Appointments

 

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed:

 

– Father Antonio Spadaro Consultor of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Father Spadaro, Director of the magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, was born in 1966, entered the Society of Jesus in 1986 and was ordained a priest in 1996.

 

Father General has appointed:

 

– Father Severin Leitner General Consultor and Regional Assistant for Central-Eastern Europe (ECE) to replace Fr Adam Zak. Fr Severin was until now Rector of the Theologate at Innsbruck and Delegate for Formation of Jesuits in Europe. He was born in 1945, entered the Society in 1965  and was ordained priest in 1974.

 

– Father Kinley Joseph Tshering Provincial of Darjeeling (India). Fr. Kinley, currently rector and principal of St. Joseph School, North Point, was born in 1958, entered the Society of Jesus in 1986 and was ordained a priest in 1995.

 

– Father Vernon D’Cunha Provincial of Bombay (India). Fr. Vernon, currently Treasurer of the Province and Master of Novices for many years, was born in 1956, entered the Society of Jesus in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1989.

Jesuitica

 

Signposting the Mormons. The Mormons are under particular scrutiny in the USA because one of them, Mitt Romney, has declared an interest in the Presidency. There was a time when they were less acceptable. In 1838 Governor Boggs of Missouri decreed: “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated, or driven from the State, if necessary for the public peace.” As they were hounded from state to state, seeking a place where they could live in peace, they sought advice from Jean Pierre DeSmet SJ, the noted explorer of the American west. His description of the magnificent Great Salt Lake valley pleased them greatly.  So Salt Lake City became to Mormons what Rome is to Catholics, and Jesuit de Smet stands there among the founders’ statues.

 

Jesuit Troika? Readers will have noticed one sign of hope on the European scene, a unity of purpose among three of Europe’s leaders: Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council; Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank; and Mario Monti, the new Prime Minister of Italy. In a recent speech van Rompuy reminded the listeners that all the three were educated by the Jesuits: “My two technocrat colleagues share with me an idea of a humane market economy, an area where I have always dwelled.” They share the global economic vision of Pope Benedict’s encyclical: Caritas in Veritate. The fact that the Spaniards have just elected another Jesuit alumnus, Mariano Rajoy, as their leader, is stirring the lunatic fringe to talk of a Jesuit take-over of Europe – whatever that means. (AMDG Express). 

 

Notice

 

Wishing all our friends and readers a Merry Christmas

and a New Year filled with joy and peace,

The Press and Information Office reports that the next Electronic Bulletin

will appear around the middle of January 2012.

In February it will resume its regularity.