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By James Torrens, SJ 

Garden 

Urgency 

Fear not, young woman, 

the mystery I tell you. 

Yield and fear not. 

The unfathomable 

will be in swaddling clothes, 

a cloth wrap, 

and the unknown be known 

curled into infancy, 

heaven in flesh. 

From the impinging dark 

a love note hurries, 

all thanks to you. 

James Torrens, SJ, is a prolific writer, literary critic, and a former editor of the Catholic weekly magazine America. 

Courtesy : America 

JIVAN: News and Views of Jesuits in India NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 2

What do you think? 

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 

Editor: 

M.A. Joe Antony, SJ 

Ed. office administration, 

typing & layout: 

Udaya Prabhu 

Visuvasam 

Correspondents: 

Benedict Santosh, John Rose, 

Shailendra Boora, Victor Edwin 

Advisory Board: 

Agapit Tirkey, Benny S., 

Jerry Rosario, John Joseph, 

V.T. Jose, Luke Rodrigues, 

Michael Amaladoss, Rex A. Pai 

Published by 

Jerry Sequeira, SJ 

for Gujarat Sahitya Prakash Society 

P.B. 70, Anand - 388 001 

and printed by him at Anand Press, 

Anand - 388 001. 

Matter for publication 

to be sent to: 

The Editor, Jivan 

C/o IDCR 

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Circulation & change of address: 

Circulation Manager, Jivan, 

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As a service of information for the 

South Asian Jesuit Assistancy, Jivan is 

sent to Jesuits and their colleagues, 

collaborators and friends. Articles 

appearing in Jivan express the views 

of the authors and not of the Jesuit 

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photographs. So please keep a copy of 

whatever you send for publication. All 

material sent for publication may be 

edited for reasons of space, clarity or 

policy. Readers are requested to donate 

generously towards Jesuit ministries. 

It looks darker than ever. The news 

- from here, there and everywhere 

- is shocking, as the events show you the 

gory, ugly and blood-stained hands of 

evil that do not spare even totally innocent 

humans. 

First there: You must have read 

about Rimsha Masih, the minor girl 

afflicted with Down Syndrome who 

was arrested under the blasphemy law in 

Islamabad, Pakistan for allegedly burning 

pages of the Koran. Later it came to be 

known that a local Muslim cleric had 

planted ‘the incriminating evidence’ - put 

pages of the Koran in the polythene bag 

containing burnt papers that Rimsha was 

carrying. His intention too was revealed. 

This is what you should note: A religious 

official does not hesitate to cause so much 

of suffering to a poor little girl with Down 

Syndrome just to ensure an exodus of 

Christians from a slum. 

If Christians leave the area, the land 

mafia could seize and sell the land. This is 

what happened. Soon after Rimsha was 

arrested, nearly 300 Christian families 

fled the area. Some of them said that the 

police encouraged them to leave, instead 

of offering them protection. After the truth 

was out, the Court ruled that the girl could 

be released on bail, if the girl’s family paid 

two sureties of Rs 5 lakh each. Where will 

the helpless, poor family find the money? 

An organization came forward to 

pay the money. Later knowledgeable 

insiders said this generosity was not due to 

the poor girl’s plight, but it was to ensure 

that the pitiable condition of the girl does 

not mobilise public opinion in favour of 

diluting the blasphemy law! 

Now here: Do you remember 

reading about this former ISRO scientist, 

S. Nambinarayanan? In 1994 he was 

accused of espionage and arrested. The 

day he was arrested there was a big crowd 

at his gates and people were pushing to 

break the police cordon and throwing 

punches at him as he was being taken to 

the police jeep. But from the beginning the 

scientist, who till then had a distinguished 

career, maintained he was innocent, that 

he had nothing to do with the allegations. 

Two years later, a CBI investigation 

completely exonerated him. 

Usually when the State governments 

are unable to find the truth, they call 

for a CBI enquiry. In this case the State 

government that accused and arrested 

him refused to accept CBI’s findings and 

ordered reinvestigation into the case! Who 

will reinvestigate except the same elements 

that were responsible for the scientist’s 

ordeal? It took another two years before the 

Supreme Court quashed the case, taking 

the State government to task for ordering 

yet another investigation by the police, 

evan after the CBI probe found that the 

allegations were false and the magistrate 

court ordered the release of all the accused. 

In 2001 the National Human 

Rights Commission ordered the State 

government to pay him a compensation 

of Rs.1 crore, of which Rs.10 lakh was 

to be paid immediately. In spite of all the 

developments, the Kerala government did 

not want to admit its missteps and pay him 

the compensation. 

This September a Division Bench 

of the Kerala High Court directed the 

State government to pay an interim 

compensation of Rs.10 lakh, as ordered by 

the National Human Rights Commission. 

Make a note of this: even after a dignified, 

innocent man’s career is destroyed and 

his innocence is proved, there are people 

in authority who do not want to make 

amends. “My professional life as a good 

ISRO scientist was shattered. My personal 

life was shattered. My wife had problems,” 

says Nambinarayanan (The Hindu, 8 Sept 

‘12) 

Is it the same everywhere? Read on 

p.27 how a Jesuit was killed in Madagaskar 

and who committed the ghastly murder 

and for what reason. 

The darkness that seems to be 

everywhere originates inside us. Does it 

spare us, the religious? Can we claim that 

such heinous acts that harass the innocent 

don’t take place in our midst? So don’t we 

need the Light more than ever? No wonder 

Pope Julius -- thought that the right time 

for celebrating Christmas was the middle of 

the dark, cold winter (see p.23). “From the 

impinging dark, a love note hurries,” says 

the Jesuit poet, James Torrens (see p.2). 

May you - may everyone everywhere 

- have a bright Christmas! 

- M.A.J.A. 


Cover Feature 

By Mathew J. Moolel, SJ 

Should we wait for 

Doomsday 

or 

Groom’s Day? 


Cover Feature 

Should we wait for the Doomsday? Not 

at all. We should look toward to the 

Groom’s Day - the Lord’s Day. That 

day will bring us a full life without 

fear of an end and without weariness or ennui. 

Life with the Groom: 

What will unending life with the Groom will 

be like? He compares it to the wedding feast. It is 

risky indeed to describe Heaven. We can only use 

symbols and metaphors. “Eye has not seen, nor ear 

heard nor has it so much dawned on man what God 

has prepared for those who love Him” ( 1 Cor 2: 

9). The Groom would say: “Come, you have my 

Father’s blessing, inherit the kingdom prepared for 

you from the beginning of the world ( Mt 25:34). 

Pre-planned, announced, welcomed. “Enter into 

the joy of my Father” (Mt 25:24). A new Heaven 

and New Earth – when God will wipe away all 

tears from all eyes (Rev 21:1-4). As the Quran 

says: God taking pleasure in them and they in Him 

(Q 5: 119). You will be like angels, says Jesus (Mt 

22:30), as if that were the goal of Evolution. We 

shall be like him when Christ appears. because we 

shall see him as he really is (1Jn 3:2) and God will 

be all in all (1 Cor 15-). 

The Bridegroom 

The Bible begins and ends with wedding 

scenes. It begins with the betrothal of Adam and 

Eve, for “it is not good for man to be alone”, says 

God (Gen 3). The Bible ends with the nuptials of 

mankind with God (Rev 21) . And in the middle 

This Bridegroom is the greatest 

Lover who walked this earth. 

He loved us with a total love; 

and to the end. 

is this invitation: “The Bridegroom is here; go out to meet him” 

(Mt 25: 6). 

Quite a few people have predicted the world will end on 21 

December 2012, because the Mayan Calendar reportedly ends that 

day. While no one can predict accurately the time our world will 

end, scientists agree that this world will not last for ever, at any rate. 

So what is the basis of our hope in the future? Even if we may be 

dislodged from the physical centre of the universe we are still at the 

centre of God’s care. For He has sent us His Son not as a god-particle 

confirmed by scientists as a needle in a haystack (on 4 July 2012) 

but with absolute assurance (John 3: 16). He is the God-Person, 

the Groom, the Son of Man, One among us! 

The Groom will give this 

supreme gift of eternal life 

as a reward to those 

who fulfil his mission. 


Cover Feature 

‘The Son of Man’ is the name 

preferred by Jesus Christ for Himself. 

He will groom and husband mankind 

for the end-times. “He who follows 

me will never live in darkness but will 

have the light of life (Jn 8: 12) and 

with it the fullness of life (Jn 10:10). 

His demands were absolute: he 

must be loved more than father and 

mother or anyone else; “unless you 

eat my flesh and drink my blood, no 

life for you (Mt 10:37; Jn 6:53). His 

credentials: miracles of all kinds and 

then his own rising from the dead. 

familiarly of God’s Kingdom and the 

blessings and happiness (Beatitudes) in 

store for them in God’s special plan for 

them. For others the rich, learned and 

self-righteous he had warnings (Mt 23), 

since they were devoid of compassion 

(Lk 6: 36). 

We can meet the groom in Nature, the lilies of the field and 

the birds of the air; in the discoveries and applications of 

sciencespace travel, god–particle, the genetic code and the 

marvels of medicine. 

Through his “I am” statements: he 

claims to be the Light of the world, the 

Bread of Life, the Way (to happiness), 

the Truth, Resurrection and Life 

(10:9,6:35,14:6,11:25). “I have come” 

to give life in abundance; to serve; to 

sacrifice my life for you (10:10, Mt 

20:28). 

Although he called himself the 

Son of Man, he revealed he was the 

Son of God too. “Father and I are one; 

who sees me, has seen the Father” (Jn 

10:30, 14:9). “They took up stones to 

kill him for that; and the High priest 

tore his garment to mark blasphemy” 

(Jn 8:51,10:31, Mt 26:65). “If you do 

not believe me, at least for the works I 

do believe that I am in the Father and 

the Father is in me” (Jn 10: 38). 

Proof? He revived the utterly deflated 

disciples so marvellously, they were 

ready to die for him, which they did. 

Down the centuries, countless men, like 

St John de Britto, who was martyred 

here at Oriyur in 1693, and women 

were ready to die for him. 

Greatest lover 

This Bridegroom is the greatest 

Lover who walked this earth. He loved 

us with a total love; and to the end (Jn 

13;1; 1Jn 3:16). He loved Nature -sun 

and rain, seeds and trees, birds and 

animals figured in his teachings. He 

loved mankind of all types, gender and 

age and status with a special love for 

the sinner, the sick and the oppressed 

and marginalized. He preferred to sit 

at table with these and talked to them 

Following the Groom 

The ways (values) of Jesus are the 

basis of true and lasting happiness: the 

Blessed attitudes (Mt 5:2-8). He called 

for poverty in spirit, total detachment 

and freedom from earthly goods meant 

for all, chastity of pure, selfless love and 

compassion, and seeking God’s will in 

obedience, “My food is to do the will 

of my Father” (Jn 4:34, 5:30, 6:38, 

8:29 etc). So for his followers prayer 

is complete only in asking, seeking and 

knocking out obstacles (Mt 7:7). They 

abide in his love (Jn 15:9) and love 

one another “as I have loved you” (Jn 

13:34). Therefore following Jesus will 

involve carrying the Cross of love daily 

(Mt 16: 24) in the service of others. 


Cover Feature 

But this life here is part of eternal 

life, and sufferings form part of this life. 

Hands and legs and eyes are useless for 

the fetus in the womb, they are meant 

for a life outside the womb. Even so 

are our sufferings now difficult to 

understand fully; but our eternal life is 

activated by this life. “Not those who 

say Lord, Lord, but those who do the 

you orphans; I will come back to you.” 

(Jn 14:3,18,28). His prayer will surely 

be fulfilled: “Father, I want them to be 

with me to see my glory” (Jn 17:24). 

The Groom is here 

For the believer, heaven has 

already begun. “Earth is crammed with 

heaven, and every common bush afire 

with God, but only he who sees takes 

in Mary and the Saints and Martyrs. 

We can meet him in our services to our 

needy brothers and sisters, as also in our 

struggle for justice to them. Above all, 

we are called to safeguard and nurture 

our Hope - our Mission it is! - even 

in difficult and hopeless situations like 

slavery to sexual and substance abuse, 

insolence and destruction of life. 

The Groom, who is here 

already, will surely come 

one day as the judge. 

The Groom will 

gather all that 

is good ‘from 

East and West’. 

will of my Father” will have it. (Mt 

7:21); At the Last Judgment acts of 

compassion will win eternal life. The 

Groom will give this supreme gift as a 

reward to those who fulfil his mission. 

In order to be able to do so, 

the Groom has provided for us his 

Spirit (Jn 14:16,26;15:26;16:8,13) to 

activate us. He will return to us in “a 

little while” (Jn 16:16-24). Meanwhile 

we have to be ‘watchful and pray’ (Mk 

14:38), “fast and feast” (Mk 2:19); we 

are “trimmed and pruned” (Jn 15:2). 

This is his promise: “I will not leave 

off his shoes; the others sit around it 

and pluck blackberries” (Elizabeth B. 

Browning). The Groom is already here. 

“Have you not heard his silent steps? 

He comes, comes, ever comes....” 

(Rabindranath Tagore). We can meet 

the groom in Nature, the lilies of the 

field and the birds of the air; in the 

discoveries and applications of sciencespace 

travel, god–particle, the genetic 

code and the marvels of medicinecompleting 

Ps 8. 

We can also meet the Groom in 

the Church, in the Bible, the Eucharist, 

The Groom will come 

The Groom, who is here already, 

will surely come one day as the judge. 

The Groom will gather all that is good 

‘from East and West’. He will gather 

with him (Mt 12:30) all that God 

created and still finds good (Gen 1). 

We will be gathered with angels - all 

of us who are blessed with the love of 

God - “people of every tribe, language, 

tribe, nation and race”. (Rev 5: 9). 

“If people should tell you, look 

he is out in the desert, don’t go there. 

Look, he is hiding here, don’t believe 


Cover Feature 

it. For the son of man will come like 

the lightning, which flashes across the 

sky from East to West” (Mt 24:26-27). 

True, he came as Emmanuel, Godwith-us 

(Mt 1:23) and departed saying 

‘I am with you always, till the end of 

time” (28:20); and he is with us as we 

struggle in the sea of life and death (Mt 

14). While he has an inalienable central 

place in all human history marking it 

after himself as BC and AD, he is not 

confined to space and time anymore! 

He grooms us 

We can indeed find him in the 

Catholic Church. We have the the 

Bible which makes the Word of God 

accessible.We have also the Body and 

Blood of Christ, his presence and life 

shared with us through the sacraments. 

By law of nature, higher forms of 

life feed on lower forms. Here we 

feed on God to become like Him! 

As a monument and memorial what 

ingenuity! What serves as a memorial 

is then dissolved in Communion into 

the hearts of men and women! This is 

how we are groomed for eternal life 

with him. 

