Gifts galore

Irish Jesuit Paul Campbell SJ of Loyola Press Chicago has sent the Jesuit Communication Centre twenty promotional copies of their 2009 calendar. For each month there is a poster with an Ignatian quote, and Loyola’s Jesuit Ministry website has further commentary on each of these quotes – as well as free copies of the posters. The first twenty people to email Geraldine Kellett, office manager of the JCC, will receive one of the free calendars. Another calendar worth acquiring before the new year is the JRS: Ireland intercultural calendar. And below we have a list of books, all of which have featured in AMDG Express this year, that would make good stocking-fillers this Christmas. Read more »

Milltown’s Ruby party

Vice-Chancellor Fr John Dardis and Acting President Fr Conn Casey C.SS.R. (pictured together here) invited all those who have worked in the Milltown Institute over its forty years of existence to a party on 10th December. It began with Vespers under the baton of Tom Whelan C.S.Sp., and moved to the Refectory for wine and canapes. John congratulated the gathering on the prophetic role which the Institute had played over the years, and on putting behind it some painful staffing crises. As for future staffing in the event of a link with Trinity, the issue was not far below the surface. These are anxious times for people who have devoted themselves to teaching at Milltown.

President Mary McAleese at USF

On 11 December the Jesuit University of San Francisco conferred on President Mary McAleese the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. The citation noted that her presidency has been noted for its “concern and advocacy for justice, equality, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism, and reconciliation”. Donal Godfrey SJ, from the Irish Province, was Convenor of the ceremony, and after welcoming the President in both Irish and English mentioned his prior ministry at the Jesuit community in Belfast. The President spoke of her excellent connection  with the Jesuits; which included her present studies in canon law at Milltown Park. Her excellent speech was received with a standing ovation from a packed hall. The entire ceremony can be viewed in webcast here.

Fr Assistant completes his visit

After a crowded itinerary, in which he looked, listened and learned about every ministry in the Province, Antoine Kerhuel is heading home on 17 December, leaving behind a wholesome taste from the visitation. Apart from a formal address to the Province on 13th December, he saw his task as listening and learning, with a view to helping Fr General in planning for Western Europe.

Sartre in Bethlehem

55 years ago a Jesuit fellow-student in Munich gave Paul Andrews a remarkable typescript: Christmas writing from an unexpected source. In the autumn of 1940 the Nazis captured and deported Jean-Paul Sartre, the existentialist philosopher and playwright, to a labour camp in Germany. Before Christmas Paul Feller, a Jesuit fellow-prisoner, persuaded Jean-Paul to write a nativity play for the French Christians who shared his captivity. Sartre, baptised a Catholic, was by this time a declared atheist, but as a gesture of solidarity with his French fellow-prisoners, he wrote Barjona, Jeu scénique en six tableaux. A narrator describes the scene in the stable at Bethlehem: this is how Sartre sees Mary (translation by Paul): Read more »

Death of Avery Dulles, SJ

Tributes from around the world have been paid to the late Avery Dulles SJ, one of the world’s most renowned Jesuits and a Cardinal since 2001. He died at 9am on Friday Dec 12th, aged 90. Son of John Foster Dulles, Eisenhower’s Secretary of State after whom Dulles Airport in Washington is named, Cardinal Dulles converted to Catholicism in 1940 and became a Jesuit in 1946. He was the most distinguished theologian the Church in the United States has produced, and he was the first American theologian to be named a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. Read more on his theology and on his links with the Irish Province. Read more »

Spirituality for a time of bewilderment

Theologian Gerry O’Hanlon SJ works at the Centre for Faith and Justice, and lives in a corporation estate in Cherry Orchard, at the far end of Ballyfermot. He sees the signs of change this Christmas in the housefront decorations. The recession is kicking in and many people are left bewildered by the rapidity and the intensity of the change. There is a change of mood everywhere. For the full reflection, click on ‘Read more’ below. Read more »

Short notices

• An Inter-Institutional Centre for Spirituality and Social Transformation has been launched in Waterford Institute of Technology, through the participation (pictured here) of Michael O’Sullivan SJ (Milltown Institute), Sister Bernadette Flanagan (All Hallows) and Michael Howlett (Waterford IT).
• The current Irish Catholic reports how ChurchServices.tv, part of CatholicIreland.net, is broadcasting Masses live to a growing audience, including some beleaguered Christians in Kenya. The site is an offshoot of Sacred Space, “The fire that lights other fires”.
• On 20 December, 3 to 5 p.m., girls and boys (with parent/adult supervision) are invited to join the Manresa Team, together with Mr. Paul McGuire (Belgrove Junior Boys School, Clontarf), for an afternoon of carol singing and reflection on the meaning of Christmas, followed by a little party at Manresa, 426 Clontarf Road.
• Noelle Fitzpatrick and Padraig Swan of Sli Eile Jesuit Centre for Young Adults were interviewed on Tuesday Dec 16th, on the Mooney Goes Wild programme on RTE Radio One. They spoke about their weekend pilgrimage in the Midlands without food or money and you can listen to the interview here.

Fr Joseph A. Kelly SJ

“Some people become priests because they love God, some because they love talking about God, and some, like Fr Joe Kelly, because they love people.” Joe had moved from Dublin to Jersey City in 1968, and worked in particular with students, and later actors – he played a Catholic priest in City Hall with Al Pacino. The crowds who attended Joe’s funeral in Jersey City, and the memorial Mass in Milltown Chapel, showed the affection he inspired, and the impact he made during his 59 years as a Jesuit.