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| February 26, 2004 |
Possible initiatives for the Jesuits in Afghanistan have been set back by the death of a priest who was spearheading the project, said Fr Lisbert D'Souza, Jesuit provincial for South Asia.
Indian Jesuit Fr Aloysius Fonseca, who was exploring possibilities for the Jesuits to work in Afghanistan, died February 8 in Kabul, apparently in his sleep.
Fr Fonseca, 70, went to Kabul in August as part of a four-member Indian Jesuit team to study the possibility of the Society establishing an educational apostolate in the nation.
Other members of the team later returned to India, but Fr Fonseca stayed to study local languages and continue exploring possibilities for the initiative.
Fr D'Souza said that though Fr Fonseca's death is a setback for the project, the Jesuits would not give up their plans to work there. He sent Fr Oscar Rozario SJ to Afghanistan's capital to study the situation and attend Fr Fonseca's funeral, and he plans to send a few volunteers there soon.
The day Fr Fonseca died, he was scheduled to return to New Delhi to discuss the Afghanistan scenario with his superiors. [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
The tense situation of the country has been amply reported by the mass media. The Jesuits, worried about the future of the country and lamenting the suffering of the people at present, have experienced also the consequences of the social turmoil prevailing in Haiti.
In a recent letter, the Delegate of the Provincial in Haiti ( Haiti is not a province and the Jesuits there belong to the French Canadian Province) describes the aggression he suffered at the hands of a band of 5-6 youngsters who attacked him while driving in the city. He succeeded in escaping unhurt with only some broken windows in the car. But he cites this case as an example of the insecurity in the streets of Port-Au-Prince.
The Haitian-born Jesuits number 35, although some of them are currently out of the country for reasons of study. In addition, there are five Canadian Jesuits working in Haiti: four priests and one scholastic. In 2003 there were seven novices. [Source: SJ Press and Information Office]
Fr Gerard Stockhausen SJ has been named the next president of University of Detroit Mercy. He previously served as the university's Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost since 2000. Fr Stockhausen succeeds Maureen Fay OP, who will retire at the end of the 2003-04 academic year after 14 years of service at UDM.
Prior to joining UDM, Fr Stockhausen was Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Internal Operations for Creighton University's College of Business Administration. He was chair of the college's Economics and Finance program in 1996 and became interim dean in 1997. [Source: University of Detroit Mercy]
By invading Iraq, threatening other Islamic nations, and curtailing respect for human rights, particularly the rights of Muslims, the United States and its "war on terrorism" actually might strengthen terrorist movements, the Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica said in an editorial in the February 7 edition.
The magazine said the only way to combat terrorism is to strengthen the gathering and sharing of intelligence and to avoid "any political-military action which is--or just seems to be--directed toward an Islamic population."
While recognizing the horror of terrorist acts--particularly the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States--and the obligation of nations to protect themselves, the magazine said the Bush administration is making fundamental errors that appear to strengthen terrorism.
Despite the capture of some top terrorists and the dismantling of many terrorist cells, the magazine said, international terrorism "has been able to realize the task it was assigned: that of terrorizing the West, forcing the United States and European countries to spend enormous sums to defend themselves from an invisible enemy which has given the impression of being able to attack how, when, and where it wants."
The war against Iraq, the magazine said, fed "the impression that the West had assumed an anti-Islamic position" and was planning "a new colonization of Islamic countries with the aim of taking control of their petroleum, putting forward the excuse of wanting to bring democracy to countries with an Islamic majority."
The magazine said, "It is essential that the West show respect for Islamic civilization and for the Islamic peoples, demonstrating that it can distinguish between Islam and Islamic terrorism practiced by small radical Islamic groups."
At the same time, it said, Muslims must become more aware that terrorist acts carried out by small groups of Muslims increase the West's suspicion of Islam and harm the Islamic peoples who rely on the West to buy their petroleum and support development projects in their countries. [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
"Can You Ordain a Martian?" is the attention-grabbing title that the Tablet gave an article written by Jesuit Br Guy Consolmagno in its January 24 Issue. Truth to tell, once you turned to the actual article you found that the 'real' title was "Relish the Red Plant." Br Consolmagno SJ is a planetary astronomer for the Vatican Observatory. He also penned an item for the Winter 2003-04 issue of Company Magazine (www.companymagazine.org/v212/universe.htm) dealing with Jesuit scientists.