The Bride and her mission 

The Church unashamedly calls 

herself ‘The Bride of Christ’ (Act 9:5) 

by special gift and legitimacy (Rev 

21:2; 22:17). The avowed Mission of 

the Church in the world is to be and 

to become One, Holy, Catholic and 

Apostolic. This is a situation of yes 

but not-yet, with a mission inwards 

to her own children and mission 

outwards to all others. The Church is 

the ‘universal sacrament of Salvation’ 

(Vat II)- established by the Groom 

himself to share the goods of Faith and 

Hope with all in Charity. “I have other 

sheep, them too I must bring to be one 

flock and one shepherd” (Jn 10: 11, 

16). The Church knows that she has no 

monopoly of all truth; the autonomy 

of the secular is acknowledged (Vat II). 

She has committed mistakes. On behalf 

of the Church Pope John Paul II has 

openly asked pardon for unduly acting 

as a brake on scientific progress, be it 

with Galileo Galilei or Charles Darwin. 

But She has been a promoter of Science 

most often; think of the pioneers of 

science like Canon Copernicus, the 

Abbot Gregor Mendel or the mystic 

Blaise Pascal. 

The vision of this mission of the 

Church, so clearly outlined now, is no 

new discovery of today. But what of the 

innumerable crimes against humanity, 

Christians have perpetrated among 

themselves and against others down 

the centuries? The Church of sinners 

that we are, we ask pardon of God 

and mankind. The ideal was put forth 

with clarity at the very beginning of 

Christianity. Paul has it: “Finally my 

brothers, your thoughts must be wholly 

directed to all that is true, all that 

deserves respect, to all that is honest, 

pure, admirable, decent, virtuous or 

worthy of praise”. And he adds: “live 

according to what you have learned and 

accepted, what you have heard me say 

and seen me do. Then will be the God 

of peace with you” (Phil 4: 8-9). To this 

the Bridegroom, after his own heart, 

invites us afresh in our own days. Yes, 

He is our Light and our Delight! 

“Go Out!” 

So the time of waiting for the 

Groom’s Day is no idling time (Act 1: 

11, Mt 24) (2Pet 3:12). We have a lot 

to do. We need ‘Education’, leading 

out, drawing out, which includes selfeducation 

and life-long transformation. 

We should examine and benefit fully by 

the credentials of the Church, which is 

the gift of the Groom for our growth 

and maturity, to reach his stature. WE 

need to move from childish credulity 

to critical examination to deeper 

personal experience, to be “able to give 

an account of the hope in us”(1Pet 

3:15). We may begin with children’s 

belief in Santa Claus, but as we grow, 

we should move on to exploding the 

commercialized myth, to imitating St 

Nicholas in his Christian concern for 

the poor. 

Other religions 

We can learn to deal with other 

religions from Jesus’ response to the 

Jewish establishment, which was one 

of reverence and sovereign freedom at 

the same time. He knew the history 

of salvation ran through the Jews (Jn 

4:22) in himself to all the world (Mt 

28:20), ”the light of revelation to the 

gentiles and glory of Israel”(Lk 2:32). 

He made use of the Temple and the 

local synagogues for worship and 

teaching but was not confined to these. 

He called for worship in Spirit and 

in Truth (Jn 4: 24), while he claimed 

himself to be the new temple (Mt 12:6) 

In our multi-religious world we 

must necessarily ask and seek what we 

also can learn from other religions. 

We all sail in the same boat (mother 

Earth) with the same opportunities and 

threats. Today to be religions is to be 

inter religious; peace between cultures 

is an absolute necessity for world 

peace. We are happy that the Church, 

especially after Vatican II, promotes 

this Dialogue and invites all of us to 

get involved in this higher education 

to promote mutually beneficent coexistence 

and beyond to fruitful proexistence. 

Buddhist karuna resonates with 

Christian compassion often stressed 

by Jesus (Lk 6:36; Mt 25; Hos 6:6). 

We too can embrace it gladly. Hindu 

pantheism and multiple local avatars 

(incarnations) (Gita 4:8) would seem 

an exaggeration to the Christian. 

Yet he can become more aware of 

the omnipresence and the universal 

concern of God for the salvation of all. 

We also can very profitably practise the 

Pantanjali (ashtanga) yoga; we too can 

cultivate religion “through philosophical 

enquiry, ascetical practices, profound 

meditation or a flight to God through 

love and trust” (Vat II). 

Islam might seem to be a drastic 

simplification to sheer surrender to 

God. As it does not have the concept 

of original sin (weak humanity) it does 

not have the need for a Redeemer. 

Critics allege that Islamic regimes deny 

democratic rights to their citizens, 

especially to women. Denial of secular 

autonomy (Mt 22:21) and legitimate 

freedom and human rights would work 

against democratic values and human 

dignity. Yet we must admire in Islam the 

absolute supremacy of God over saints 


Cover Feature 

Peace is a more 

modest yet very useful 

description of Heaven. 

This is the deeper 

meaning of all our 

greetings and best wishes. 

and priests, the love for the community 

and the care for the poor and other 

such aspects. 

Science & Technology 

“Going out” will require us to 

appreciate the progress made by Science 

and Technology and the wonderful 

means they provide for the welfare of 

mankind. We must thank God who gave 

such power to us in using them rightly. 

Reason (the basis of science) and Faith 

(intuitive knowledge, which is not 

against reason but transcends it) are 

the two eyes of man. They can mutually 

support and correct and reinforce each 

other. 

We have many warring hungers 

(drives) within us. Most important 

among these is the hunger for 

Transcendence (God) as our destiny. 

This needs to be nurtured and grown 

by sublimating or at least keeping at 

bay all other hungers. Jesus guarantees 

fulfillment in due time, “I will not leave 

you orphans. I will come back to take 

you with me to see my glory (Jn 14:3; 

17:24). “Peace I give you..” 

Peace is a more modest yet very 

useful description of Heaven. This is 

the deeper meaning of all our greetings 

and best wishes: ‘Peace of Christ!’ (Jn 

14:27), ‘Rest in Peace (RIP)’; ‘Shalom’, 

‘Salaam’, ‘Shanti’; ‘Adieu’ (to God), 

Goodbye (with God). St. Augustine has 

said it well: “You, O Lord, have made 

us for yourself and we are restless till 

we rest in you.” 

Augustine defines Peace as ‘the 

tranquility of order’. All disorders like 

sin, sorrow and death shall be wiped 

out. Then everything will be ok, because 

of the Groom who once died for us, but 

rose and now “stands as the Lamb slain” 

with us in God’s presence.This is why 

the mystic Juliana of Norwich exclaims 

“Everything will be OK; every thing 

will be OK!” Joy, Joy –Jesus, Others 

and You Joy!” Maranatha! – Come, 

Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:20). 

Therefore not Doomsday but the 

Groom’s Day awaits us. Alleluia! • 

Fr Mathew Moolel, SJ, a scientist and 

former educator, is the spiritual animator at St 

John de Britto shrine, Oriyur, Tamil Nadu. 


Jesuits - Assistancy 

SAPI National Workshop 

SAPI (South Asian Peoples’ Initiatives) organized a national 

workshop on 17-19 Aug ‘12 on “Ecology from the Perspective of 

the Marginalized—Dalits, Adivasis and other Backward Classes.” 

There were 79 participants from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, 

Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu. 

The main aim was to make SAPI an unfettered body that could 

provide a secular platform for lay leaders. Amrit Sangma, National 

SAPI Coordinator, Sannybhai, Secretary of JESA, and Thomas 

Barla, Central Zone SAPI Coordinator, were much involved in 

the planning, dynamics, and vital inputs required for a fruitful 

workshop. 

After paying tributes to Adivasi martyrs and leaders, the 

workshop was formally inaugurated by Ms. Dr. Shanti Xalxo, Tribal 

Department, Ranchi University. In her inaugural address she said 

that the Centre and State Government’s developmental projects 

for tribals were poorly designed, and made without consultations. 

Robert and his team from Tarumitra, Patna, made everybody 

aware about the wealth of creation and our duty to safeguard 

it, and the resultant awareness only made more horrifying what 

activists reported about the degradation of nature in their areas of 

Kudankulam, Hazaribagh, Chaibasa and Nagri. The suggestions 

that emerged from group discussions were: (i) need for an accurate 

data bank to fight against unjust structures, (ii) research and 

documentation on the various resistance movements for effective 

solidarity actions, (iii) civil, social, and political awareness of the 

marginalized for more empowered action by them, (iv) create 

awareness so that the masses are involved in all social, political, 

and ecological concerns. 

A few practical suggestions to make ecology our way of life 

were shared: share knowledge about the environment, locally and 

nationally - organize tree plantings and foster the growth of herbal 

medical plants - stop illegal cutting or burning of trees - save 

electricity by switching off lights when not needed, and by use of 

LED, CFL, and solar bulbs - prefer public to private transport - use 

plastic free bags and store waste in pits - use as garden the space 

around the house or on the terrace - avoid polluting the rivers and 

seas, and control indiscriminate fishing etc. 

Just before the Workshop concluded, the participants 

discussed and agreed on these: Who could take part in SAPI 

meetings? Persons from marginalized groups and those who 

work for the cause of such groups. Could some professionals 

like Lawyers, Journalists, MBAs, Human Rights Activists, retired 

Government Officials etc. be members of SAPI and take part in 

these meetings? Decidedly yes, since these people have much 

background knowledge and the skills to get things done. What 

steps can be taken for the growth of SAPI as an independent 

peoples’ movement? Networks at various levels, from the village 

panchayat to the State level - a national structure with advisory 

committees at the above levels - National and State Coordinators 

and Coordination Committees. - Stanny Jebamalai, SJ 

Juniorate staff meet 

The 2012 meeting for the staff of the Juniorates in the 

Assistancy was held on 17 - 21 Sept ‘12, at Vidyaniketan, the South 

Indian Common Juniorate [SICJ], Thumba, Trivandrum. It brought 

together 12 Provinces and 6 Juniorates. The ADF, Fr Gratian Carlo, 

was present throughout. 

Fr Devadoss Mudiappasamy (MDU), a veteran of International 

Jesuit Refugee Service, was the resource person on the first day. 

The topic for discussion was ‘Formation for Global Mission’. He 

reflected upon the universal mission of the Society and the emerging 

world scenario. In the Society province borders are becoming 

faint, Fr Deva said. Assistancies are getting amalgamated into 

Conferences. Young men will continue to join provinces, but with 

the understanding they need to be prepared to go beyond borders. 

They should have more languages in their travel bags. They should 

be able to relish different cuisines – different cultures. The North 

is yielding and the South is rising – already close to 70% of Jesuit 

novices are in the South. Fr Deva was informative and inspiring. 

Fr Gracian, ready with data and Ignatian insights at his fingertips, 

supplemented the inputs of Deva. 

On the subsequent three and half days we analyzed 

threadbare the Juniorate English syllabus, following the guidelines 

given by Fr Peter Francis in our last meeting in Kolkata. With 

our global mission there is no getting away from speaking and 

writing English well. The accent: British, US, Australian, Indian! 

In this insistence on English, some Juniorates make no room for 

the mother tongues. Some have to teach also Hindi, given the 

fact that the mother tongues of their Juniors are as many as the 

languages of India! Should the lucky SICJ include a little Hindi in 

the syllabus? If all Juniorates teach some Spanish, it would be a 

wise investment. We can’t forget the fork and the spoon, and social 

and table etiquettes! 

Kerala’s sobriquet, ‘God’s Own Country’¸ is not for nothing, 

non-Malayalees among us felt as we moved around and visited 

the sunset-gilded Kovalam beach. And the Kerala Province hosted 

the meeting with a matching hospitality. 

The SICJ is next-door to the ISRO where India’s rockets 

are made. We visited the place. There stands the former St Mary 

Magdalena church, now ISRO’s museum. As we stepped into it, 

the guide became eloquent: India’s first rocket was launched from 

the very floor you are now standing on – thanks to the gracious 

generosity of the Catholic Church. Some of us thought: The men 

who are now standing here are in the business of launching a new 

breed of Christ’s universal apostles!. 

- Christopher Xavier, SJ 


Between Us 

By William Sequeira, SJ 

have read these lines umpteen times and meditated 

I over them on several occasions: ‘’My thoughts are 

not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways”(Is 55/8). 

Still I used to run the course of my life on my own, relying 

more on my meticulously worked out plans than trusting 

in the Lord. My plans still used to succeed most of the time 

and I used feel happy and comfortable, feeling that the Lord 

approves all my plans. But the Lord had His own opportune 

time to teach me the lessons I needed to learn. The Lord 

surely taught me those lessons through a painful event that 

I underwent lately. 

A s 

the Novice 

Director, at the 

start of the 2012 academic 

year I started meticulously 

planning things for the novices 

and for myself. I thought in 

detail on what I could invest my 

time and energy in. Just then the 

Lord seemed to have decided to teach me 

a good and lasting lesson that I need to submit 

my plans to Him. He taught me this lesson through 

a painful freak road accident where I was thrown off 

my feet by a speeding motor-cyclist, while crossing the 

road. By every count and human reasoning that accident 

should have resulted in a major disaster with multiple 

injuries. But the Lord saved me with minimum bruises. 

That was indeed a great miracle of my life. But then I started 

thinking that I could get over those bruises within a short 

time and I would be on my feet once again attending to all 

the novitiate activities. Among the bruises the major one was 

near the right-leg ankle where a big patch of skin was torn off. 

That spot gave me writhing pain whenever I went for daily 

dressing. Only the scene of Christ being nailed to the Cross 

could give me the needed strength and courage to withstand 

that agonizing pain during and after the dressing. For the 

first time in my life I came to know the power contained in 

the Crucifix. If my little wound could cause me such severe 

pain what about the pain the Lord went through? 

Still I was expecting that the healing of the wound 

would be faster and that it will not last more than a month. 

Presuming this I began working out my plans for the novitiate. 

But to my utter shock the entire healing process took about 

three months, during which I had to be hospitalized, 

had to take complete bed-rest in the privacy of my room 

and depend on my community for my needs. 

Here too the Lord revealed His 

merciful love to me through the 

persons who took care of me 

Just as He taught 

Inigo 

during those critical days 

with great love. Though the 

experience was painful, yet 

the Lord had many lessons to 

teach me: that He is the Lord 

of life, that He is in control of 

events and situations, that He has His 

own plans which very often may not be in line with 

mine, that I need to surrender my plans to 

Him then only I could be at peace, in my total 

surrender He manifests His unconditional love 

and care for me, that He Himself has experienced human 

suffering, that He is a God of promise, who does not let 

down those who trust in Him. Reflecting back on the way 

the Lord dealt with him, Ignatius says in his autobiography 

that He taught him as a school teacher teaches a student. In 

a similar way I can say that during the course of the three 

months when the Lord intervened in my life I too was taught 

by the Lord just as He taught Inigo. 

