By Matters India Reporter
Rome, November 5, 2019: Twenty-nine Indians among more than 200 delegates from around the world attending a global Jesuit conference in Rome.
The November 4-8 conference at the headquarters of the Society of Jesus marks the 50th anniversary of the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES). It will also discern how to continue the congregation’s commitment to the poor in future.
The theme is “A journey of Justice and reconciliation: 50 years and beyond.”
The conference has brought together 210 Jesuit social activists and their collaborators who are committed to what Pope Francis calls the “peripheries” of the world.
The congress aims to promote reconciliation with the creation in an increasingly complex world.
The SJES was launched in 1969 at the request of former Jesuit chief Servant of God Pedro Arrupe.
The fiftieth anniversary is a kairos, a historic moment for the Society of Jesus to renew its commitment to the mission of a faith that does justice and seeks reconciliation, and a great occasion to reinvigorate its social and ecological dimension, says a press note.
“The challenges facing the world today are more complex than those 50 years ago. We are living a change of historical epoch in Humanity already visualized by the Second Vatican Council,” it adds.
The meeting has these objectives:
• Celebrate God’s faithfulness on this journey
• Discern ways to implement the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) – the orientations that will guide the Society of Jesus in the next 10 years in the social sector –
• Create opportunities for collaboration and networking with others.
The conference will review the achievements, milestones achieved, lessons learned of SJES.
It will also seek the best ways to foster respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people with whom it works around the world. These include fight against environmental exploitation in Honduras; rehabilitation of young gang members in the United States; helping Dalits and indigenous people displaced from their lands in India; educating young people in Africa; settling migrants and refugees arriving in Europe.
The inaugural session took place in the Aula Magna in the presence of Jesuit superior general Father Arturo Sosa, Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, Under-secretary for Migrants and Refugees, Jesuit Cardinal Pedro Barreto, Archbishop of Huancayo and Vice-President of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, and Jesuit Father Xavier Jeyaraj, secretary for Social Justice and Ecology.
“Let us take advantage, then, of this very special moment in which God is once again speaking to us and inviting us to remember, thank, discern and take bold, daring and risky decisions to accompany Jesus and his people in the realities of the frontier, together with the most excluded, poor and vulnerable,” Father Sosa told the gathering.
On the first day, a Eucharist was celebrated in memory of Father Arrupe and the 57 Jesuit “martyrs” who have given their lives for the cause of faith and justice in different parts of the world during the past 50 years.
On November 5 and 6, the Congress will focus on the current challenges, on discerning the roadmap for implementing the Universal Apostolic Preferences. On November 7 and 8, the last two days, the delegates will renew the commitment to the mission of the Society of Jesus and to find new forms of collaboration and networking.
The participants will hear among others Cardinal Czerny, Jesuit Father Ismael Moreno, who fights with local people in Honduras the exploitation of multinationals; Jesuit Father Gregory Boyle, director of Homeboy Industries, an association that rescues children from Los Angeles gangs; Indian political activist Sunita Narain, director of the Center for Science and the Environment; Jeffrey Sachs, a US economist and UN advisor and director of the Earth Institute; and a young South African activist Noluthando Honono.
On November 7, the delegates will have a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
“The celebration does not focus on what we have accomplished in the last 50 years, but on the poor and vulnerable,” said SJES secretary Father Jeyaraj.
“Poverty is a scandal we cannot accept. Our goal, which brings together more than 200 people from around the world, is to renew our commitment and reaffirm that we are determined to walk with the poor and recognize that God who suffers in them,” the Indian Jesuit added.
The conference takes place as the culmination of various events, meetings and retreats organized throughout the year in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Similar programs will take place in coming months in Europe and North America, the press release said.