My interest in the social apostolate: communities of solidarity
Patxi Álvarez SJ: Presentation of the new Secretary
In 1999, after spending my regency in Cambodia, where I accompanied and assisted refugees who were disabled or elderly, I returned to the Province of Loyola, to which I belong. Those years in Cambodia were a time of grace: there was interior distress at seeing so much suffering, but there was also great consolation in witnessing the people’s undying hope and their enthusiasm for life. All of us there - lay people, Jesuits, other religious - worked and lived together. We were an international team, and that was our home, a space where we could support one another and where every day we learned more about serving with generosity.
I returned to Spain with a captive heart that was full of beloved faces. Those two years left in me deep traces, which aroused a strong desire to offer myself in the service of the last and the least. I took up theological studies again and earned a licentiate in systematic theology. The final study I did was on “communities of solidarity,” a concept which had appeared in General Congregation 34 and which I sensed possessed many possibilities. That work gave me the opportunity to understand better that the love of God can show itself today in a very special beautiful and complete way, in the practice of justice and solidarity.
These last few years the social sector of our province has seen significant development. The Jesuits working in the sector are few, but the provincials have given solid support, and the generous commitment of our lay collaborators has been invaluable. Today, in the province, we have several communities which take in immigrants and there are two institutions that minister to their needs. This work has been very consoling and has allowed us to become more aware that the service of faith and the promotion of justice demand one another and enrich one another mutually.
For five years I worked as coordinator of apostolic planning for the province. During that time I was able to make use of some of what I learned in the engineering studies I pursued before entering the Society. In our province there has been considerable growth in cooperation among the apostolic sectors and in collaboration between lay colleagues and Jesuits. This has led to a strengthening of that “apostolic we” which is at the service of our mission.
In the next few months I am hoping to conclude a research project on the associations of Latin American immigrants in Spain, after which I will join the Secretariat.
I ask the Lord that this new assignment, which I take on with hope but not without fear, be for his greater glory and for the greater life of his little ones. And I ask all of you for your prayers and your support. Many thanks in advance.
Patxi Álvarez SJ Father Álvarez has published several articles in Promotio Iustitiae, the latest one in July 2009 (PJ 101).
