Provincial outlines new priorities

At a meeting for directors and board members of Jesuit Works in Manresa on 30 September, the Provincial, Fr John Dardis, summarised the day’s work in a statement of three priorities for the Province, all to be seen in the context of inter-provincial collaboration: “After talking to the Ministries Commission and the Province Consultors, I am happy to let you know that I have decided to identify three major Province priorities for the next number of years. These are: (1) Faith and dialogue with secularism; (2) How to help young people find God in their lives; and (3) Making the Gospel message credible through our action for justice.” In the photo, Slí Eile director Padraig Swan shares a reflection. John 3:3-5

Gospel light on banking crisis

Fr Tony O’Riordan SJ, Director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, has been speaking out on the recent banking crisis in Ireland and abroad, and on the Irish Government’s response. There has been no shortage of opinions from economic and financial experts, but few if any have focussed on the moral implications or on what light the Gospel can shed on these unprecedented events. According to Tony O’Riordan SJ, the government acted in good faith, but its decisive response to the crisis facing the banking sector is remarkably different in quality and conviction to its response to the crisis in health and housing endured by the less well-off. Read more »

JCFJ in Sierra Leone

Walt Kilroy, a staff member of the Centre for Faith and Justice and a PhD student at Dublin City University, has just returned from four weeks of field research in Sierra Leone. In this very poor, war-torn country he was looking at a programme to deal with former fighters, called Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), It is regarded internationally as one of the best-run schemes of its kind. Walt took the photo here of members of the Children’s Forum Network in Makeni, whose involvement in promoting children’s rights is a positive example of empowerment and participation. The activists, all still in school, are (L to R): Suleyman Yahkubb Conteh, Abubakar Barrie, Jonah Amadu, Israel Conteh, Zainab Kallon, and Alidu Sillah. Read more »

New assistant to Socius appointed

While Fr John Dunne (pictured here) is ill, Fr Liam O’Connell will be fulfilling the functions of Socius to the Jesuit Provincial in Ireland. He will be based part-time at the Curia Office, IMI, Sandyford Road. Liam can be contacted at socius@jesuit.ie. What is a Socius? Paul Andrews SJ explains below. Click on ‘Read more’. Read more »

Death of Jack Donovan SJ

Fr Jack Donovan (pictured here at the time of his ordination) has died in London, a largely forgotten hero. He had worked in London for forty years, and on one occasion volunteered for a parish that no other priest could handle. A parish priest had been convicted of child abuse, provoking understandable fury in the parishioners. In the spirit of the Ignatian Third Degree of humility Jack lived with the hatred, anger and resistance of the parish. In the end the people learned to accept this quiet, inarticulate, intensely private Corkman. He seldom appeared in Ireland, and eventually retired to be first a chaplain, then a resident in sheltered accommodation in London. Brian Grogan and other Jesuits will join his funeral next weekend.

Slí Eile prepare prison mass in Mountjoy

Slí Eile are looking for volunteers to help create a dynamic and uplifting liturgy for prisoners in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. They need singers or other volunteers who can help to provide music and liturgical support for the Mass. The aim is to have the first Mass on 2 November. For more details, contact Eoghan Keogh: email him at eoghan.keogh@sli-eile.com, or phone 01-8943160. Slí Eile is also one of the member organisations of the 17th October Group which is organising events for UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October.

Roman retreat

Finbarr Lynch (of Manresa House) and Gerry Whelan (of the Gregorian) were part of a team who gave a retreat to about thirty seminarians and priests of the English College in Rome, September 27-October 5. The directed Ignatian retreat, a relatively new departure for the English College, was given in a holiday house at Lake Albano outside Rome that is located near to Castel Gandolfo, the Summer residence of the Pope. Our picture shows Pope Benedict looking across the lake towards the holiday house. Read more »

Mission Officers meet in Zurich

Fathers John Guiney and Murt Curry represented the Irish Jesuit Mission Office at a three-day meeting with their 14 European peers in Zurich, from 2 to 5 October. The theme was: ““Agents for evangelisation in the frontiers”. What was new? – the realisation, central to GC 35, that the centre of the Society is no longer Europe or America but Africa and Asia, and a stress on such relatively new issues as globalisation, global warming and ecological refugees.

Short notices

• Finbarr Lynch SJ (pictured here)will direct an 8-evening course: “Making space for faith and prayer”, starting Thursday 9 October, 7.30 to 9.30, in Manresa, Dublin 3. It will continue on 23 October, 6 and 20 November, 15 and 29 January, 12 and 26 February.
• Todd Morrissey’s book Jesuits in Hong Kong, South China and Beyond: Irish Jesuits in Hong Kong, South China, Macau, Malaysia/Singapore, 1926-2006, is being launched in a variety of locations in Hong Kong from 13 – 16 November: At Speech Day in Wah Yan Hong Kong and Kowloon on 13 & 14 th; and at the Wah Yan International Conference on 15 & 16th; also Wah Yan College Chapel, St Ignatius Chapel, and with reading sessions. The book is published and marketed by past students of Wah Yan. It is planned to have a secondary launch in Milltown later in the year.
• On 19 October there will be a special mass celebrated in Our Lady Help of Christians on the Navan Road to celebrate the College’s affinity with the parish. A combined choir from Belvedere and the Senior Choir of the Parish will sing through the Mass.
• Michael Drennan SJ, on 6 October, gave a full briefing in Cherryfield on the move to the new building, which is due to happen on 20 October. His presentation was followed with intense interest and there were many questions from residents and staff.
• The Annual Dinner of the Belvedere College Union will be held this year on October 31st in the O’Reilly Theatre. The Guest Speaker will be Mr. Brian Lenihan T.D., Minister for Finance. Booking Form and full details are available on the Belvedere College website – www.belvederecollege.ie.
• Brian O’Leary is helping the FCJ sisters at their General Chapter in Angers, France.

Snappy dishes

Fr Colm Brophy SJ has just returned to Ireland after two years study at Sheffield University for a Masters in art therapy and is staying with the Jesuit community in Galway before returning to Zambia. His niece Fiona Brophy (whose mother Monica is on the ladies’ committee in Belvedere College) has also been immersed in the arts and Africa. Her photographs of 92 celebrities – some of Ireland’s most recognisable faces - form part of a new book, Celebrity Kitchen, to be launched on 17 October 2008. They will feature alongside the celebrities’ favourite recipes and personal stories. All profits from the project will go to the Niall Mellon Township Trust in South Africa.