Malta - douze points!

Speaking at the last Province Assembly, Fr Mark Rotsaert SJ spoke of the important reference to communications in the GC35 documents. He endorsed the work of the Jesuit Communications Centre in Dublin as a role-model for Jesuits and colleagues looking to develop a coherent communications strategy. Since then, a four-country-strong intra-provincial communications team has met in the JCC, the manager Pat Coyle (pictured here) has been to Belgium to help develop the Province’s communications plan, and just last week, she went to Malta to provide the same service. While there, Pat met with representatives from major Maltese apostolates, including JRS, JCFJ, the Paulo Freire literacy programme, and the spirituality centre. She also met with journalists from Maltese radio, television and the print media whom, she says, hold the Jesuits there in high esteem. Read more »

Spreading the good news

Media-wise it was a fruitful Lent and Easter for Jesuits and their colleagues. Gerry O’Hanlon SJ entered the fray of the economic downturn, discussing his book ‘God and the Recession’ on TV3, BBC’s Sunday Sequence, and RTE TV’s Nationwide. Indeed, the same Nationwide’s ten-minute package broadcast on Spy Wednesday featured young people from various Jesuit works living out a faith that does justice with the homeless and those in prison (Slí Eile), migrants (Jesuit Refugee Service and Clongowes students) and the Jesuit University Support Trust in Ballymun. See it here: click on ‘Youthful Faith’. It was watched by over 400,000 viewers - an amazing 30.6% audience share - and stirred real Easter hope in the hearts of many viewers. Read more »

Young people and Jesuits go ‘Nationwide’

RTE 1 TV will broadcast a special Holy Week feature on their popular Nationwide programme on Wed 8 April ‘09 at 7pm. Young people working on Jesuit projects with prisoners, immigrants, the homeless and people going back to college are interviewed in the programme which explores how they are living out their faith in modern Ireland. Slí Eile, Jesuit University Support & Training (JUST) in Ballymun, and students from Clongowes who are teaching English to immigrants as part of a Jesuit Refugee Service project all feature. Gerry O’Hanlon SJ, acting director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, gives an overview of the work of the young adults in the context of a ‘faith that does justice, finding God in all things’.

Our Guy in Cork

Brother Guy Consolmagno, Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory, will speak at the Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork, on 29 and 30 March at 2.30 p.m., as part of the Lifelong Learning Festival. Guy, born in Detroit, USA, is a research astronomer and planetary scientist at the Vatican Observatory. When he entered the Jesuits in 1989 aged 37, he had already worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Harvard and M.I.T., and had served with the Peace Corps in Kenya for two years. He took vows as a Jesuit brother in 1991. On entry into the order, he was assigned as an astronomer to the Vatican Observatory, where he also serves as curator of the Vatican Meteorite collection, positions he has held since then.

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Short Notices

• AMDG Express has had no picture of Bill Johnston since his stroke last summer. Today an email from John Dardis and John Guiney in Tokyo reports that: ” We had an excellent visit with Bill Johnston who was in good form (see photo).”
• The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has just launched its new website which can be accessed here. Lena Jacobs, Communications Intern, has spent the last number of weeks designing the new site to make it more user-friendly. If you have any comments please email Lena. 

Sleep-out reaches a million

Fr Peter McVerry SJ unveiled a plaque in Belvedere College to acknowledge that the “Sleep Out” run by the students of the College had raised over €1,000,000 for the upkeep of homeless people through the work of Fr Peter and Belvedere Social Services (BSS). The BSS was set up sixteen years ago, and since then it has done trojan work with Dublin’s homeless, largely through their house in Glasnevin which was fitted out with self-supporting flats. The staff there take a totally hands-on interest in the people who come to stay, aiming always to prepare them to return - better equipped - to the world outside. Ivan Hammond, chair of BSS, gives the background below. Read more »

Has the church come as far as Kandinsky?

‘The Second Vatican Council and Impressionism’ was the intriguing subject of a guest lecture in the Milltown Institute by Brendan Staunton SJ on Monday 16 February. Those who heard his lecture said that it was like a master-class in how to capture an audience – and the Milltown hall was full. Brendan spoke in a leisurely, pleasant way, with no need to refer to notes, at ease with his material, fielding questions confidently, and with a quality of voice that was easy to listen to. At one point he linked the resistance of classical painters to such innovators as Kandinsky with the resistance of the Roman Curia to Pope John’s proposed council. For a sense of Brendan’s style and message, read on. Read more »

Short Notices

• Connaught Hockey Final: Coláiste Iognáid convincingly won the Connaught Hockey final on 10 February in Dangean Park, Galway. They beat Our Lady’s Bower Secondary School, Athlone. With a final score of 5-0, the Jes were always on top of the game and dominated all areas, the game being largely played in the Bower half with them under continuous pressure.
• Change at JCFJ: The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has an acting director, Gerry O’Hanlon SJ, as Tony O’Riordan SJ has sought and been given leave of absence.
• Remembering Fr Joe Kelly: A moving tribute to Fr Joe has been posted on YouTube.
• Schools Senior Rugby Cup: Clongowes beat Newbridge 33-20; Terenure beat Clongowes 9-5; Belvedere beat Gonzaga 12-7; Pres. Cork beat Crescent 15-0.
• Schools Junior Rugby Cup: C.U.S. beat Gonzaga 10-3; Clongowes beat Wesley 75-0; Terenure beat Belvedere 17-13.
• Clongowes Union Dinner: Over 200 attended a very successful dinner, raising significant funds for Clongowes Youth Club and the Clongowes Union Benevolent Association.
• Fr John Sullivan: Annual Mass in thanksgiving for the life of Fr John Sullivan and in prayer for his canonisation: in Gardiner St Church, Saturday Feb 21 at 11 a.m. Homily - Fr Tom Morrissey SJ.

Salvadoran Martyrs

A Spanish court has begun an investigation into the murder of six Jesuits (five of them Spanish citizens) and two laywomen in El Salvador in 1989. Although two soldiers were convicted in 1991 for their part in the killings, they were pardoned in 1993. Human rights groups had sought to make the former Salvadoran president, Alfredo Cristiani, part of the new investigation, but the court turned that application down. Should it result in charges against those believed to be involved in the murders, they could face a court in Spain because of an extradition treaty between the two countries. See the Inter Press Service website for background.

Jesuit students at Young Scientists

This year’s Young Scientists Exhibition discovered a couple of stars from Jesuit schools. For the second year running, Clongowes scientist Henry Glass, from Maynooth, was runner-up in the overall individual award, for his study of: The distribution of the freshwater limpet Ancylus Fluviatilis in a short stretch of the Moneycarragh River. Patrick O’Doherty from Gonzaga won the Science Foundation award for a project on Automatic Energy Saving. And Gonzaga’s Jack Hutchinson, Peter Gillen, Mark Lincoln were highly commended for their project on A Food stock renewal system for your house.

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.

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.

Ex-pat Irish Jesuit recalls election night

There was no escaping the US Presidential election over the last two weeks, so AMDG Express sought a personal viewpoint from Donal Godfrey, the Cork-born Irish Jesuit who is head chaplain in the University of San Francisco. Donal responded at once with an engaging account of his experience on campus, where he was pictured with a life-size cut-out of his favoured candidate. Read Donal’s story below Read more »