By Matters India Reporter

Rome, March 30, 2023: Jesuit superior general Father Arturo Sosa has brought the congregation’s works in Pakistan under its Asia-Pacific region.

The general announced the change of jurisdiction for the mission in Pakistan in a March 28 message to Father Antonio Moreno, president of the Jesuit Conference of Asia-Pacific (JCAP). Father Sosa says the change will come into effect from April 1.

The change has been done in view of the cureent political scenario in South Asia. The Pakistan mission has been served by the Jesuits in Sri Lanka, who come under the Conference of South Asia that comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The Jesuits’ global website says Pakistan currently has three Jesuits working in Lahore and five scholastics of Pakistan mission studying in Indonesia.

The general’s message says, “For several years now, the Pakistan mission has been entrusted to the Sri Lanka Province. Recently however, difficulties have arisen that have made it extremely difficult for Sri Lanka to support the mission in Pakistan. First, geopolitical factors have severely restricted travel from Sri Lanka to Pakistan. Second, an acute shortage of Jesuit personnel in Sri Lanka has come to a point that the Province is no longer able to send Jesuits to Pakistan, now or in the near future.”

Father Sosa agrees that ideally other countries in South Asia should help Pakistan, given their geographical and cultural proximity to Pakistan. “Unfortunately, neither is this possible, given the longstanding hostility between India and Pakistan, and the impossibility of travel between these two countries.”

The Asia-Pacific region will manage the Pakistan mission for three years on an experimental basis, the general says.

“I am confident, Fr. Moreno, that with your leadership and the assistance from the other Major Superiors of Asia Pacific, the mission in Pakistan will be able to carry on with its good work, and receive adequate guidance, sustenance, and support,” says Father Sosa’s letter to the head of the Asia-Pacific region.

The Society of Jesus has six regional conferences that coordinate and facilitate its mission around the world. The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific covers 16 countries in the region –Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

The superior general appoints a president to oversee the work of each Jesuit conference. The president, in turn, works in union with the heads of the provinces and regions in the region.

The Asia-Pacific region, with its headquarters in the Philippines, has around 1,600 Jesuits who account for about 10 percent of the total number of Jesuits in the world.