William Sequeira, SJ (KAR) is Novice Master at Mount St Joseph, 

Bangalore, Karnataka. 

• 

CARTOON CORNER 

“I wear this outfit because 

prospects are less apt to say 

‘I don’t want anything.’” 

Courtesy: www.colemantoons.com 



PCFs meet in Patna 

When Jesuit formators meet one may expect a lot of 

animated discussion. This and more took place at 

Navjyoti Niketan, Patna, from 30 Sept 30 to 4 Oct, when 19 PCFs 

(Province Coordinators of Formation), along with Frs Edward 

Mudavaserry, the POSA (Provincial of South Asia), Gratian 

Carlo, the ADF (Assistancy Delegate for Formation), Orlando 

Torres, the General Assistant for Formation,and the Superiors 

of the Common Houses of Formation met to review and realign 

formation processes within the Assistancy. 

We began with an input on ‘Affective Maturity and 

Psychosexual and Spiritual Integration’ by Jose Kunnumpuram, 

SJ of AtmaDarshan, Patna. Jose first highlighted the larger 

spiritual context within which psychosexual development needs 

to be situated and then administered an instrument by which the 

PCFs could measure their own affective maturity. Senior members 

of the group seemed to fare better on the scale provided, proving 

again that wisdom is often directly proportional to age. After 

this introductory workshop, the ADF, the General Assistant for 

Formation and the POSA in turn drew our attention to a variety of 

opportunities and concerns regarding formation, each according 

to their own area of expertise and experience. The Superiors of 

the three Common Houses then enlightened us about the unique 

structures and developments in their Houses, and how the men 

entrusted to their formative care have been faring. Each PCF then 

had the floor, briefly pointing out significant areas of strength and 

concern with regard to formation in their provinces. 

Perhaps a key phrase that best symbolizes the meet is 

‘procedural standardization,’ based on a sharing of the best 

formative practices. Over the past couple of years, we have 

settled upon standardized criteria with regard to the selection of 

candidates, the raising of levels of English proficiency in the pre- 

Novitiate, Novitiate and Juniorate, and the formulation of general 

profiles for both candidates and Staff members in early formation. 

The need for this early formation to feature a well-differentiated 

and graded inter-disciplinary syllabus is now one of the initiatives 

on the anvil. We agreed that we need to encourage our young men 

to take greater responsibility for their own formation by an ongoing 

personal review and strategic planning. A standard format to 

facilitate a more personalized, professional and mission-oriented 

approach to formation is in the offing.This will include a list of 

comprehensive and graded skills needed to work efficiently and 

efficaciously in our challenging, complex and professional world. 

Finally, key ingredients within the Pre-Ordination Programme 

(POP) - called the ‘Arrupe Month’ in other Assistancies - were 

finalized. A few issues that demanded more systematic evaluation 

were the recent requirement for a three-year B.Ph. programme 

and how this is to be factored into our present formation process, 

the comparative fruitfulness of the different approaches in 

theological formation in the Assistancy, and the need to balance 

localized formation with a more universal outlook, which includes 

the study of foreign languages and the need for a few Scholastics 

to be sent to do Regency and studies abroad. 

An area of concern was the abrupt manner in which some 

drop out of the Society, and so the need for more guidance on 

the part of the Society. We need to provide more systematic 

accompaniment especially during the stages of college studies 

and Regency, so that one may not be easily disoriented during 

these less structured periods of formation. 

Much credit for the gradual standardization of our way of 

proceeding with regard to formation in the Assistancy, as well to 

the high levels of positive energy at the annual meetings over 

the past few years, needs to go to Gratian Carlo, the ADF. The 

induction of younger PCFs across the board has also added 

verve and zest to these meetings, with a good deal of optimism 

and a concerted, collaborative spirit clearly emerging.The warm 

hospitality extended by Joe Maripuram(Patna PCF) and all of the 

Patna communities we visited also added to our joy. This was the 

last such meeting attended by the present General’s Assistant 

for Formation, Orlando Torres, as he comes to the end of ten 

long and productive years in this ministry. We will miss him - his 

simplicity and warmth, his clear and succinct interventions,and 

his illuminating insights. 

The topic chosen for next year’s meeting is “A Changing 

Personal Profile in a Changing Social Context: Implications for 

Jesuit Formation.” If the world and those joining us are not quite 

the same as before, formative policies and practices would need 

to be suitably revised. As we attempt to do justice to these new 

demands in the area of formation, we pray to the Lord of the 

harvest to send us plentiful men to work creatively in his vineyard, 

with and for his people. 

- Keith D’Souza, SJ 



By Gratian Carlo, SJ 

Fr General’s concern for “the best 

possible formation”: Fr General spoke to 

the members of the JCSA in February 2012 

and later wrote to Fr Edward, POSA in his 

letter of 13 March ‘12 things which have 

direct relevance to the recommendations 

of the Studies Commission Report. He 

wrote: ““Considering the emerging needs 

of the world Church I see it as of special 

importance: a. To provide our men with 

the best possible Formation, so that 

they will be effective and helpful agents 

at the service of the Church and the 

people they meet, or to whom they will be 

assigned. This has particular reference 

to the Assistancy Houses of Formation 

that will need an adequate number of 

well-prepared Professors, Superiors and 

Spiritual Fathers. 

b. To prepare a good number of 

capable Jesuits in Ecclesiastical, Human 

or Natural Sciences. This preparation will 

help the Province, the Conference and the 

Society at large in responding intelligently 

and effectively to new challenges and 

directions in an increasingly complex 

world. 

c. To make sure that “Ongoing 

Formation” becomes our normal way of 

growing as persons and ministers (priests) 

and thus supports a creative ministry that 

will be able to respond to the new Frontiers 

that emerge from within and from without. 

d. To discern in what areas we will 

need Jesuits who are well-prepared, so that 

they can help the Church and our different 

ministries in facing new situations and 

needs.” 

Fourth Commission related to 

formation: JCSA’s concern for formation is 

nothing new. In the course of 32 years the 

Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA) has 

seen four commissions dealing with issues 

of formation: 1. Inculturation Commission, 

1978; 2. Formation Review Commission, 

1992; Integration Commission, 1999; 

4. Studies Commission of 2010. JCSA 

has been ever conscious that changing 

circumstances in a world that is fast moving 

require a regular review of the vision, 

policies and practices related to formation 

not only of the formees but also that of 

formators whether they are Superiors, 

professional formators/spiritual guides or 

teaching staff. 

There has been a lot of interest in 

the Studies Commission of 2010. This 

article is an attempt to bring the readers of 

Jivan up to date on the background and the 

present status of the Studies Commission 

“The Best Possible 

Formation” 

- Studies Commission Report 

and its follow up 

Report and the planned follow up on its 

recommendations. 

By his letter of 25 Dec 2011, the POSA 

(Provincial of South Asia) promulgated 

the Report of the Studies Commission. 

In the letter he said, “The JCSA Studies 

Commission that was constituted on 10 Jan 

‘11, successfully completed its work and 

submitted to me a comprehensive report 

on 11 March 11..The Commission was 

set up principally to explore and examine 

ways in which the teaching and studying 

of ecclesiastical courses of Philosophy 

and Theology could enable us to respond 

more effectively to the exigencies and 

imperatives of our Mission in today’s 

complex and challenging world. 

“Fr Michael Amaladoss (MDU) 

graciously accepted the onerous 

responsibility of the Convenor while Frs. 

George Pattery (CCU), Christie P. Maria 

Joseph (MDU), Job Kozhamthadam 

(DEL) and Francis Minj (RAN) were active 

members of the Commission. The coopted 

members of the Commission were Rekha 

Chennattu, James Ponnaiah (JDV Faculty), 

Lawrence Fernandes (MDU-SN), Francis 

Gonsalves (GUJ-VJ), Rudi Heredia (BOM), 

Mathew Jayanth (CCU), and Francis 

Jayapathy (MDU). All of them have 

contributed in diverse ways to its collective 

findings and recommendations. 

What did the Commission do?: “The 

Content, the Methods, our Post Graduate 

Programmes and Staff were core areas 

of concentration, analysis and review 

for the Commission. In dialogue with 

students and staff, the Commission was 

mandated to come up with some concrete 

proposals towards streamlining, updating 

and invigorating the courses at the graduate 

and postgraduate levels and creating an 

academic climate that would challenge and 

propel both the staff and students towards 

excellence. It was heartening to see a basic 

good will coupled with a generally positive 

attitude ...in its interactions with the Staff 

and students. After situating its work in the 

larger perspective of today’s context and 

...the assets and strengths already available 

in different domains of our Ecclesiastical 

Institutes and what it discovered in the 

surveys and extensive interactions,.. the 

Commission makes some significant 

recommendations. 

JCSA accepts and POSA promulgates: 

“The JCSA in its meeting in October 2011 in 

Pune, deliberated on the Report, and after 

placing its unstinting appreciation for the 

work accomplished by the members and 

the co-opted members of the Commission, 

requested the Provincial of South Asia to 

formally promulgate it, so that the benefits 

of its recommendations start percolating 

into all levels of academic life in the Jesuit 

Ecclesiastical Institutes of South Asia. 

Obviously not all the recommendations 

spelled out by the Commission can 

be carried out overnight. Nor will the 

multiplication of bodies and structural 

creations ensure the implementation of 

the spirit of the Commission’s Report. I am 

hereby promulgating and forwarding the 

Report to the Presidents/Principals/Deans 

and the Staff requesting them to deliberate 

on it and collectively to explore ways of 

applying its recommendations...” 

ADF explains: The POSA referred 

to an accompanying document from 

Fr Gratian Carlo, the ADF (Assistancy 



Delegate for Formation). The ADF, putting 

aside overly optimistic, pessimistic and 

cynical views of the Report, opts for a 

realistic and hopeful view, and lists some 

of the beneficial fall outs from the Studies 

Commission Report both during its process 

and since its promulgation: 

1. Everyone involved – the 

Provincials, Principals, Deans and staff 

members of the RTCs and NTCs, the 

various commissions of the Assistancy, the 

PCFs, the Students – was kept abreast of 

the progress of the Studies Commission 

Report and its contents through the inputs of 

Fr Michael Amaladoss, the Convenor, and 

the members of the Commission. POSA 

and ADF focussed on the importance of 

following up on the recommendations of 

the Report. 

2. The four faculties and the RTCs 

are already taking certain steps towards 

implementing some of the recommendations 

of the Report. This process will be closely 

followed up and facilitated by POSA and 

ADF, during the academic year of 2012- 

13. 

3. Regarding the recommendation 

that “the process of staff selection needs 

to be streamlined..” a streamlined process 

of selection has been put in place and 

is already being used, subject to further 

review. Also related to the staff recruitment, 

the provincials are committed to making 5% 

(of those who have completed philosophy 

and up to the age of 65) of their members 

to the Assistancy needs and another 5% to 

international needs and to gradually move 

towards 10% each in the coming years. 

Along with this commitment the JCSA 

has accepted the recommendation that in 

the coming year each province will have 

a ‘Strategic Plan” in place for utilising its 

personnel, financial and other resources in 

an efficacious way. 

Fr General too has stressed the 

importance of having men set apart for 

intellectual apostolate and that there must 

be a pool of specialists in each province. At 

the JCSA meeting in Bangalore in February 

2011, he said that each province must plan 

for 80% of its personnel for its own needs 

and set aside 20% for the Conference and 

the Universal Society. At the meeting at 

Jamshedpur in February 2012 he drew 

the attention of the Conference to areas in 

formation that need special attention like 

recruiting of candidates, adequate training 

of formators, effective accompaniment 

of those who are in formation, need for 

excellence in formation that will give us men 

of depth, creativity and availability who can 

locate and respond to frontier areas in each 

of our ministries. 

4. The focus of the Studies 

Commission has been our faculties of 

Philosophy and Theology. However, it is 

having its ‘ripple effect’ on other stages 

of formation as well. In 2011 and 12 the 

Assistancy meetings of Formators at each 

stage have reflected on how to revitalise 

the area of formation they are involved in. 

The vocation promoters reflected on the 

criteria of selection of candidates and the 

various means they could employ to see 

that only those who are suitable for the 

Society are selected and promoted. The 

Pre-Novitiate Directors reflected on the 

‘Profile of a Pre-Novice’ and shared the 

methodology followed by each so as to 

gather together the ‘best practices’ which, 

then, everyone could follow. The second 

meeting of the Vocation Promoters and 

Pre-Novitiate directors also had a three day 

‘in-service’ training to strengthen their skills 

as formators. 

The Juniorate Staff had similar 

meetings (see p. 10) and their focus was 

how to help juniors reach a good level of 

proficiency in English, while they further 

consolidate the personal, spiritual formation 

initiated during their novitiate. In May 2012 

the deans of the Common Juniorates met 

at Trivandrum to come up with a common 

syllabus for the Juniorate, drawing upon 

the best practices of each. Meanwhile, 

the JCSA approved the plan presented 

by the ADF after consulting the staff at 

the Pre-Novitiates and Juniorates, to raise 

the level of the Standard English test from 

CBSC VIII to X and CBSC X to XII for the 

Pre-Novitiates and Juniorates respectively. 

The marks in the exams conducted in 

March 2012 show that reaching reasonably 

high targets is possible with a little more 

of hard work on the part of students and 

staff alike. 

Novice Masters on their part learn 

through sharing with one another and 

are committed to laying a firm foundation 

of spirituality that would lead to personal 

transformation in each novice on which he 

can build during the subsequent stages of 

formation. PCFs have identified stages at 

which formees would need special attention 

through effective accompaniment like 

the period of college studies, philosophy 

regency and young priests. Need for 

systematising of the learning of leadership 

and other skills required for doing the 

apostolic ministry effectively has been noted 

and the ADF with the help of formees and 

formators has put together a list of skills to 

be picked up at various stages of formation. 

The list will be further streamlined at the next 

ACF meeting in October 2012. One of the 

challenges in this area, of course, is to make 

sure that every one in formation develops 

commitment and personal responsibility for 

his own formation. 

The Spiritual Directors of the 

Common Houses had a colloquium in 

March 2012 with a view to strengthening 

their ministry. They all wished that every 

scholastic would come to appreciate the 

value of spiritual guidance as a means for 

inner transformation and would make use 

of it with the same commitment with which 

it is made available to them. 

