Father General

During August Father General took three short trips to France, Portugal and Lithuania. On August 14-15 Father General attended the meeting of European Jesuits in Formation (EJF) in Lyon. He then moved to Portugal, where he addressed the members of the Christian Life Community (CVX) gathered in Fatima August 17-19. The third and final trip was to Lithuania, August 21-26, to join the Jesuits celebrating 400 years of the Society presence in the country.

The month of September is filled with many meetings. From September 1-4 joined by all his Counsellors except Fr. Daniel Huang, Assistant for East Asia-Oceania, who could not come to Rome because of visa difficulties, Father General reviewed practices relating to ordinary governance in the Society. September 5-9 was the time for a Consultation about the Russian Region attended by nine members of the Region who came to Rome. Finally, the Presidents of the Conferences of Mayor Superiors have been called to a meeting to be held September 15-19 to examine the present situation of the Society. They will discuss three questions related to The Society after G.C 35: What have we done? What are we doing? What are we going to do? Father General plans to write a letter to the Society in due time.

On September 20 Father General will leave the Curia for Brazil where he will attend the meeting of the Provincials Conference in Latin America (CPAL) at Manaus. He expects to return to Rome on October 5.

Appointments

L’Osservatore Romano of September 7 carried the names of the members of the Synod of Bishops to be held October 5-26 on the topic The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church. Among the 32 Father Synodales appointed by the Pope there are two Jesuits: Cardinal Albert Vanhoye and Father Adolfo Nicolás. With the approval of the Holy Father, among the “experts” appointed by the Secretary of the Synod, there are six other Jesuits: Johan M. Herman Konings (Brazil), Fiorello Mascarenhas (India), Stephen Pisano (USA-Rome), Marko Ivan Rupnik (Slovenia-Rome), Klemens Stock (Germany-Rome) and Cyril Vasil (Slovakia-Rome). Twenty four women will attend the conference: five in the group of experts and 19 among the auditors.

The Holy Father has appointed Father Cosme Hoang Van Dat, 60 years old, Bishop of Back Ninh in Vietnam. Father Hoang Van Dat is the first Jesuit Bishop in Vietnam.

The Holy Father has also approved the appointment of Father José M. Abrego de Lacy, 63 years old, as Rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Father Abrego belongs to the Loyola Province.

Father General has appointed Father John Won-sik Sin, 47 years old, Provincial of Korea. Father Won-sik Sin replaces Father Matthias Chae Joon-ho.

Curia

Father Gabriel Codina of the Province of Bolivia, who was Secretary of the Society from 2001 to 2005, died in Barcelona on July 30th.

From the provinces

India
The international press has publicized the incidents of violence against Christian persons and institutions especially in the Orissa region. This part of India belongs to the Province of Jamshedpur. Only rumours regarding the situation were initially available in Rome, but it was difficult to ascertain their reliability. On August 29th the Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhunwshwar wrote to Cardinals, Bishops and Religious summarizing the consequences of the attacks suffered by the Christians between August 24-28; there were 12 deaths, 6 priests who were hospitalized; 2 other priests kidnapped. And 41 churches and chapels destroyed. On August 30th Father Joseph Xavier, Secretary of the Indian Social Institute in New Delhi, provided some reliable information concerning the Jesuits. Some of the Jesuits in Orissa were threatened, others (among them 11 candidates to the Society) had to take refuge in the forest, several schools remained closed, and some buildings of the Society were stoned. Fortunately there were no victims among the Jesuits.

France
On the 8th of August, at an age of 88, Father Joseph Gelineau died in France. He is known all over the world for his contribution to the liturgical and religious renewal after the Vatican Council. The degree of his influence in the Church was evidenced by the two articles that the Osservatore Romano dedicated to him on August 11th and 14th. The Taizé community, the first monastic community to use Father Gelineau’s musical compositions for the Psalms in its daily prayer, made special mention of him and remembered the close friendship between Father Gelineau and the founder of Taizé, Brother Roger.

Spain
On September 5th the San Pablo Publishing House put on sale the Spanish translation of a book authored by Cardinal Martini and Father Georg Sporschill, S.J., Night conversations in Jerusalem that was originally published by Herder in Germany. Father Sporschill worked among drug addicts and children of the street in Rumania and Moldavia. He met Cardinal Martini in Jerusalem and engaged him in conversations in which both Jesuits speculated about the changes in the Church that young people will encounter in the future, which bright zones appear and how the Church could present the Gospel in a more attractive and effective way. According to rumours, the Italian translation which, is under supervision of Cardinal Martini, is expected to be in the book stores by the beginning of January.