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| May 21, 2003 |
The former St Thomas Aquinas College in Moscow has obtained a new certificate from the city government of Moscow. This official recognition, under the new name of St Thomas Institute of Philosophy, Theology and History, marks the further accreditation of the existing college and means a new step in the normalization of religious life in the Russian Federation. The certificate allows the institute to organize courses on fundamental religious studies and Catholic theology.
Founded by Polish priest Tadeusz Pikus in 1991, the college was initially run by the Archdiocese of Moscow. In 1999, it was handed over to the Jesuits, and the current rector is Mexican Jesuit Octavio Vilches-Landin.
The institute will continue and even increase the teachings and services of the former college. The 2002-2003 academic year started with 76 students belonging to different Christian denominations and almost all lay people. The staff numbers 43 professors. The academic program of studies is broken up into six main units: philosophy, theology, Holy Scripture, history of the Church and Church art, social sciences, and ancient and modern languages. [Source: www.jesuits-europe.org]
Fr Pasquale Borgomeo SJ, director-general of Vatican Radio, said in an editorial broadcast May 13 that it would be disastrous to delay a peace accord any longer in the Holy Land.
He said the US-backed "road map" plan currently under discussion had opened a window of hope. If those hopes are dashed, it would "lengthen that interminable trail of violence, terror, and bloodshed that has marked this land for generations," he said.
Fr Borgomeo said experience teaches that both Palestinians and Israelis are dealing with forms of extremism among their own people and appear unable to reach a just accord by themselves.
"An external help is needed, pressure along with effective support, on the part of the United States, Europe, Muslim countries, and the international community," he said.
He cited an Israeli writer, Abraham Yehoshua, who said recently that after the Iraqi war the United States in particular can give a "decisive push" toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, and that this critical moment must not be lost.
Fr Borgomeo said it should not be forgotten that the prospect of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was given by some as a secondary motive for the use of military force against Iraq.
"The time has come to demonstrate that that was a real objective and not a propaganda move," he said. [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
On April 21, the Jesuits in Ukraine received an official document from the government stating that the Society of Jesus has been legally registered according to its own Constitutions and Norms. Part of the document reads: "The State Committee of Ukraine for Religious Affairs, according to number 4, article 14 of the Law regarding freedom of conscience and religious organizations, gives notice that the Society of Jesus is officially registered as of April 23, 2003."
Since the registration process includes the approval of the Constitutions, the registration means that in principle Jesuits are free to live and work according to the apostolic mission of the Society as expressed in the Constitutions. This is a historic moment for the apostolic activities of the Jesuits in Ukraine. The web page of the Jesuits in Ukraine (in beautiful Cyrillic alphabet) is http://www.jesuit.org.ua [Source: Jesuit Press and Information Office, Rome]
Fr Thomas J Regan SJ has been named the next provincial of the New England Province. Fr Regan has been the associate dean of arts and sciences and a professor of philosophy and chair of the department at Fairfield University. He succeeds Fr Robert Levens SJ on July 31.
A scholastic from Romania, Florin Paulet, was ordained into the priesthood on May 10 at the Gesł Church in Rome. Father Paulet is the first member of the Province to be ordained in 60 years; Fr Emil Puni was ordained in March 1943. Fr Puni was appointed Provincial on April 22, 1958; he retained the office until 1995 -- a duration of 37 years without precedent in the history of the Society.
At the age of 87, Fr Puni continues to work, presently as Vicar General and pastor of a Greek-Catholic community in the city of Deva. The Romanian Province is one of the smallest in the Society having only 22 members: 3 priests, 4 brothers, and 15 scholastics. [Source: Jesuit Press and Information Office, Rome]
Fr Terrence Curry SJ, artist-in-residence and director of the Center for Environmental Design and Community Development at Fordham University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach at Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary during the 2003-04 academic year.
Fr Curry will teach courses and run seminars for the faculty of architecture and engineering. His lectures will explore current issues in environmental design methodology with an emphasis on community development and user participation in architecture and urban design.
Awarded by the US Department of State and the J William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the grants are given on the basis of academic or professional achievement and demonstration of extraordinary leadership potential in a respective field. [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
Fr Irenee Beaubien SJ, founder of the Canadian Center for Ecumenism was recently inducted into the Order of Canada, the country's highest honor for lifetime achievement.
Fr Beaubien, who has represented Canada's bishops at international meetings, was made an officer of the order and was acknowledged as a "man of peace, dialogue, and action" who has had a tremendous influence in bringing various churches closer together, both in Canada and beyond our borders," said the governor general's citation.
Named in 1968 as a consultor to the Secretariat for Christian Unity in Rome, Fr Beaubien has been involved with the Catholic Forum, a center for information and exchange on Catholicism; the Canadian Center for Ecumenism; and Sentiers de Foi, which offers services to Christians who have lost touch with their churches. He also founded Ecumenism, a quarterly journal published in English and French and distributed in more than 40 countries. [Source: Art Babych, Canadian Catholic News, Ottawa]
On April 26 at 3:30 pm, the Chicago Province had two adjacent houses on Clark Street in Chicago: one housed the Provincial Officies and the other was a Residence. A few hours later the Residence no longer existed. The vibrations from some construction going on next to the Residence were so strong that the building, built in 1880, could not take the stress any longer. The foundations began to give way, and at 3:25 pm the north wall was leaning at a 30 degree angle. The three Jesuits who were at home at the time had five minutes to collect whatever they could grab. The police did not allow anyone to enter the building and at 10:30 that evening a crew began demolishing the Residence. At 10 am the following day, the work was completed and the Residence was reduced to rubble. During the tear-down some bricks fell onto the roof of the Province Offices and caused slight damage. [Source: Chicago Province]
A representative of the Polish Province attended the canonization of Blessed Ursula Ledóchowska on May 18 at the Vatican. The new saint, foundress of a religious congregation, is the sister of Fr Vlodimir Ledóchowski, General of the Society of Jesus from 1915 to 1942. The canonization cause has been taken care of by the Office for the Causes of the Saints (Postulazione) of the Society. [Source: Jesuit Press and Information Office, Rome]
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