In my interactions with the Scholastics 

in the context of the progress of the Studies 

Commission they have assured me that 

they fully support the idea of bringing our 

Philosophical and Theological Centres to 

a level of excellence that is on par with 

any such centre in the world. They know 

that they will have to work harder if and 

when the institutions will make greater 

demands on them towards reaching that 

level of excellence and that they are ready 

to measure up. The staff, too, show a lot of 

good will and are already at work in findings 

feasible ways of translating dreams into 

goals and concrete achievements. 

Signs of change: The setting 

up of the Studies Commission seems 

to have happened at a crucial time in 

the life of the South Asian Assistancy. 

The recommendations of the Report are 

certainly timely and have evoked keen 

interest. Signs of new processes, better 

practices and higher standards are already 

appearing here and there. One hopes that 

these signs gather into a mighty force that 

would turn all our formation transformative 

and give us men of “depth, creativity and 

availability”, able to offer quality service in 

any ministry, anywhere in the world. 

Conclusion: Anyone interested in 

getting a copy of the Studies Commission 

Report and the accompanying document 

of Gratian Carlo, the ADF, can do so by 

contacting your Provincial or the Presidents/ 

Principals/Deans of the Jesuit Faculties 

at Vidyajyoti, Delhi, JDV, Pune or Satya 

Nilayam, Chennai. You can also contact 

Gratian Carlo, ADF at jcsa.adf@gmail. 

com or Peter Raj, Socius to POSA, at jcsa. 

socius@gmail.com. We welcome your 

constructive suggestions for revitalising 

our formation. 

• 


Interview 

By Luca Rolandi 

“It taught us 

to live in a new world” 

Interview with John W. O’Malley, SJ, 

Jesuit historian and theologian on 50 years after Vatican II 

After 50 years, what is the 

legacy of the Council? Should Vatican 

II be celebrated or lived? 

The Council is a rich and complex 

reality whose legacy is manifold. Among 

other legacies, the Council gave the 

Church a new role as reconciler in a 

world torn apart by hatreds and threats 

of violence. Reconciliation was one of 

the great themes running through the 

council and was expressed in a variety 

of ways. The document of the liturgy, 

for instance, promoted a reconciliation 

of the Church with non-Western cultures 

by inviting symbols and rituals from 

those cultures into the liturgy itself. 

The Church thus distanced itself from 

the Western “cultural imperialism” that 

affected even Catholic missionaries. 

Related to that reconciliation but 

perhaps even more pertinent for today’s 

world, was the reconciliation with 

Jews and Muslims, as expressed in 

the document, Nostra aetate. This 

meant putting behind us a tradition of 

belittling and denigrating those faiths, 

a tradition that had contributed to the 

horror of the Holocaust. Pope John Paul 

II set a marvelous example by his many 

meetings with Jewish groups, as it well 

known. Less well known but in today’s 

tense international situation even more 

important, were his many meetings 

with Muslims. Should the Council be 

celebrated or lived? Well, obviously, 

we should do both, but we cannot 

rest content simply with celebrating. 

As I tried to show above, the council 

gave the Church this new mission of 

reconciliation, a mission incumbent 

upon the leaders of the Church but also 

upon each and every Catholic. 

What about the debate between 

those who favor the description of the 

Council as an “event” and those who 

favor the term “occurrence”? 

This is not an idle debate. 

Occurrence implies a happening after 

which life goes on almost as before. 

Event implies a happening after which 

life is in some important way changed. 

To describe Vatican II as an occurrence 

is to minimize it. It is to forget what 

the Church taught and how it behaved 

before the council, and thus to deny 

that any significant change occurred. Of 

course, the continuities in the Church 

are far deeper, more important, and 

incomparably more significant than 

any changes. But to deny the changes is 

to stick one’s head into the sand. Pope 

Benedict himself acknowledged this fact 

in his address to the Roman Curia on 22 

Dec 2005, when he said that the council 

had to be understood as “a blending, 

at different levels, of continuity and 

discontinuity.” 

Historical interpretations, 

hermeneutics, discontinuity or reform, 

long implementation period. How 

should the Council be interpreted? 

The Extraordinary Synod of 1985 

provided an excellent set of norms for 

doing so. The Synod stipulated, for 

instance, that the spirit of the Council 

had to be understood as based on 

the letter of the documents. It also 

stipulated that the Council had to be 

understood in continuity with the great 

tradition of the Church. Absolutely 

fundamental as the latter criterion is, it 

must be supplemented by saying that 

the Council must also be understood 

as in some measure discontinuous - a 


Interview 

break with the past. To insist that the 

only criterion is continuity is in effect to 

deny that anything happened. And that, 

in my opinion, is an obvious absurdity. 

Reform is a good term to describe what 

happened at Vatican II, because, as Pope 

Benedict says, reform is a “blending, 

at different levels, of continuity and 

discontinuity.” 

It brought in big changes that 

have altered the Church’s way of 

being. What does the future hold? 

Vatican II has already passed from 

experience and memory to history. Today 

only a diminishing minority remember 

“how it was before.” It is difficult to say, 

therefore, how the Council will impact 

upon future generations except possibly 

to say they will experience what the 

Council did - not as a change but as “the 

way things are” (and maybe assume that 

that is the way they have always been). 

Except for a marginal minority, I find 

it difficult to imagine that the so-called 

“Tridentine mass” is going to make a 

comeback. Vernacular liturgy is now 

simply taken for granted. I suspect that 

even the Church’s mission as reconciler 

is taken for granted - even though I 

believe we must preach it and preach it 

and preach it. 

Universality of the Church, 

pastoral considerations, reconciliation 

with the world and modernity, respect 

for a tradition that renews itself and 

changes in time... are these concepts 

difficult to understand? 

I think it is important to keep 

matters as simple as possible. That 

means, first of all, insisting that the 

Church’s only mission is to preach 

the message of the Gospel. That is 

the “unchanging substance,” as it is 

sometimes called. But the mission 

includes making the message such 

that it is understandable in present 

circumstances and made real for those 

listening to it, which means adaptation. 

The Church, like any living organism, 

has changed with time and will continue 

to change. That is a condition for 

being alive. That is a condition for not 

becoming an irrelevant fossil. Change, 

as such, is not the enemy of identity but 

often the condition for maintaining it. 

The experiences of communities 

and the testimonies of lay people 

and clerics who have applied the 

Council teachings to their lives count 

more than historical and theological 

disputes. What are your thoughts 

on this? 

One very special characteristic of 

Vatican II was that its decrees did not 

consist in a collection of ordinances 

directed to behavior modification or 

directed simply to ensuring proper order 

in Church affairs. No, the Council had 

a spiritual message, as the very form and 

vocabulary of its decrees betray. For the 

first time in history, a Council insisted 

on the “universal call to holiness” and 

made clear that promoting that call 

was what the Church was all about. 

Moreover, through its vocabulary the 

Council provided a template of holiness. 

I refer to such characteristic words in 

the Council such as hope, friendship, 

partnership, collegiality, reconciliation, 

brotherhood and sisterhood. These 

are deeply Christian words, but words 

virtually absent from previous councils. 

The Council called us to work in the 

world for the Church but also for the 

world itself. This might sound like a 

platitude, but no Council earlier had 

ever spoken this way or called upon 

Christians to expend themselves in this 

way. Theological disputes are necessary, 

for, if they go well, they help us stay 

on track and help us defuse ideological 

interpretations. 

But the real fruit of this Council 

is how it taught us how to live. That 

is incomparably more important than 

theological niceties and will, I hope, be 

the lasting legacy of the Council. • 

Courtesy: www. vaticaninsider.lastampa.it 


Roots 

By Hedwig Lewis, SJ 

Overview 

The text of the life-history of 

Ignatius Loyola is the last testament 

- a personal legacy - that the saint 

bequeathed to the Society of Jesus that 

he founded. He did not write it himself, 

but dictated it to a younger companion 

and confidante, Fr Luis Goncalves da 

Camara. 

Ignatius narrated his accounts in 

three periods: August-September 1553; 

March 1555; and October 1555, when 

da Camara had to leave for Portugal. 

Ignatius never resumed his stories. The 

Autobiography covers only 18 (1521- 

1538) of the 65 years of his life (1491- 

1556). Most of the text was read by 

Ignatius before his death in July 1556 

and he seemed content with the younger 

man’s precise memory of the spoken 

account. The last chapter (ch 11) spans 

as many years as the previous ten put 

together. 

Purpose 

Fr Jeronimo Nadal made frequent 

and fervent requests to Ignatius to 

tell how God guided him from the 

beginning of his conversion, so that 

his account might be for his sons a sort 

of testament and paternal instruction. 

Though Ignatius was reluctant, he 

decided “to narrate all that had occurred 

in his soul” for the benefit of the 

Society. 

This is a spiritual autobiography. 

Ignatius reveals not what he had done 

for God but what God had deigned to 

do in him and through him. So, not 

Ignatius, but God stands at the centre 

of the Autobiography. The person of 

Ignatius effaces itself, and the story is 

told in the third person, by a “pilgrim” 

- as Ignatius prefers to call himself. 

For Nadal, Ignatius’s story was 

somehow the story of every Jesuit. In 

an exhortation at Alcala in 1561, he said 

that in Ignatius one saw “the first form 

and grace” God gave to the Society. At 

Cologne in 1567 he stated: “The whole 

life of the Society is contained in germ 

and expressed in Ignatius’s story.” 

Titles 

Da Camara left his document 

without a title. Nadal put one in his 

Autobiography 

of Ignatius 

The story 

behind the story 

own copy: The Acts of Father Ignatius, 

as Father Luis Goncalves First wrote Them, 

Receiving Them from the Mouth of the 

Father Himself. Modern translators and 

editors have given it many titles such 

as The Pilgrim Story, or Testament, Acts, 

Memoirs. These titles point to the special 

nature of the narrative. It is a personal 

account of Ignatius’s life, but one in 

which he chooses and recalls specific 

events and experiences for the benefit of 

the early Jesuits. It has been translated 

into many languages with the most 

common title, Autobiography. 

Reservations 

Not everyone appreciated the 

picture of Ignatius which emerged from 

da Camara’s pen. A free Latin version 

was produced very early by Fr Anibal 

du Coudray and later printed but never 

really circulated. In 1567, Francis Borgia, 

the Jesuits’ third General, recalled all the 

copies of the Autobiography so as to 

clear the way for Ribadeneira’s “true” 

account of the founder’s life: “The 

Provincials are to make a good job of 

gathering in what Fr Louis Gonsalves 

da Camara wrote, or any other writing 

about the life of our Father, and they are 

to keep them and not permit them to 

be read or to be circulated among our 

people or others. For being an imperfect 

thing, it is not appropriate that it cause 

problems.” 

Some months later Ribadeneira, 

answering a query from Nadal, 

comments that: “The gathering in of 

Fr Luis Gonsalves’ writings about the 

life of our Father did not originate 

with me, but from the fathers who 

remembered our Father. And it seemed 

a good idea to his paternity so that when 

what is written gets published it should 

not appear that there be divergence or 

contradiction or that the work does 

not have as much authority as what 

was written almost from the mouth of 

the Father.” 

There seems to have been some 

embarrassment about the way Ignatius 

expressed himself and possibly some 

disappointment too. The narrative 

is most unsatisfactory as a piece of 

literature. To a casual reader it seems 

to be just a patchwork of random 

memories, ranging from the trivial to 

the profoundly significant. But looking 

closely at the details and the sequence of 

eleven chapters we discover a connecting 

thread and pedagogy in them. 

Retrieval 

It is surprising that after it had been 

obtained at such cost, the Autobiography 

was never published, either in the 

original or in translations into modern 

languages, till the 20th century. The 

Bollandists included a Latin translation 

in Acta Sanctorum in 1731. The original 

Spanish was edited and published by 

the Historical Institute of the Society of 

Jesus in 1904. The first translation into 

a modern language was in English. Two 

“loose” translations appeared precisely 

in 1900, both by Jesuits: one American, 

J.F.X. O’Connor; the other British, E. 

M. Rix. 

Today the document is regarded as 

a spiritual classic and a masterpiece of 

self- revelation in its very clumsiness. The 

remarkable renewal in the appreciation 

and use of the Spiritual Exercises is 

in large measure due to the current 

understanding in the light of the insights 

provided by the Autobiography. It supplies 

extensive information indispensable for 

understanding the rest of Ignatius’ 

writings with accuracy and depth. • 


Mosaic 

Stories to tell 

In October 1550 St Peter Canisius was elected by the faculty to the office of Rector at the 

University of Ingolstadt, not under Jesuit management. In a letter to Ignatius in Rome a few weeks 

later, Canisius sighed: “Governing this place is bringing me a good deal of trouble and precious little 

so far in the way of obvious results. The Rector’s principal duties are to enroll new students, to force 

debtors to pay their bills, to listen to the complaints which men and women citizens of the town bring 

against the young men, to arrest, reprimand and jail the students who get drunk and roam around 

the streets at night, and finally to preside at official festivities and at academic functions connected 

with the conferral of degrees… They say, and it’s true, that the lawyers run the place.” 

- Contributed by Hedwig Lewis, SJ 

Words to ponder 

“Historically, painting has had to 

wrestle with iconophobia. The Second 

Commandment prohibits the use of 

graven images (Exodus 20:4). Suspicion 

of the visual image was apparently 

also a feature of early Buddhism, and 

persists in much of Islam and Judaism. 

James Hillman, who regards imagery 

as a very important part of our psychic 

life, reminds us that the followers of 

Cromwell smashed images of Jesus, 

Mary and the saints... Christianity has 

avoided this iconophobia by regarding 

Jesus himself as an icon of God. In 

Murdoch’s view there is religiosity in 

all great art, and visual art has therefore 

contributed to our understanding of 

religion.” - Earl McKenzie 

Dates to remember 

4 Dec 1870: The Roman College, appropriated by the Piedmontese 

government, was reopened as a Lyceum. The monogram of the Society 

over the main entrance was effaced. 

7 Dec 1688: At Rome, the death of Fr Honoratus de Fabri, a great 

scientist. He taught the circulation of the blood before Harvey’s book 

was published. 

9 Dec 1741: At Paris, the death of Fr Charles Poree, a famous master 

of rhetoric. Nineteen of his pupils were admitted into the French 

Academy, including Voltaire, who, in spite of his impiety, always felt 

an affectionate regard for his old master. 

15 Dec 1631: At Naples, during an earthquake and the eruption of 

Mount Vesuvius, the Jesuits worked to help all classes of people. 

28 Dec 1663: The death of Francis Maria Grimaldi. He was an 

astronomer who did research on the refraction of light. Isaac Newton 

made use of his work. Fr General Acquaviva granted him admission 

to the Society, but he died while making his preparations. 

Courtesy: www.glasbergen.com 

Cartoon to giggle at 

“Peace on Earth, good will 

toward men? There’s an 

application for that!” 


