual barbeque to mark the end of the academic year on 14 May. Around 30 attended from Milltown, Loyola, Leinster Road and Gardiner Street. Many of the scholastics will be finishing up this year and so there was sadness mixed in with the high spirits!

Public lecture on Ignatian education

Ronald Modras, Professor of Theology at St Louis University, will be principal speaker at a public seminar on Transforming Education at the National College of Ireland (Mayor Street, IFSC, Dublin 1) on Saturday 24 May at 11.00am. Professor Modras’ theme will be ‘Ignatian Humanism‘, based on his book of the same title: Ignatian Humanism: a Dynamic Spirituality for the 21st Century). He stresses the fact that Jesuit spirituality is rooted in a humanism which values the secular world, the diversity of world cultures, and scholarship of every hue. The seminar is free but registration is required: Modras page.

Belvedere Union outreach to homeless

Belvedere Social Services (BSS), set up by Belvedere Union with the assistance of Peter McVerry SJ, is now in its twelfth year. It provides sheltered accommodation and individual care to homeless men, aged between 17 and 21, helping them make the transition to independent living through the provision of after-care support. [Photo: Ivan Hammond, director; Tanya Blyth, manager; Brendan O'Leary, treasurer/director]

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Desire to go deeper

A limited number of places are left on Manresa’s on Deepening Faith and Prayer course; it is residential and held over six weekends from September 2008. It is designed for those who wish to make time and space to meet God, to develop new ways of praying the Scriptures, to deepen their Christian faith, and to learn to recognise where God is present in their lives. The weekend dates are: September 19-21; October 17-19; November 14-16; January 9-11; February 13-15; and March 13-15. For more information: www.manresa.ie, (00353)1-8331352 , manresa@jesuit.ie.