His Tablet article asks what it would mean to us if we found signs of intelligent life in some place other than the earth. He also addresses the issue of the allocation of resources in a world torn by poverty, war, and injustice. In passing he notes that curiosity, the hunger to know, and the desire to explore is what distinguishes us humans from contented cows. These are things that make us human. The challenge is to reach out near and far as humans.
Belgian Jesuit Fr Jacques Dupuis, an expert on the theology of religions, said in a lecture that faith in Christ as "universal savior of humankind" could be combined with acknowledgment of "salvific significance" in other religious traditions.
He said Christ was "the apex and the summit" of God's revelation, "the center of history," its "culminating point," and the key for interpreting the divine plan of salvation.
But the historical work of Christ is "circumscribed by the limits imposed upon it by time and space," and actions of the word of God and the Spirit of God are "neither limited nor exhausted" by what they do through Christ, he said February 12 at the Interfaith Center of New York.
As the Word and the Spirit were active before the incarnation of Christ, he said, so their actions continue to go "beyond that which takes place through the risen humanity of Jesus" and "do not cease to infuse into the religious traditions of the world divine truth and grace conductive to the salvation of their followers."
Fr Dupuis said some theologians concluded they should "give up their traditional faith in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as universal savior" and take the view that "all religions are different paths leading to a common goal."
But other approaches to religious pluralism are possible, and Catholics can recognize teaching on salvation in other traditions while believing in "the mystery of Jesus Christ as traditionally understood by the church," he said. [Source: CNS. Do not repost electronically]
For the first time in school history, Saint Joseph's University was featured on the cover of "Sports Illustrated." Senior point guard Jameer Nelson, of the unbeaten Hawks, stood alone on the cover above text reading, "The little man from the little school that's beating everyone."
The cover story on Nelson and the rest of the Hawks men's basketball program also showcased a university community that has embraced the team's success as a way of highlighting its academic and co-curricular excellence.
As of February 26, the Hawks were 25-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation. They were joined only by Stanford as NCAA Division I unbeaten teams.
"We celebrate for Jameer Nelson, the men's basketball team, and the entire university," said SJU's president Fr Timothy Lannon SJ. "This and all the national coverage we are receiving is a tribute to the coaches, student-athletes, and staff who have worked so hard to make this such a special time on campus.
It should be noted too that Gonzaga University is ranked as #4 in the top 25 Division I teams.
See the cover at www.sju.edu/ucomm/press_releases/hawks_on_sicover_021104.html [Source: Saint Joseph's University]
Looking for a book which you know was published in Rome? www.paxbook.com is the exclusive and authorized Internet distributor for publications of the Vatican Publishing House and many other institutes. They feature the catalogs of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Gregorian University. They are in Rome, next to the Vatican, and use UPS for fast worldwide delivery. They include the catalogs of the site www.vaticanbookstore.com.
As a bonus, if you look around their site, you will find that they offer a free download of the 1914 translations of the Spiritual Exercise into English by Fr Elder Mullan SJ in pdf form.
This site presents photographs from an exhibition of images of Michaelangelo's Pietà. According to the exhibition's organizers, "the photographer succeeded in discovering the Pietà as no one can now see it, and as only Michelangelo had seen it until then." Michelangelo Buonarroti was only 25 when he sculpted the Pietà from a single block of Carrara marble.
Its author is Austrian photographer Robert Hupka, who died in 2001. Hupka had the opportunity to take thousands of unpublished photographs of the statue during the New York World's Fair in 1964, well before the Pietà was attacked by a mentally deranged man in 1972. Although website is currently available only in French, these images hardly need words.
The exhibition will be held in the Charlemagne Wing, a Vatican exhibition hall that has been closed to the public for 10 years. The exhibition is scheduled run from March until July.
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