Basic to healing: Mindfulness 

practice and meditation are basic to 

healing and therapy. Mindfulnessbased 

therapies and practices are most 

popular in the West; they are secularized 

and watered-down versions of 

the originally Buddhist rigorous forms. 

Mindfulness meditation is basically 

Buddhist and it is central to its practice 

and theory. 

Mindfulness in Pali language is sati, 

in Sanskrit smrti: it means remembrance 

or recollection: remembrance as 

paying attention, being present, 

being aware, holding. The Buddhist 

practice of mindfulness is the basis 

of vipassana meditation. Vipassana is 

Wellness 

teaching of mindfulness in this sutra 

as well as in vipassana courses is a bit 

problematic. For, their mindfulness 

practice is portrayed as watching, 

observing, analyzing and labeling 

of one’s sensations, emotions and 

thoughts; it is self-consciousness taken 

to extremes, which is counterproductive. 

Mindfulness comprises the threefold 

of awareness, attitude and awakening 

to the ground of awareness itself. The 

interpretation of these dimensions is 

many-sided and also a bit controversial. 

Let me present the essentials very 

briefly. 

Awareness: Mindfulness is first of 

all awareness: non-judgmental awareness 

By Ama Samy, SJ 

and is concrete, moment to moment. 

Mindfulness of course is embodied selfawareness. 

An exercise: Sit for a few minutes 

and pay attention to your breath and 

body sensations. You can pay attention 

to your breath sensation, to your 

body, to your being seated, the sounds 

around you and so on, but breathawareness 

is basic. Pay attention to how 

your breathing feels, in the abdomen 

particularly. Your abdomen is moving in 

and out, just be aware of the sensations. 

When you are aware of this, your 

awareness is not restricted or confined, it 

vast and boundless, and yet it is focused 

on the breathing sensation and body. 

Meditative 

Mindfulness 

ancient Buddhist meditation, but it was 

revived only in the last century in Burma 

and Thailand. There are more than one 

school of vipassana, and they are not 

without controversies. V i p a s s a n a 

is contrasted with samatha, which is 

concentration and samadhi. 

Vipassana means clear seeing or 

inquiry - seeing into the impermanent 

nature of all reality and of the 

impermanence and passing nature 

of the self. Satipatthana Sutta is the 

classic teaching of mindfulness. The 

of what is happening in your body and 

mind as well as in the environment; it is 

being present and paying attention; it 

is not observation or watching; it is felt 

sense, like drinking water and knowing 

if it is cold or warm. Some make a good 

distinction between embodied selfawareness 

vs conceptual self-awareness. 

Conceptual self-awareness is based in 

language, is rational and explanatory 

and is abstract; embodied self-awareness 

is based in sensing, feeling and acting; 

it is spontaneous, open to change 

Mindfulness is being grounded 

and centred in the body, in the felt sense 

of the body as well as what is happening 

to your mind and in the environment. 

It is slowing down, being present, alive 

and aware. Not being carried away by 

fantasies or thoughts, but coming back 

again and again to the breath and body. 

Though your attention is centred 

on the breath, there will be a spaciousness 

to awareness, a spaciousness like the vast 

sky. In this spaciousness, you can let-be 

yourself, giving oneself space for all 


Wellness 

emotions and thoughts; mindfulness is 

befriending and being-with your emotions, 

needs and thoughts. They are like the 

waves on the surface of the ocean, let 

them come and go, do not tarry with 

them, do not cling to them. Do not 

be afraid. Fear not. The emotions or 

thoughts are only emotions or thoughts, 

they will not destroy you. There is 

power in you, and strength. 

Do not allow yourself to be carried 

away or too involved in these thoughts 

and fantasies. Particularly thoughts and 

images of self-put-downs, or arrogance 

and the like will capture and drag you 

down. Sex and power fantasies and 

magical mentalities are seductions with 

no exit. Fantasies often destroy and 

mislead us. Of course, there is a place 

for imagination and fantasy, but not 

anything goes. 

Attitude: Mindfulness involves an 

attitude of self-acceptance, unconditional 

acceptance. You are all right as you are. 

You are accepted, you can be yourself. It 

is a coming home to self and to the ground of 

the self. It is to be at peace with oneself; with 

one’s destiny and fate, with one’s body, 

sexuality, mortality and with life and 

death. This calls for patience, endurance 

and courage. Such self-acceptance 

involves self-compassion. No mindfulness, 

no compassion. Further, it is also finding 

one’s home in the earth, sensing one’s 

interrelatedness with all beings. 

Being at peace and at home, one 

can choose one’s way from the centre 

of oneself, not merely from the head 

or fantasies. Paradoxically, mindfulness 

opens one to the unexpected, the 

possible and the novel. Your life will 

not be fixated and overcontrolled, but 

flow like a river. 

Mindfulness calls one to orient 

oneself to what is good, true, beautiful and 

loving in the course of your life. This 

is not so much in terms of concepts or 

ideas, but in terms of felt sensations 

and feelings. It is similar to St. Ignatius’s 

second set of discernment rules: you go 

more by what moves your heart than 

by ideas. Look at and feel your lifechoices 

and relationships and go by what 

will give you heart’s peace and inner 

freedom. It is a long process of testing 

and discerning and choosing one’s 

direction of life congruent with one’s 

heart and mind. Such felt sense and 

peace is not the end as such. It is what 

empowers us to carry on with our life 

and work. It is both to be at peace and at 

the same time ceaselessly to strive and 

struggle. As the poet says, ‘Teach us to 

strive and not to strive.’ 

In learning to live in the present, 

one is aware of being rooted in the past 

and stretching towards the future, yet 

one is grounded in the here and now, 

one learns to pay attention to what is 

taking place here and now. One pays 

attention to the other, is present to 

the other in openness and acceptance, 

and not labeling and categorizing or 

being judgmental. Mindfulness is nonjudgmental 

towards the self and towards 

the self of the other. It is letting the 

other be other. At the same time it is 

the power to discern wrong as wrong and 

right as right. 

Such mindfulness can be prayer. 

Mindfulness in formal setting is 

practiced in seated posture; when 

this posture is one of faith, hope and 

love, it is prayer. It is non-discursive, 

contemplative prayer, prayer of being 

present, learning to let-be and let-go, 

surrender and self-acceptance. Usually 

our prayer is head-centred, conceptual 

and imaginative, which is an imposition 

from without; whereas mindfulness is a 

form of flowing from within the body 

and earth, heart and mind. 

Awakening: Above all, 

mindfulness means awakening to the 

ground of awareness itself; it is in a sense 

awareness of awareness. This fundamental 

awareness is the limit of the world, it is 

the ‘clearing’ for the appearing of the 

world; there is no world apart from this 

awareness. It is further the groundless 

ground of the world, beyond space and 

time, with no inside or outside. This is 

our coming home to the primordial source 

and ground of reality; it is the nameless 

Mystery that is our source, origin and 

end. This Mystery that is our ground 

is the goal, end and the sustenance of 

our life and love. Mindfulness practice 

is finding our home in the Mystery that is 

graciousness. 

Let me end with the legend of the 

Buddha’s temptation by Mara: 

Just before the historical 

Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, realized 

enlightenment, it is said that the tempter 

Mara attacked him with armies of 

monsters to frighten Siddhartha from his 

seat under the Bodhi tree. But the aboutto-be 

Buddha was not moved. In the 

final temptation, Mara demands that the 

Buddha vacate his seat and depart, for, 

so Mara claims, the earth on which the 

Buddha is seated belongs t o h i m , 

Mara. The Buddha then touches the 

earth and calls her to witness; the earth 

opens up and proclaims that she belongs 

to the Buddha and not to Mara. Thus 

Mara is vanquished. As the morning 

star rises in the sky, Siddhartha Gautama 

realizes enlightenment and becomes 

Buddha. The awakening of the Buddha 

is his bearing witness: “I and all beings 

on earth together attain enlightenment 

at the same time.” 

The Buddha touching the earth 

with his right hand and the earth 

witnessing to him is symbolic of us 

humans being rooted and grounded 

in earth, matter, body and psyche. 

Our spiritual realization dawns and 

matures only when we acknowledge 

our rootedness and grounding. It flows 

from the unconditional acceptance of 

ourselves and awakening to the ground 

of our reality. 

The Buddha’s left hand is resting 

on the lap holding an alms bowl. This 

is symbolic of our inter-dependence, 

inter-being and community. It points to 

dialogue in our embodied relationality as 

central in our healing, becoming whole 

and awakening. It is in dialogue that 

one discovers oneself, gets reconciled 

with oneself, with others and with earth 

and the world, and comes to awakening 

to the Mystery of our selfhood, our 

Original Face before our parents were 

born. 

• 

Fr Ama Samy, SJ, (MDU) is Director 

of Bodhi Zendo, the Zen Meditation Centre in 

Perumal Malai, Kodaikanal, T.N. 


Interview 

It is for the first time that the President 

of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and 

Madagascar (JESAM) is specially invited 

to attend the 21 – 27 October 2012 Meeting 

of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia 

(JCSA) in Goa. Fr Michael Lewis, SJ, 

spoke to Jivan Correspondent in Mumbai, 

John Rose, SJ, for an exclusive interview 

to Jivan: 

of Jesus and Fr General has encouraged 

inter-provincial and inter-Conference 

collaboration. 

How do you understand Fr. 

General’s statement, “the world 

needs Africa; and the Socuety needs 

Africa”? 

African continent is blessed with 

lots of natural and human resources. The 

some five years. We have very few small 

tertiary institutions and do not have large 

institutions as many of the Assistancies 

have. The majority of our population is 

poor. We have problems of wars, political 

instability, refugees and migrants, natural 

disasters for which we are ill-equipped. 

The Society in Africa has about 

1600 Jesuits who are only about 9% of 

“Focus on 

Africa is focus 

on the future 

of the 

Society” 

Interview with 

Michael Lewis, SJ 

Mike, is it the first time that JESAM 

President is called for JCSA meeting? 

What is the purpose? 

I think so! This is the first time that the 

President of JESAM attends JCSA meeting 

I am grateful for the kind invitation of Fr 

EdwardMudavassery (POSA) to attend 

the JCSA meeting. I have already met 

with the European and North American 

Conferences of Provincials. It is becoming 

common in the Society for Presidents or 

Provincials from one Assistancy to attend 

the meeting of another Assistancy. I hope 

Fr Edward sooner or later will visit us at 

JESAM. 

The Society encourages inter- 

Provincial collaboration. I am attending 

this meeting to foster collaboration between 

JESAM and JCSA. We have realized that 

our situations are similar and we can learn 

from one another and support each other in 

the mission. The last General Congregation 

emphasized the universality of the Society 

world not only needs Africa because of 

those resources, it is scrambling for them, 

which is a problem for our people. Human 

resources are also our strength and this 

is true for the Society of Jesus. We have 

seen in the past few years the increase of 

vocations in the continent to the Society 

of Jesus. According to recent statistics 

of the Society of Jesus, Africa was the 

only Conference which showed a growth 

in numbers. So for its next generation of 

leaders, naturally, the Society has to turn 

to Africa, as it increasingly does to the 

global South. 

Why is Africa one of the apostolic 

preferences of the Society? How long 

will we have to focus on Africa? 

In the last Procurators’ Congregation 

in Nairobi, this question came up. We need 

good formation for our increasing number 

of scholastics and our means are limited. 

In fact we have only been one of the five 

apostolic preferences of the Society for 

the worldwide Society. A third of these are 

scholastics in training. We have also a 

number of older missionary Fathers who 

are retired. This means we have a critically 

small number of men, of the right age, who 

are able to lead and animate our works. 

We cannot say for how long Africa will 

continue to be an apostolic preference for 

the Society, since priorities and preferences 

are always discerned periodically. The 

Society always goes for the greatest need. 

So we cannot look at Africa in isolation. 

Considering the growth of the Society in 

Africa, a focus on Africa is ultimately a focus 

on the future of the Society. So a greater 

commitment to the formation and training 

of African Jesuits is an investment for the 

future of the Society. 

What are the strengths of the 

African continent and African people? 

The African continent is big with 55 

independent countries. South Sudan is the 

newest independent country in the world. 


Interview 

The strength of the African continent and 

African people varies from place to place. 

However, in general the African continent 

is blessed with lots of natural and human 

resources. People are deeply religious 

and resilient even in the face of formidable 

challenges. This is a continent of hope; 

it has been written off several times and 

given up for dead. It is clear that there is 

economic growth in many of our countries 

and Africans are alive and vibrant! Those 

are our basic strengths. 

What are its biggest challenges 

at present? 

The biggest challenge for the 

Society in Africa is the formation of Ours 

because of the large number of our young 

men. We need extra resources in order to 

ensure a good formation for our scholastics 

and brothers. In the African world at large 

the biggest challenge is poverty which is 

caused by greed and corruption of the 

leaders. This is why the Provincials of Africa 

and Madagascar have chosen as their 

second apostolic frontier the promotion 

of good governance and work against 

corruption. 

Do the youth in Africa offer any 

hope for the future? 

Sure! It is interesting to note that the 

third apostolic frontier that we chose in our 

Conference specifically targets the youth. 

More than 50% of the African population 

is under the age of 25. In Africa about 158 

million people are Catholics and therefore 

about 80 million are young Catholics and 

are the future of the Continent.When you 

have such dynamic young people there is 

always hope for the continent and for the 

Society of Jesus as well. We have lots of 

dynamic and talented young people who 

are joining the Society. 

Do you think unemployment 

will make Islamic youth fall a prey to 

terrorism? 

Unemployment is a global 

phenomenon, though it varies in degrees 

depending on geographical locations. 

Unemployment therefore is a scourge 

of all faiths in Africa. Personally, I think 

fundamentalism has more to do with 

terrorist activities than unemployment. 

Moreover, 45% of the African population 

is Muslim, so some 250 million are under 

25. A very small proportion of this number 

will be involved in terrorism or even think 

of it. 

Some of the biggest problems of 

Africa seem to be inter-tribal conflicts, 

autocratic rulers and widespread 

corruption. Can anything be done to 

address these? 

Africa is a continent and not all 

countries have the same problems. Some 

countries have inter-tribal conflicts, some 

have inter-religious conflicts and some 

have political problems. Autocratic rulers 

are more and more defeated by the 

people’s exercise of democratic power. 

Corruption which takes various forms and 

shapes is everywhere as in other parts of 

the world. Can anything be done? Yes, that 

is why we are there to do something for the 

people; to promote justice, peace and good 

governance. We are thinking of investing 

more in higher education, especially in the 

areas of management and leadership in 

order to promote good governance and 

accountability. 

What exactly is the nature of help 

offered by JCSA to JESAM now? Can 

anything more be done? 

