Short Notices

• Robert Faricy SJ (pictured right) will give an elective course at the Milltown Institute on ‘The Practice and Theory of Contemplation’ from 2 to 4pm, on eight successive Wednesday afternoons, starting 14 January.
• The annual Belvedere sleep-out commences on Monday 22nd Dec. It finishes with Mass on Christmas Eve at 9pm.
• Slí Eile is hosting a discussion night on the theme, ‘The financial crisis – a Gospel insight’, with Dr Pat Nolan, businessman turned social entrepreneur, as the guest speaker. It will take place in Boston College, 42 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, on Tuesday 16 December 2008, from 7.30 to 9.00pm.

Jesuit College to track GAA history

To mark the 125th anniversary of the GAA next year Boston College in Ireland will undertake one of the biggest ever oral history surveys relating to a sporting organisation. The GAA Oral History Project will record face-to-face interviews with thousands of people in Ireland and abroad, including GAA members and supporters, current and former players, managers, officials and administrators, and anyone who has had contact or involvement with the GAA. When completed, it will be the largest public history project ever undertaken in the state. Boston College has developed a questionnaire which anyone may fill out. It is available on their project website. For more information, view the website, email info@gaahistory.com, or call +353 (0)1 662 5055.

JRS leads the way with migrants

Both JRS Ireland and Belvedere College received visits on 5 December from representatives of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD is currently conducting a thematic review of migrant education provision in Europe. Eugene Quinn, director of JRS Ireland, and Elizabeth O’Rourke were able to present the services and activities which they carry out in the area of intercultural education. The OECD team was very interested in the collaboration with Jesuit schools, Belvedere and Clongowes, in the provision of language classes for migrants (see photo). And they were particularly impressed with the JRS’s Intercultural and Interfaith Calendar and School Resource Folder  – even asking for extra copies to show to other countries as models of best practice.

RTE celebrates two birthdays

Barney McGuckian SJ had the rare pleasure of looking up to his altar boys as he celebrated a televised Mass for the 120th birthday of the Sacred Heart Messenger, and the 100th of the Pioneer Club. The venue was the Boys’ Chapel in Clongowes, where the status of altar server is reserved to senior boys. RTE cameras caught the beauty of the place, both in- and outdoors, and the unusual visual of over 400 devout boys in uniform, singing like angels.

Raising awareness of missions

Jesuit Missions Ireland, under its current Director John Guiney SJ, is undergoing a process of strategic planning for the coming five years. High on its priority list is creating ways to generate awareness of the good works of Irish Jesuits abroad over the decades. It is also seeking to ensure continuity in mission activities now that so few new missionaries are available to take the baton. Last week, the new website of Jesuit Missions, built by the Jesuit Communication Centre, went live, and it is expected to play an important role in promoting the idea of mission in the Irish Church at large and among Jesuits in Ireland.

Update on Bill Johnston’s condition

Irish Jesuit Bill Johnston, who has been living and working in Japan since the 1950s and who is known worldwide for his books on Buddhism and Christianity and on mystical theology, suffered a brain haemorrhage last July while making his retreat in the theologate in Tokyo. His condition has been critical since then, though he has begun in recent months to show a little more awareness of the world around him. Donal Doyle, a friend and fellow-Jesuit, sent word this week of Bill’s hoped-for return from hospital to Loyola House. See his letter below. Read more »

Visit of Antoine Kerhuel SJ

Father Antoine Kerhuel, Assistant to Fr General for the Provinces of Western Europe, arrived in Dublin on 7 December. He is a neat little Breton (pictured here at the Blessing of Cherryfield), with a sporty tie and the build of a scrum-half. He was quickly immersed in Irish affairs, blessing Cherryfield (see story below) on Monday morning, and visiting the JUST Project and Ballymun personnel after lunch. See below for his programme from 9-17 December. Read more »

Blessing Cherryfield

The New Cherryfield was where an enemy would drop his bomb on 8 December, if he wanted to cripple the Irish Jesuits. Fr Assistant Antoine Kerhuel was there with the Provincial John Dardis, half of his Consultors and a good gathering of the well and the wobbly, to offer the first Mass in the new chapel, with Brendan Comerford SJ on his first outing as Province MC. After John’s homily, Antoine blessed the gathering and the building, and managed to silence briefly an obstreperous alarm. Robust Jesuit singing was enhanced by a young orchestra from Clongowes.

Clongowes celebrates Jesuits

Between 25-27 November, Clongowes ran a series of events for all classes under the title ‘Celebrating our Jesuits’. There were posters throughout the concourse featuring Jesuit works in Ireland; there were slide presentations on Jesuit saints and on opportunities to work with Jesuits; and some Jesuits shared their life experiences with interested students. Particularly well received was Conall Ó Cuinn’s ‘This is Your Life’-style of interview with Peter Sexton SJ (seen here as a younger man at Taizé) before a large number of senior students. The series of events was organized by Frank Clarke, Director of Ethos in the college, and was timed to coincide with the annual visitation of the Irish Provincial, John Dardis SJ, who celebrated the school mass which brought these very successful proceedings to an end.

Examining underbelly of Celtic Tiger

At a time when it seems that the grand edifice of Western capitalism is in conflagration, it is apt that the Winter 2008 volume of the Jesuit journal Studies should be devoted to ‘Burning issues’. Indeed, in his editorial Fergus O’Donoghue SJ makes explicit the correlation between economic prosperity and social problems. “When the Celtic Tiger was roaring,” he writes, “we became distracted. The homeless and drug addicts do not vote, so we forgot about them. The response to crime was to lock criminals up, rather than try to rehabilitate them. We needed immigrants to keep the economy moving, but we ignored the presence of people who were ‘trafficked’ here.” This volume takes a useful look at such issues as our fifteen-year “celebration of selfishness” wanes. For full details, go to the Studies website.

Enriching the JCFJ

Patrick J Hume SJ has joined the team of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. Patrick, who is a qualified solicitor, will lead a new and exciting project at the Centre. He will undertake research and reflection focused on exclusion from law and legal services. Why devote skilled energies to this? In the following paragraphs provided by the JCFJ, the rationale behind this project is elaborated. Read more »

Jesuits in the news

Two Irish Jesuits made their voices heard in the Irish media this week. Peter McVerry SJ, in a trenchant Sunday evening interview on RTE Radio One, stressed that while the abuse of other drugs rightly raises concerns, the drug that is abused in Ireland at an incomparably more destructive level than any other, is alcohol. And Michael J. Kelly SJ raised the HIV/AIDS issue at two contrasting levels: in a lecture to a large and lively crowd at the Royal Irish Academy, and addressing an equally lively and impressive group of girls and boys in the Transition Year of Gort Community School. The Irish Independent featured him in a full-page article: A lifetime of dedication in Africa. Michael is returning to Zambia on 3 December.

Mayo honours MacGreil

On 29 November 500 people gathered in Westport Castle Court Hotel to see Micheál Mac Greil SJ honoured by entry to the Mayo Hall of Fame, where he joins Michael Loftus and the late Monsignor Horan of Knock.  The tribute from his own county meant more to Micheál than any other honour could. Eamonn Ó Cuiv, Minister for Culture, Gaeltacht & Rural Affairs, presented the award to him. Read more »