Early Irish brothers

Joe Ward SJ of Manresa has been visiting the Province archives on an interesting quest: the links between pre-Suppression Irish Jesuit brothers and South America. Starting with the dates of brothers’ deaths, he found that only three out of some 30 died in Ireland, the first of these being the martyred Dominic Collins (pictured here – Brother Dominic seems to have been the first Irish Jesuit brother). The others died in Europe or South America. Very few if any joined the Irish Mission in Ireland. Joe suspects that some of them, like Dominic Collins, entered religious life after a career as soldiers. The quest continues.

JESUITICA: Saint Jean de Brébeuf SJ

Lacrosse began life as a sport to instil manly virtues and preparedness for war in the youth of Native American tribes. St Jean de Brébeuf SJ observed the game being played by Iroquois tribesmen, and (so the story goes) he called it lacrosse as he thought the stick they used resembled a bishop’s crozier. There was, however, nothing episcopal – or indeed sportsmanlike – in what the Iroquois did to St Jean when they captured him in a Huron community, where he was a most successful missionary. They scalped him, carried out a mock baptism on him with boiling water, and mutilated him. He is now the patron saint of Canada.

John moves on

The Jesuit Communication Centre has lost a highly valued colleague and friend in John White, who left this week to work for the Discovery Programme, a public institution for advanced research in Irish archaeology. John’s great talents as a graphic designer were evident in all the work he did over the last three years on many Jesuit websites and on many hardcopy publications – brochures, posters, book covers, branding elements, and so on. To see samples of his artwork, look through his website. And to see how the child (aged 9) was father to the man, have a look at John’s action-packed drawings of the Star Wars saga, executed all the way back in 1977-1982 in a galaxy far, far, far, far away… John’s work for the Irish Jesuits was greatly appreciated, and we wish him the best in his next ventures.

Faith and Justice in Tehran

Patrick Riordan, the Irish Jesuit who teaches philosophy in Heythrop College,  London, and is superior of Copleston House there, has other strings to his bow. Media reports of the show trials from Tehran have highlighted the fate of Mr Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former vice-president of Iran under President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). Patrick, as a member of the Church of England delegation, met Mr Abtahi on three occasions  at triangular meetings (Anglicans, German Evangelicals and Muslims) in London, Berlin and Tehran, and presented a paper in Tehran. Mr Abtahi in his role as President of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue in Tehran led the Iranian delegation to these meetings and in turn hosted the meeting in Tehran in January 2006.

Read more »