When we talk of collaboration, we 

understand it is ‘give and take’ collaboration; 

it is a mutual support rather than a one way 

traffic. When our students come to study in 

India and live in the communities with Indian 

scholastics and brothers, a lot of formation 

is taking place through ‘give and take’. 

The spirit of universality of the Society in 

imparted to both groups. Personally I would 

also like to see more JCSA scholastics 

studying in our houses of formation. There 

have been a good number of Jesuits from 

JCSA working in Africa but we have almost 

none who come to study in our houses of 

formation. We are very grateful that JCSA 

provinces support the room and board 

for our scholastics and brothers who are 

studying in India. Moreover, JESAM and 

JCSA have started a common fund that 

takes care of the medical expenses of 

Jesuits from Africa who come to India for 

medical treatment. This is very useful for 

us in Africa where sometimes the more 

sophisticated medical procedures are not 

available and if they are available they tend 

to be very expensive. 

Yes, more can be done; we are 

Jesuits, we always seek the magis. When 

we meet in Goa, this issue may come up 

for discussion. 

What are your plans for training 

of African Scholastics and Brothers in 

India? 

The plan is to continue to train some 

of our African scholastics and brothers 

in India. The experience so far is good. 

Education in India is more affordable, 

reliable and can respond more to our 

situation in Africa. The Society of Jesus 

in India would need to adjust to the needs 

of African Jesuits, just as the latter would 

need to adjust to Jesuit life in India – it’s a 

give and take. Moreover, as it is important 

for the Provincials of Africa to know the 

Provinces of South Asia, I encourage the 

Provincials of South Asia to come to know 

Africa. 

Do you think that African 

Scholastics and Brothers will be better 

trained in India than in America and 

Europe? 

Such comparisons are difficult to 

make. It is like comparing apples and 

oranges; the contexts and methodologies 

are different. America or Europe offers a 

particular type of formation for our people 

and we will continue sending some of our 

Jesuits to America and Europe. However, 

the cost is exorbitant for us. 

In India apart from academics there 

is a lot to learn such as simplicity and 

flexibility, not to mention the ability to 

live in harmony with different cultures, 

religions and situations. Our scholastics 

and brothers learn much from a different 

culture as well as the ability to manage 

with the minimum. 

Is there a possibility that our 

scholastics can do regency in Africa 

and yours in India? 

We have been receiving scholastics 

from India who have done regency in Africa. 

The experience has been good. We are 

inviting them and we are ready to welcome 

them for regency and vice-versa. The 

Society is universal, I would not rule out 

African scholastics coming to do regency in 

India. The problem in India is the question 

of visas for such activities. 

Is Jivan known in Africa? Do 

Jesuit communities in Africa get Jivan? 

What is your message to the readers 

of Jivan? 

Jivan is known all over the Jesuit 

world. It is a good magazine which brings 

the views and works of JCSA to the entire 

Jesuit world. You will find Jivan in many 

communities in Africa, especially in the 

community rooms and reading tables. 

My message to Jivan readers is: let us 

strengthen our collaboration as Jesuits 

called to the universal Society, through 

solidarity, collaboration and mutuality; 

there is a demographic shift in the Society 

and, therefore, the southern hemisphere 

must be ready to take up the challenges 

of leadership and direction of the universal 

Society in the future. 

• 


Christmas Special 

By Kathleen M. Carroll 

Christmas 

Light 

in Winter’s 

Darkness 

The story of his birth: We 

all know the story of Jesus’ birth in 

Bethlehem. In Scripture, each Gospel 

writer tells the story a little differently. 

Matthew begins his Gospel with “An 

account of the genealogy of Jesus the 

Messiah...” before setting down his 

telling of the Nativity story. Luke gives 

the most detailed and comprehensive 

account of the birth of Jesus, with great 

emphasis on the Marian aspect of the 

story. Mark and John both begin with 

Jesus’ encounter with John the Baptist, 

skipping over the story of Jesus’ life 

prior to the events that led to his public 

ministry. For most of us, however, the 

Gospel stories, our traditions and even 

a few elements contributed by pious and 

not-so-pious authors have merged into 

one big story about the birth of Jesus. 

We know that Jesus was conceived 

by the Virgin Mary and born in Bethlehem 

in the humblest of surroundings. We 

know that wise men from the East 

followed a star to honor the newborn 

king, that Joseph had dreams that helped 

him protect the child and his mother. 

Our songs and traditions incorporate 

some or all of these elements into our 

celebrations and occasionally embellish 

a detail or invent new stories altogether. 

“The Little Drummer Boy,” for example, 

will not be peeking at you from the pages 

of any Bible. 

Christmas wasn’t quite “Christmas” 

that first year, though. It was simply Jesus’ 

birthday. While his mother and earthly 

father and a few foreign gentlemen had 

an idea that this was no ordinary child, 

most people were not attaching the word 

“Christ” to him just yet. 

So while Jesus was growing up, 

he and his family didn’t celebrate 

Christmas. Their family life centered on 

the holy days of the Jewish faith they all 

embraced. This is evident in the stories 

about the presentation in the Temple 

(remember Simeon and Anna?) and in 

the finding in the Temple (after Jesus’ 

three-day disappearance). We can’t say 

with certainty that Mary and Joseph 

didn’t celebrate Jesus’ birth day, but the 

word ‘birthday’ appears just once in 

the Bible (Gen 40:20), to refer to the 

pharaoh’s birthday. 

When did the celebration we call 

Christmas really start? About 300 years 

after the birth of Jesus. 

The Early Church: In its 

infancy, Christianity was not a popular 

religion. Believers met secretly to share 

the Scriptures, celebrate the Eucharist 

and encourage one another in the faith. 

Once Christianity was seen as its own 

religion and not simply one branch of 

Judaism (as the Romans first understood 

it), it lost the special privilege the 

Empire had long granted to Jews - to 

worship their one God to the exclusion 

of all others.Even to the exclusion of the 

Roman gods. Even to the exclusion of 

the emperor himself. 

Although sacrificing to pagan gods 

and worshiping the emperor were no 

more palatable to the early Christians than 

to their Jewish neighbors, they were not 

exempt from the law. The persecutions 

of the first centuries of the faith stem 

from this basic incompatibility. Failure 

to worship the emperor was treason, and 

the punishment for treason was death - 

often a spectacular and gruesome death. 

Some of the early martyrs were thrown 

to the lions; some were crucified. One 

of the goriest tales we have comes from 

the Roman historian Tacitus. He relates 

that Nero had Christians rounded up, 

covered in tar and slowly burned alive 

to provide light and ambience for his 

lavish garden parties. 

People who knew these martyrs 

were stunned by the horror of the 

persecutions, but even more impressed 

that people would sooner succumb to 

such a dreadful and certain fate than 

deny their faith in Jesus. Rather than 

having the deterrent effect the Romans 

had hoped for, the persecutions actually 

helped to spread the faith. Church 

Father Tertullian famously described this 

phenomenon by saying, “The blood of 

the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” 

Memorials were set up in honor of these 

certain saints, and believers would gather 

on the anniversary of their deaths (which 

were thought of as their “births” into 

eternal life) to celebrate the Eucharist. 


Christmas Special 

Once Christianity was legalized 

by the Emperor Constantine with the 

Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., these feast 

days could be celebrated publicly. This 

happened slowly at first. As believers 

began to share their faith, they realized 

that many of them had developed slightly 

different traditions. The days on which 

saints’ feasts were celebrated did not 

always align. Some saints were known 

only in their local communities while 

some had become famous throughout 

the Church. 

Pope St. Julius I, whose papacy 

ran from 337 to 352, worked to make 

the celebrations of the universal Church 

more uniform. Saints’ feasts became part 

of the Church calendar, locally in the case 

of saints who were known only in a small 

area, and universally in situations where 

the saint’s fame had spread throughout 

the Church. And there was one last detail 

left to Julius: establishing the date of 

Christmas. 

When Was Jesus Born?: During 

the time of Julius I, Christians were still 

arguing - sometimes violently - about 

whether Jesus was divine. They did 

not always agree on the details of his 

life, either. One of these details was 

the exact date of Jesus’ birth. The Bible 

doesn’t mention a date, so there was 

no single authority that could end the 

controversy. 

Several branches of the Church 

celebrated the day on different dates, 

each of which had its own rationale. 

Some tried to identify the astronomical 

event that led the Magi to Bethlehem and 

extrapolated the date from there. Others 

had ancient traditions that led them to 

celebrate a given date. Several of these 

dates clustered around late December 

and early January (though some differed 

wildly). It fell to Pope Julius to rule 

finally on the date when the Western 

Church would celebrate Christ’s birth. 

His choice was 25 December. 

This was not an arbitrary choice. 

In many regions, this date corresponded 

closely with when the feast was already 

celebrated. There was also a sound 

correlation with another feast on the 

liturgical calendar. But the single most 

persuasive reason for settling on late 

December was more political - there 

was a long-standing Roman celebration 

already being observed around 

that date. 

T h e R o m a n O r i g i n s o f 

Christmas: Despite such disastrous 

missteps as the destruction of the 

Temple, the crucifixion of Jesus and 

the use of humans as party lanterns, the 

Roman Empire had a vibrant culture. 

One of the biggest holidays celebrated 

by the Roman people was Saturnalia. 

Saturn was the god of sowing, among 

other things, so there was some rationale 

for appealing to him during the shortest 

days of the year (the winter solstice falls 

on December 21 or 22) in hope that the 

sun might return again and provide life 

support for that agrarian culture. 

Catullus called the Saturnalia 

“the best of days” (Catullus 14.15) for 

its deep roots in the celebration of the 

winter solstice and the rebirth of light 

and mirth in the heart of winter. The 

festival dates varied through the course 

of Roman history, but began as the feast 

day of Saturn (17 Dec) and his wife, Ops 

(19 Dec), both ancient Roman fertility 

deities. Saturn was the god of agriculture 

(merging later with the Greek god 

Kronos) while Ops was the goddess of 

plenty and mother earth. During the 

Roman Empire the ever-popular festival 

was extended to seven days, from 17 Dec 

through 23 Dec. 

In each Roman home, the master 

might wait on his own servants, and 

one of the slaves was commonly chosen 

as Saturnalicius Princeps (Master 

of the Saturnalia), who could order 

others around in a complete reversal 

of roles. On the final day (23 Dec), 

everyone exchanged small gifts including 

sigillaria(small pottery dolls) for the 

children and cerei (small candles) for adults. 

In the middle of winter: 

Although the cultural observance of 

Saturnalia may have influenced the 

decision to set the date for Christmas 

on 25 Dec, celebrating the birth of 

Christ in the middle of winter makes 

perfect sense. Christ is the intersection 

of all things. He brings the light into the 

darkness - when better to remember this 

than during winter’s longest nights? He 

brings eternity into time - how better 

to be mindful of this than to see the 

traces of ancient practices in our modern 

celebrations? 

What better moment to reflect on 

both the brevity and great expanse of 

time than at the close of one year and 

the beginning of the next? And Christ 

is the intersection of East and West - 

the skygazing mystics of the East came 

to honor him; his birth occurred in 

Bethlehem because his parents traveled 

there to be counted for the Roman 

census. To situate the celebration of his 

birth between the ancient date of 6 Jan, 

used in the Eastern Church, and the 

Roman winter festival combines the 

best of both. 

The selection of 25 Dec as the date 

for Christmas is a profound reminder to 

us that ordinary things do not somehow 

“corrupt” what is holy. On the contrary, 

the Incarnation elevated this material 

world - and especially our human nature 

- to a new level of sanctity. The Church 

does not minimize Christmas by locating 

it on the date of a pagan feast; rather, it 

elevates that feast and the people who 

celebrated light and life and family in 

the centuries before Christ. It remembers 

that, though they did not have the same 

opportunity to believe in Jesus that we 

have today, they knew and honored 

what was best about humanity - the 

very humanity for whom Christ did not 

hesitate to die. 

Jesus might have been born in the 

middle of May, for all we know from 

Scripture, but I agree with Pope Julius 

I - the quiet of winter is the best time to 

remember the occasion. 

How does Christmas remind you 

of the sanctity of ordinary things? This 

Christmas as you decorate a common 

tree with even more common tinsel, 

consider how the birth of Jesus has 

changed everything. 

- Excerpted from A Catholic Christmas, 

by Kathleen M. Carroll, St. Anthony Messenger 

Press, ©2011. 

• 

Courtesy: http://www.americancatholic.org 



When twelve Masters met 

Twelve Novice Masters of South Asian Assistancy 

gathered at Loyola Hall, St.Xavier’s, Ahmedabad for their annual 

meeting on 02 – 07 Sept ‘12. Fr Shekhar Manickam, SJ, novice 

master of Gujarat Jesuit province, organized the meeting very 

meticulously as decided in our last annual meet held at Mango, 

Jamshedpur. 

We began our meeting with a Holy Eucharist celebrated 

by Fr Jose Changanacherry, SJ, provincial of Gujarat province, 

who welcomed us warmly and invited us to be like our first Novice 

Master, St Ignatius of Loyola 

For the first two days we had dream work input by Fr 

Anthony Mattapally, SJ (PAT). These sessions enabled us to 

discover the richness of our dreams and the effectiveness of 

dream work in accompanying our novices. Without analyzing 

and interpreting when we invite the dreamer to just narrate his 

dreams from within, freely and spontaneously, we could see lots 

of creative energy welling up from within the person. This can 

surely build and form our formees. Personally I find this dreamwork 

very handy in accompanying my novices. We are grateful 

to Fr Tony Mattapally SJ for enlightening us. 

This was followed by a day out, visiting Jesuit communities 

and apostolates in and around Ahmedabad. Our visit to Gandhi 

Ashram in the native state of Mahatma Gandhi and our visit to 

Unteshwari temple, an icon of Inculturation are worth mentioning. 

After the visit we enjoyed a melodious song, sumptuous dinner 

and guided tour of the novitiate given by eleven novices of Gujarat 

Jesuit noviciate. 

We spent the next half day with Fr Gratian Carlo, SJ, 

Assistancy Coordinator for Formation, who spoke to us on issues 

and concerns related to formation in South Asian Assistancy. 

His sharing helped us keep in mind certain issues in novitiate 

formation. We spent the last two days in sharing our experiences 

and challenges as Novice Masters. We found this sharing very 

enriching, strengthening, enlightening and supportive. There 

were seven newly appointed Novice Masters participating in this 

meeting. They found this meeting very helpful and there was so 

much to learn from each other. We felt inspired and enriched as 

we had a chance to interact with Fr Hedwig Lewis SJ the great 

writer who resides in this community. 

Novice Masters of South Asian Assitancy felt the warm 

and generous hospitality of Gujarat Jesuit province. We whole 

heartedly express our gratitude to Fr.Shekhar Manickam SJ who 

organized the meeting and Fr Superior and community of St 

Xavier’s High School who hosted the meeting. 

