SJES ROME

For the past decade, the US has experienced a crisis about border security and immigration policy – with a particular question about what to do with the 11 million immigrants who live and work in the shadows of the U.S.

Being a young, optimistic, enthusiastic and charismatic catholic, I am strongly moved by ecology and how people behave on matters to do with ecology. The environment is a gift given to us by God.

Labor migration from the Philippines continues to rise, as employment prospects, both for skilled and non-skilled workers, in the country remain limited. At present, there are roughly 10 million Filipino international migrant workers all over the world.

It all began with an idea, a dream. It was born out of an experience of close encounter with the poor tribals during my regency. I was in a far away rural area 100 kms from Nashik. At that time it was still very primitive. We did not even have toilets!

Father José Ignacio Arrieta is presently living in the province infirmary of the Jesuits of Venezuela. Now 81 years old, he recalls for us the process by which the social sector took shape in Venezuela around the work of Centro Gumilla:

For a long time Africa has been considered as a “hopeless” continent, a continent whose story is that of wars, violence, injustice, dictators, poverty, disease and a lot of other misfortunes. However, there are clear signs across Africa that this ‘story’ is about to change as we witness a new generation of young Africans taking action.

Prayer at the Summit takes place 13 kilometers from Santa María Chiquimula, on Guatemala’s high plateau. It is a sign that it is still possible to keep hope alive for peace in Guatemala.

Her childhood dream was to become a medical doctor. However, like the dreams of many Cambodian children of her generation, it was cut short by the brutality of the civil war which devastated much of the country.

Martin Luther King’s speeches gave release to the yearnings of a people for freedom from a tortuous history of oppression in the United States. The martyrdom of the poor and their church leaders in Latin America helped to bring down structures that kept the rich, rich and the poor, poor.

My arrival in Paraguay in 1986, shortly after my ordination in Dublin, coincided with the release of ‘The Mission’, a film about the Jesuit Reductions, in which Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons heroically confront the injustices inflicted on the indigenous Guaraní people.