Short notices

• Two Coláiste Iognáid brothers captain Connacht teams: Shane Conneely, who captained the Jes to win the senior cup has captained the Connacht U20′s in their recent victory over Munster. His brother Aaron, currently in sixth year has captained Connacht U18 Youths team. They have won the series.
• On 1 July all the phone numbers in the Jesuit community in Leeson Street were changed. The new numbers are provided below for reference:

• P. Andrews: 7758585	K. Laheen: 7758592
  G. Bourke: 7758586	J. Looby: 7758595
  J. Fitzgerald: 7758583	J. Moran: 7758593
  P. Fogarty: 7758588	F. O’Donoghue: 7758594
  M.O. Gallagher: 7758589	B. O’Leary: 7758584
  E. Grace: 7758591	F. Sammon: 7758587
  B. Grogan: 7758590	Kitchen: 7758580
  Visitor 1: 7758582	Visitor 2: 7758581
  Mgt Dixon (Admin): 7758599

• Audio CDs of Father General’s address at Gonzaga, homily at Milltown Park, and homily at Gardiner Street are now available from the Jesuit Communication Centre. Email jcc@jesuit.ie or phone 01-6768408. These will also be made available as podcasts on Jesuit.ie in the coming week.

Persecutions in Orissa

Like any newsletter, AMDG Express has to be selective in what it publishes from the quantity of reports that come in; generally there is some Jesuit involvement in the stories. Oliver Rafferty SJ, the Belfast historian in the British Province, visited the Indian Province of Orissa this summer and brought back a tale of tragedies. When a Hindu Swami and four companions were murdered by Maoists (who openly claimed the murder), Hindu fundamentalists made it a pretext for attacking Christians. Click on ‘Read more’ below for Archbishop Raphael Cheenath SVD’s telegraphic report on the scale of the persecution over the last two years: Read more »

Taking a taxi to heaven

The Irish Times on 23 September noticed Brenda Niall’s “Riddle of Father Hackett”, a wonderful book. William Hackett, the son of a  Kilkenny doctor, moved into the Jesuits after schooling in Clongowes. Through a network of friendships, Thomas McDonagh and Erskine Childers among them, he became a passionately anti-Treaty Republican at a time when such sympathies were rare in Irish Jesuits. In 1922, at the height of the Civil War, he was assigned to Australia and never saw Ireland again, but his friendships and influence left their mark in both Ireland and Australia. After being knocked down and fatally injured by a taxi while crossing a Melbourne street at night, he joked on his death-bed: “I never thought I’d have a taxi to take me to heaven.”

Volunteer tourism?

The Irish Aid Responsible Volunteering Fair took place in the Irish Aid offices in O’Connell St on Saturday September 26th,2009.   John Guiney SJ  and Deirdre Brady of the Mission Office and Debbie Moore of Sli Eile manned the Jesuit volunteer desk, which offered possibilities of short term and long term volunteering. Our picture shows John with Mesmour, born in Ethiopia, Irish raised and raised in Ireland. Hundreds of people turned up to seek information from the 23 organizations present.  The majority were women inquirers and it is remarkable how the humanitarian world, like the Church world, has a majority women enthusiasts. Read more »

Forthcoming events

• Professor JJ Haldane, a distinguished philosopher and papal adviser, will give a lecture in St Mary’s Haddington Road Dublin on Thursday October 1st at 8pm on the topic “A response to the challenge of secularism”.
• At the Spiritual Directors International meeting in Dublin Oct 16-18, Brian Grogan SJ will lead a Workshop on Discernment in the Public Forum. 
• 10 October: Crescent College Comprehensive will host a  Celebración de Música, a competition for choirs and orchestras  featuring the Irish Jesuit colleges and schools from Limerick. Enquiries to Roisin Lavery: 087 2474714.
• Bookings can be made through www.belvounion.ie  for the 2009 Dinner of the Belvedere College Past Pupils Union, which will be held at the College on Friday November 6th. This year’s Guest Speaker is Sir Terry Wogan (Class of ’56).

O’Hanlon draws Manresa crowds

On 24 September over a hundred people gathered in Manresa to hear Gerry O’Hanlon SJ talk on God and the recession, and field questions in a lively session. Convinced of the relevance of theological thought for practical living, Fr. O’Hanlon offered an analysis of the socio-economic crisis pervading Ireland. Quoting Bishop Rowan Williams he said there was a role for ‘awkward amateurs’ who would radically refound the vision which would move us forward. “Rescue without reform will only create further crises. The new vision should be founded on the notion of  ‘the common good’ and the principles  of  Catholic Social teaching.”  Many present expressed the wish to continue the debate, begun that night, on the shape of the reform.

JESUITICA: First musical textbook

The first musical textbook in the English language, A brief introduction to the true art of musicke (1584), was the work of William Bathe, born in County Dublin, who became a Jesuit in 1596. A genuine polymath, he had by that stage already taught mnemonics to Queen Elizabeth I, presented her with a harp designed by himself, and studied at Oxford, Gray’s Inn and Louvain. He invented a simple form of musical notation (presently being researched in Trinity by Sean Doherty), and as a Jesuit wrote a seminal book on linguistics, and was an important pioneer in popularising the Spiritual Exercises.