We ended the meeting with evaluation and planning the 

next meet. 

- R. Antony Raj, SJ 

25 years of Gurjarvani 

Gujarat Church has a rich tradition of using effective 

media to share the Good News. From the beginning bhajans, 

processions, pageantry, theatre and film strips were used in 

liturgy and faith formation. “Audiovisual Service” began in Baroda 

in 1975 for audio-visual productions and training. In 1987, the 

Jesuit Media Centre was shifted to Ahmedabad, and named 

“Gurjarvani” (Voice of Gujarat). In 1992, a professional studio 

was built in St.Xavier’s College Campus. Good quality Video and 

Audio Productions increased, with four Jesuits and hired artists. 

Regular audio productions of bhajans and garbas; programmes 

on education, health and human development were released in 

Gujarati and Adivasi languages. In 1997, “Jai Adivasi” Studio was 

inaugurated in south Gujarat to record in Adivasi languages. 

Religious video productions were on sacraments, 

liturgy and Biblical themes. Educational videos included value 

education, sex education, media education, national harmony, 

gender issues, Adivasi reality, environment, and art and culture. 

Dubbed into Hindi and subtitled in English they reached places 

across India. Some of our video programmes were telecast, and 

some received international awards. Now Gurjarvani has taken 

Gujarati Catholic media to cyber space with bhajans, religious 

discourse, audio and video documentaries being seen and heard 

by thousands across the globe. 

Media Training workshops for Jesuits and Religious, 

teachers, social and health workers are frequently offered. Fr 

Ashok Vaghela, the new director, organizes intensive training 

in media theory and practice for Dalit and Adivasi youth to 

reinforce the identity and culture of the underprivileged. Xavier 

Film Academy for preparing students for commercial media will 

begin next month. 

Gurjarvani organized five Jesuit Artists’ workshops in 

different parts of India. The participants feel that due to these 

workshops Jesuit artistic talent is now respected and nurtured 

in the Society of Jesus. In 2002 Gurjarvani organized a Cultural 

month-long tour of the dance troupe of Darpana Academy of 

Performing Arts to Spain, in collaboration with ALBOAN, a 

Spanish Jesuit NGO. 

Fr Devasia, who was the director earlier, was one of 

the founding Fathers of UNDA-OCIC INDIA, the Catholic 

Communication organization, now called SIGNIS-INDIA. Fr 

Rappai, who was in charge later, was appointed secretary of 

JESCOM India, and elected President of Signis India. 

Gurjarvani will continue to bring the voices and images of 

women and men, old and young, rich and poor, urban and rural, 

literate and illiterate to be heard and seen by all. 

- Rappai Poothokaren, SJ 


Jesuits - World 

Australian Jesuit sets record 

as world’s oldest schoolteacher 

Fr Geoffrey Schneider, SJ 

has been declared the world’s 

oldest teacher by Guinness World 

Records, just weeks short of his 

100th birthday. As the world’s oldest 

full-time teacher, Fr Schneider from 

Sydney, Australia, knows a thing or 

two about how to bring the best out 

of students. 

The secret, according to the 

99-year-old, is “a mountain of 

patience”. “If things are going wrong, 

don’t start shouting. Just proceed 

quietly and things will settle down 

eventually,” said Fr Schneider, who 

turns 100 in December. “Their books 

will eventually open.” 

The Jesuit priest has taught 

at schools in Sydney, Melbourne 

and Perth, shaping the intellects 

and values of leading figures of 

Australian government, business, 

academia and sport, including Tony 

Abbott. 

But as most workers switch 

between jobs or eagerly plan their 

retirement, Fr Schneider signalled 

no intention of ending his 47-year 

tenure at Sydney’s St Aloysius’ 

College, where he is touted as the 

world’s oldest full-time teacher. 

Nobody has so far come forward to 

challenge that title. 

“Retirement?,” he says. “So I 

can read the paper every morning 

and then forget what’s in it? That’s 

what a retired friend told me happens 

to him,” he said, recounting a recent 

visit to a home for retired priests. “At 

3pm there’s afternoon tea and if you 

don’t turn up in the first minute they 

come knock on your door and say, 

‘It’s tea time now’. Really, I shouldn’t 

be frightened of it, but it just doesn’t 

appeal to me. I just feel I can be 

more useful here.” 

Fr Schneider’s thousands 

of former pupils include Liberal 

frontbencher Joe Hockey, ABC 

political correspondent Mark Simkin 

and Wallabies star Pat McCabe. 

Asked whether Mr Abbott was 

an unruly youngster, Fr Schneider 

chuckled he could never “invent 

anything better than has been in 

“The secret of bringing the 

best out of students? It is 

a mountain of patience. If 

things are going wrong, don’t 

start shouting. Just proceed 

quietly and things will settle 

down eventually. Their books 

will eventually open.” 

the news of late”. He politely added 

neither Mr Abbott nor Mr Hockey 

were particularly “troublesome 

children”. 

Fr Schneider’s ripe age has 

some particular advantages, such as 

his lived experience of 20th century 

history and a handy grasp of Latin, 

preferred by some older Catholics. 

He enjoys a fierce popularity 

at St Aloysius. 

In the early 1990s, Year 3 

students were asked to name a new 

building after their favourite Jesuit 

saint. Innocently, they chose “Saint” 

Schneider. 

“I didn’t worry about it at the 

time, really, but after that we received 

a direction that the Jesuits were not 

to have any buildings named after 

them while they are alive,” he said. 

“I don’t believe it wasn’t a direct 

consequence of what happened, but 

they managed to name the building 

before that order came down.” 

Fr Schneider is also the 

namesake of the annual Schneider 

Cup, which recognises excellence in 

soccer and rugby. 

- http://www.ucanews.com 

Fr General’s letter on Year of Faith 

As the Year of Faith was officially opened on 

11 Oct, to mark the occasion, Fr General wrote a 

letter to the Major Superiors of the Society in which 

he said: “..We welcome this call to focus more 

explicitly on the gift of faith, and the witness and 

service we give to it. We are aware that, in today’s 

world, ‘a profound crisis of faith . . . has affected 

many people.’ (Porta Fidei, 2). As the reports of 

many Procurators indicated and as I pointed out in 

my recent de Statu Societatis, we ourselves have 

not been unaffected by this crisis...With this letter 

then, I wish to invite the whole Society to take to 

heart the call of the Holy Father and to seek ways of 

participating meaningfully and with greater personal 

and communal engagement in this special year for 

the Church. It is my hope that every Jesuit spends 

some time - perhaps even his annual Retreat - in 

prayer and reflection on the meaning, implications 

and calls of this year.” He has also requested all 

Major Superiors to invite communities “to dedicate 

a good number of their regular meetings to prayer 

and reflection together”, and he has provided some 

points for this reflection. He ends the letter, saying: 

“this year we make our own in a special way the 

prayer in Mark 9, 24: ‘I do believe, but help the little 

faith I have.’ Let us pray that the Lord may make the 

Year of Faith a time of abundant grace and new life 

for the whole Church and for our least Society.” 

- SJ Web 

Fr General to visit 

Perù and Bolivia 

Fr General will participate in the 25th 

Assembly of the Conference of Latin American 

Provincials (CPAL) in Lima, Peru from 30 Oct to 

3 Nov. The main topics to be discussed at the 

Assembly will be: the renovation of provincial 

structures at the service of the mission; the 

participation of the Society in Latin America in the 

network which promotes the right of everybody 

to a quality education; the evaluation of the 

Interprovincial Centres for Formation (CIF), and 

the process for establishing new CIFs. As usual, 

before and during the Assembly, Fr Nicolás will 

receive the accounts of conscience from the 

Provincials. During and after the assembly, he 

will deepen his knowledge of the Province of Peru 

with a busy schedule of meetings and talks with 

different apostolic sectors, groups of Jesuits, and 

lay people. On 5 Nov Fr General will leave for 

Bolivia. There he is expected to participate in 

the Congress of the International Federation of 

Fe y Alegría, whose theme this year will be: “The 

challenge of inclusive education: disability, youth at 

risk and multiculturalism.” He will fly back to Rome 

on 8 Nov. 

- SJ Web 


Jesuits-World 

U.S. Jesuit and French philosopher 

win Ratzinger Prize 

The Joseph Ratzinger- 

Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, 

established to promote studies in 

theology and philosophy, will award 

one of its two major prizes this year 

to U.S. Jesuit Fr Brian E. Daley, a 

patristics expert and professor of 

theology at the University of Notre 

Dame. 

The other prize winner is 

Remi Brague, a French professor of 

the philosophy of European religions 

at Ludwig-Maximilian University in 

Munich. The two will receive their 

prize from Pope Benedict XVI at the 

Vatican on 20 Oct. 

Announcing the recipients 

of the 50,000 euro (about 

$64,620) cash prize, retired Italian 

Cardinal Camillo Ruini said that 

“unfortunately,” Fr Daley, 72, is not 

as well known in Italy as Brague 

is. Calling him “a great historian of 

patristic theology,” Cardinal Ruini 

also said, “he has published an 

impressive - and I mean incredible 

- number of scientific articles on 

patristic theology, but also studies 

on the life and spirituality of the 

Society of Jesus, as well as on 

theological and ecumenical themes 

of current interest.” 

In addition to teaching and 

writing, Fr Daley serves as the 

executive secretary of the Catholic- 

Orthodox Consultation for North 

America. 

The Jesuit is the author of 

The Hope of the Early Church, 

On The Dormition of Mary: Early 

Patristic Homilies, and Gregory of 

Nazianzus, a volume in the series, 

The Early Church Fathers. He 

also was the English translator of 

Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Cosmic 

Liturgy: the Universe According to 

Maximus the Confessor. 

Brague, the other prize 

winner, is a married father of four 

children who taught at the Sorbonne 

in Paris for 20 years, and moved 

to Munich in 2002. He has been a 

visiting professor at Pennsylvania 

State University, Boston College 

and Boston University. 

His books include: Eccentric 

Culture, The Wisdom of the World, 

The Law of God, The Legend of 

the Middle Ages, and On the God 

of the Christians. 

The Vatican foundation 

funding the prize, as well as 

scholarships for promising doctoral 

students, was established in 2010 

with Pope Benedict’s approval and 

his designation of just more than 

$3 million from royalties earned on 

his books (the rest of his royalties 

are given to charity). 

The prize winners were 

chosen by the foundation’s scientific 

committee that has Cardinal Ruini; 

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican 

secretary of state and others. 

- CNS 

French Jesuit martyred in Madagaskar 

declared a saint 

On 21 Oct Fr Jacques Berthieu (1838-1896), a French Jesuit, 

missionary and martyr in Madagascar, will be declared a Saint. To 

commemorate the occasion, Fr General wrote a letter to the whole 

Society. He said, “The apostolic vitality of the provinces of Africa and 

Madagascar that are part of JESAM and our renewed awareness of 

sentire cum Ecclesia invite us to receive with fervor the witness of 

Jacques Berthieu.” After recalling the main events of the Saint’s life and 

remembering his martyrdom, Fr Nicolás highlights some features of his 

life as a missionary, a man of prayer, and a pastor. - SJ Web 

Jesuit killed in Madagaskar 

“Fr Bruno Raharison has been victim of a violent 

assault and has suffered a brutal death. The local 

Jesuit community is in shock.” This was how, on 30 

Sept ‘12 the news-agency Fides announced the death 

of Fr Raharison. He was a member of the Provincial 

Curia community in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Fr 

Bruno, a Madagascan citizen, was killed during a 

robbery. Some inhabitants found his car near the town 

of Carion, parked along the road from Antananarivo to 

Tamatave. The police kept the car under surveillance. 

The following day, the young man, who tried to take 

possession of the car, was arrested. The police found 

Fr Bruno’s body about 400 meters from the spot where 

the car had been abandoned. Fr Raharison had been 

struck a number of times on the back, chest and head 

with an edged weapon. The criminals wanted to steal 

the car which Fr Bruno had just bought for his work. 

During the trip, he was accompanied by a boy who 

helped him in his travels. According to local sources, it 

seems that this lad, together with some of his friends, 

was the one who organized the ambush that led to Fr 

Raharison’s death. 

- SJ Web 

Book of a Jesuit AIDS Pioneer 

Fr Ted Roger, a British Jesuit who spent his life 

pioneering social change in Zimbabwe and beyond, 

has published his memoirs. Jesuit, Social Pioneer and 

AIDS Activist in Zimbabwe was launched in August in 

South Africa, and in September in Zimbabwe. Fr Ted 

spent five decades in Zimbabwe, pioneering social 

change in response to what he saw around him. 

Among his many achievements are the founding of 

the high-quality School of Social Work at the University 

of Zimbabwe, and his visionary response to the AIDS 

crisis. “The main impact of the book is that the man 

himself comes through. The imagination and energy 

that we have always associated with Ted is written 

on every page,” said Fr David-Harold Barry SJ at the 

Zimbabwe launch. 

- SJ Web 

Meeting on Clavigero 

On the occasion of the 225th anniversary of 

the death of Jesuit Francisco Xavier Clavigero (1731- 

1787), the Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas of the 

UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) 

organized an international meeting in his honour. A 

number of scholars and researchers from Spain, Brazil, 

Great Britain and the United States participated in, and 

contributed to the meeting. Francisco Xavier Clavigero 

is mainly known for his work, Historia Antigua de 

México, published in 1780. But he was also the author 

of other books, such as La Historia de la Antigua Baja 

California. All these works had a considerable influence 

on both his contemporaries as well as on subsequent 

generations. 

- SJ Web 


Obituaries 

Desiderio pinto, SJ 

(PUN) 1956 - 2012 

“First class!” and “No problem!” 

– Fr. Desiderio Pinto (aged 56) would 

exclaim when asked about how things 

were. Even whilst bearing the immense 

pain of chemotherapy to fight AML (acute 

myeloid leukemia), ‘Desi’ - as he was 

affectionately called - would say that 

there’s “no problem!” and that his health 

is “first class!” But, on hearing that his 

condition had suddenly deteriorated, when 

the Rector of Vidyajyoti College, Fr Joe 

Sebastian, inquired about his health a few 

days ago and said that he’d be coming 

to see him, Desi said, “Father, when you 

come here I might be gone.” It’s hard to 

believe that Desi has passed on to that 

“new heaven and new earth” where “every 

tear will be wiped away” (Rev 21:4) with 

the unending joy of being in God’s loving 

presence. 

Fr Desiderio Pinto was born on 27 

April 1956 in Tanzania, East Africa. He 

joined the Pune Province of the Society of 

Jesus on 24 June 1974. He was ordained 

priest on 6 April 1986. Desi was blessed 

with a phenomenal memory and was 

a brilliant student-and-teacher. He was 

interested in interfaith dialogue and was 

inspired by his mentor, Fr Christian Troll, 

to specialize in Islamic studies. The fruit 

of his labour was a much-appreciated 

thesis. Desi joined the Vidyajyoti College 

of Theology as a full-time lecturer in 1997. 

Another post which Desi took up in 2006 

was that of Librarian of Vidyajyoti. Swiftly 

and silently he made sure that the library 

was competently equipped. 

Three of his talents are unforgettable: 

(a) Desi could lecture for hours on Islam, 

and in particular, Sufism, without bringing 

any notes to class. He would have his 

students spellbound with his anecdotes 

or in splits of laughter with his quick wit; 

(b) Desi was a ‘self-made’ mechanic. He 

could fix anything from time-pieces to 

computer hard-disks with a “no problem!” 

assurance; (c) Desi never ever spoke 

ill of anyone. He saw the very best in 

everyone and would judge every student, 

every staff-colleague and every coworker 

as ‘first class!”All of us will remember this 

‘first class’ Jesuit. 

- Francis Gonsalves, SJ 

Joseph V. D’Souza, SJ 

(GOA) 1931 - 2012 

We were shocked 

by the news that Fr Joe 

Vincent (popularly known 

as Joe V.) had expired. 

A few days earlier many 

of us had visited him 

at the GMC Hospital, 

Bambolim, Goa, where he 

was recovering from lung 

congestion. On being discharged, Fr Joe V 

felt he could pay a quick visit to his parish 

in Chiplun, where some construction work 

was going on and where the parishioners 

had had no Mass for two consecutive 

Sundays. He left Goa early morning in 

his car driven by a helper. He made it 

up to Kasal where he got down from the 

car to stretch out his legs and collapsed, 

apparently due to lung failure. 

Born in Pune on 10 March 1931, 

Joe V did his high school and college 

there before joining the Society in 1954 

and then after the regular formation was 

ordained priest at St Vincent’s Pune in 

1964. His curriculum vitae as priest may 

be divided into three phases: formative, 

academic and pastoral and he went 

through each of them “with flying colours”. 

During the formative phase, he obtained 

first MSc and then Doctorate in Organic 

Chemistry. His teaching and research 

phase lasted 20 years, from 1970 to 1990, 

first at St Xavier’s College itself and then 

at Andhra Loyola College (Vijayawada), 

at IIT, Madras, and finally at Ahmednagar 

College, where he was also warden of 

the hostels. Fr Peter Raj, Socius of the 

POSA, his companion at ALC, recalls: 

“Joe V was very popular with students who 

regarded him as an affable, friendly and 

accessible person... He was passionately 

committed to taking the fruits of Science 

and Technology to the rural masses.” 

On reaching the age of retirement 

in 1990, and on account of his asthmatic 

problems, Joe V opted for pastoral work 

in the coastal region of Maharashtra and 

specifically at Harnai. We have to thank 

Joe V for the fruitful years he served in 

the ministry of higher education, and 

more so for the fruitful pastoral work he 

undertook after having retired from the 

field of education. His pioneering work in 

the Ratnagiri District will now serve as the 

base for the future ministry in that area. 

- Gregory Naik, SJ 

Swami Shantananda, SJ 

(GOA) 1949 - 2012 

S w a m i 

Shantananda was a 

companion to some of 

us that gathered to bid 

him farewell. He was a 

man in a hurry. It is rare 

for a Jesuit to be ordained 

in 9 years. He did it. And 

now he is in a hurry to get 

back to God at the age of 63. To his Jesuit 

brothers and family he thus becomes our 

intercessor in heaven. 

He was in a hurry to be a Swami. 

A student of the Deshnur school, he 

was attracted by the life of the Swamis. 

He joined the Society of Jesus in 1969 

to become a Swami. As a young Jesuit 

he was single-mindedly devoted to 

the apostolic activities in Torangatti. 

At his Ordination in the Indian style 

ceremony at Deshnur, he legally changed 

his name from Shantappa to Swami 

Shantananda. 

Swami Shantananda - a man of 

deep faith. For 29 years he carried 

on his priestly mission in Torangatti, 

Saundatti, Madlur, and Deshnur. Swami 

Shantananda embraced the Kannada 

mission with the whole of his being. He 

was keen as a Jesuit to ever serve in love 

and wanted to make his Lord known to the 

Lingayat community. 

He was always aware that God had 

given him a thorn in his flesh. His cardiac 

condition and general poor health made 

him trust the grace of God ever more. In 

his weakness he was aware of God at 

work in his life. In his poor health, God 

was his strength exceedingly great. 

A year ago Swami Shantananda 

went through a difficult time with his 

health. Doctors at the KLE Hospital had 

given him a few days to live due to his 

kidney failure. 

But the loving care of his community 

at St Paul’s and the Sisters at Nirmal 

Nagar Hospital, gave Swami a new lease 

of life. 

At Nirmal Nagar Hospital he enjoyed 

a meaningful bonding with God in prayer. 

Miraculously he did not need any more 

dialysis. He who was given a few days 

only, lived for more than a year with the 

strength of God alone. 

- Rosario Rocha, SJ 


Letters 

Hugging in heaven 

The ‘Tribute’ to Fr Vincent O’Keefe, SJ, in Sept ‘12 issue of 

Jivan made me really think. The beauty of Christianity is that the 

one-time persecutor, Saul, and the protomartyr, Stephen, are both 

hugging each other in heaven. Similarly, in the final tally, they are all 

on the plus side. I mean Blessed Pope John Paul II, Pedro Arrupe, 

Paulo Dezza and the latest addition, Vincent O’Keefe 

must alll be doing the same. Some small fries like 

me are on the minus side of the tally. In those 

days I thanked the Lord that the Pope did 

not appoint a non-Jesuit as his personal 

delegate to administer the Society. Paulo 

Dezza was a highly respected person 

not only by the Pope but also within 

the Society. When we look back we 

an see it as a blessing in disguise. The 

greatness and the deep Ignatian spirit of 

these outstanding confreres of ours shines 

forth in their humble submission. And that 

adds to our patrimony. 

- T.V. John, SJ 

Ahmedabad - 380 013 

My Mamma my lifeline... 

Since you asked us to share our mother stories (Jivan, 

Sept ‘12), here is mine. I called my mother “Mamma” and all at 

home called her so. She passed away a couple of years ago, 

after a prolonged illness. But I believe she is still living in me, my 

attitudes and my inner beliefs. I am solely and thoroughly formed 

by my mother. She was a nurse by profession, but always was 

on double duty, in her clinic and back home: cooking, washing, 

dusting, decorating, ironing... We never had our dinner in the 

evening without reciting the family rosary together kneeling down. 

Sometimes, we were allowed to skip the litany of Our Lady. We 

were woken up early in the mornings for the daily Eucharist in 

the parish church close by. That’s how the seeds of my Jesuit 

vocation were nurtured. Thank you mamma! 

When I was about 8 years old, she delivered lovely twins, 

my youngest brothers (Peter & Paul) at the Sassoon Hospital. 

When I went to see her along with a relative, she took a boiled egg 

and told me to eat it later but not to mention it to anyone else. It 

is only today that I reveal this. Oh! She was a selfless and selfeffacing 

person, always sparing a thought for others. Mamma, 

please continue to inspire and pray for me. 

- Robert Das, SJ 

Kolhapur, Pune - 416 003 

Uniformly damnable 

Fr Felix Joseph seems to be upset about the “silent” nonresponse 

to Fr Subash Anand’s comments on Kerala Christianty. 

Should Fr Subhash have talked about his personal letter to his 

friend “originally from Kerala” in the article published in Jivan? 

And why should Fr Felix expect a response, as though Jivan 

is a debating forum? As a matter of fact, Kerala’s social media, 

including Catholic media, are full of Fr Subhash’s-type comments 

and criticisms. Fr Subhash finds, not only “costly church buildings, 

pompous liturgies, etc. etc.,” but also “devotions, shrines, novenas, 

...mediators and patrons, etc. etc.” uniformly damnable, so that 

nothing remains on which to build true faith. Where does criticism 

end and cynicism begin? 

- Joseph Kottukapally, SJ 

Kozhikode - 670 032 

What is Jihad? 

Often people ask about ‘Jihad’ and 

if it is an essential dimension of Islam? 

Jihad means ‘struggle’ and does not 

necessarily mean military fighting. 

Some explain jihad as a struggle 

against the corruption in the 

heart of a human person as well as 

corruption in the world. Shi’a Muslims 

and some of the Islamist movements 

consider Jihad as the sixth pillar of Islam. 

Other pillars are: iman (faith), namaz 

(prayer), roza (fasting), zakat (poor tax), 

and haj (pilgrimage to Mecca). The holy Book 

of Muslims, the Quran promises paradise for those 

Muslims who engage in Jihad.The early jurisprudents viewed 

the world in two distinctive parts: one, under Muslim rule (which 

they called as house of Islam) and the other under non-Muslim 

rule (which they termed as house of war). Jurists argued that 

in order to transform the ‘house of war’ into ‘house of Islam’ 

Muslims have to practice Jihad. 

On the practical side they suggested that whenever 

unbelievers attacked Muslims or hindered the practice of the 

Five Pillars Jihad must be practiced. In these cases Jihad is a 

defensive war. However, according to the pre-modern Islamic 

political thought an expansionistic view of Jihad was proposed. 

According to this doctrine Jihad should be waged until the whole 

world is brought under the Islamic rule. But this expansionist 

agenda in terms of aggressive war against non-Muslims on a 

permanent basis as demanded by the divine law was never put 

into practice. Muslims today describe that Islam by its very nature 

is a peaceful religion. Consequently they interpret Jihad in the 

following way: ‘lesser Jihad’ as struggle against unbelievers and 

‘greater Jihad’ as struggle against one’s own evil inclinations. 

In contrast to these irenic attempts some Islamic ideologues 

continue to call for an aggressive struggle against non-Muslims 

so that an international order of peace would be established in 

terms of Islamic principles. 

Muslims need to ask themselves which way they choose 

from these two radically different ways. Christians should 

recognize the difference between these fundamentally two 

different ways. 

- Victor Edwin, SJ 

Delhi - 110 054 

Please note! 

This Christmas Special Issue is dated 

Nov-Dec ‘12. It is despatched in the second 

week of November. The next issue of Jivan 

will appear in Jan ‘13. 


By C. Amalraj, SJ 

Lessons 

10 Lessons for Life 

I’ve learned 

from Africa and Myanmar 

Fr C. Amalraj, SJ of Madurai Province 

is now the Superior of Berchmans House, 

Yangon, Myanmar. A veteran missionary, 

he has worked In Thailand, Liberia and 

Sri Lanka. 

World is my parish 

To a Jesuit, the world is his parish. He joins a universal 

society. The myth and illusion of ‘mission’ explodes when one 

confronts shared humanity sweeping across cultures. We are 

evangelized by the people, their gracefulness, their grit amidst 

suffering, their joy amidst darkness. I believe world is an open 

school and we learn from the book of life. I may not save others 

but at least I’ve become aware of the darkness and paganism 

within myself. 

Soul of Africa & grace of Burma 

Monoculture may be a blessing. Being Indian, being Tamil. 

But it might also be a curse, inflicting myopia – a short sightedness 

that pushes one towards the precipice of illusion. An exposure 

to a multicultural setting is a grace. 

SJ is a multicultural ocean, an all 

embracing melting pot. I feel much 

enriched by the soul of Africa and 

the grace of Burma. 

Challenge of Buddhism and 

Hinduism 

These two religions are a 

great discovery. Away from the 

shores of their birth, I am amazed 

at their capacity for their pervasive 

influence in the whole of South East 

Asia. The grace, the beauty and the simplicity of these faiths is a 

wonder. Buddhism challenges many myths created in the name 

of religion and leads me to a creative questioning. Hinduism is 

an ocean of human spiritual quest. 

The best army for men 

SJ has a split personality now. Retired, Tired and Vibrant 

: In many parts of the world SJ is retired. Its average age is 

80. It is in the evening of its life. In many parts it is tired. The 

message of Ignatius, the message of Arrupe no longer excites 

this section. It is almost an NGO, doing some projects. But mostly 

in Asia it is Ignatian spring, vibrant and seeking frontiers. It is 

still the best army for men who want to work for justice building 

a new world. 

The Miracle of ‘Can’ 

Gandhi defined miracle as ‘ the distance between what we 

‘are’ doing and what we ‘can’ do. This is my personal experience. 

I was asked five times by the novice master to leave the novitiate. 

Life should have been darkness. But I stayed and God took me to 

war areas, tsunami areas, two continents. Thousands benefited 

in the refugee camps, in disaster affected areas. That is a miracle 

for a man who was almost sent out of the novitiate. 

God and Africa 

In African liturgy God comes down from the mountains 

and dances with the humans. As the faithful sway and swing, a 

collective spirit takes over. The songs, the drums and the dance 

– ah, that is liturgy. Mass for four hours! Not a single second is 

boring. Africans know how to bring God among them and make 

him dance with divine abandon. It was my stay in Africa that 

made the Mass a meaningful and joyful experience. 

Grace dwells in Burma 

The people of Burma, their spirituality, their grace and 

grit amidst darkness and their joy after dwelling in a long night 

of silent tears of oppression amaze me. I feel soothed and 

comforted that human beings can be sacraments of joy to one 

another. Theravada Buddhism’s 

percolation into the population is 

an experience. 

Admiration for Indian SJ 

I’ve spent four decades as a 

Jesuit. Still I’ve a great admiration 

for Indian Jesuits, their simplicity, 

their wisdom, their closeness to 

the poor, their understanding of 

the Mission, their friendship to 

one another. May be India is the 

one region that implemented the 

decree on Option for the poor and environment with a great zeal. 

The ability of some of these Jesuits to form life-long friendships 

across cultures is a great success story that is yet to be told. 

Anxiety about Indian SJ 

Will the SJ sail through to 22st Century? That depends 

on the Indian SJ. But the prospects are bleak! Indian Jesuit is 

a poor missionary. Blessed with so many vocations, emerging 

as the largest Assistancy, Indian Jesuits are insecure to extend 

their service to needed areas. Addiction to the local language, 

food and culture and cricket has imprisoned many great Indian 

Jesuits to their backyards. Even in India there are no ‘new’ 

missions. Most missions were started by foreigners like John 

De Britto, De Nobili, and Livence. 

Gratefulness and Gracefulness 

Religious life is like a river. It receives gratefully from 

nature, and gracefully gives to all. Society of Jesus has given 

me a thousand things, has empowered a simple man like me to 

generously give to others what I gratefully received from the SJ. 

My heart goes out to great Professors like Fr A M Lourdusami, 

who turned my vision towards the poor and the vulnerable, and 

thus a lifelong mission. 

•

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