JCSA

Fifty years ago, GC 32 was convened. At that time, Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas, S.J. (BOM), had just joined the Society of Jesus. As a young novice, he was introduced to the Society’s radical call to integrate “justice” into its mission of “service of the faith.” His journey, from living in the slums of Mumbai to leading academic reform at St. Xavier’s College, has been shaped by the belief that justice must be lived, taught, and fought for to serve the faith. He has pioneered social involvement programs, challenged systems of exclusion, and opened up Jesuit spaces for interfaith dialogue. Amidst the looming ecological crisis, he urges Jesuits worldwide to view climate justice as the new frontier of faith in action. For Fr. Mascarenhas, the mission of GC32 continues beyond its history.

Xavier Solai (an extension of Xavier Research Foundation) was established in 2020 by the Jesuits of St. Xavier's College, Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, India to promote environmental protection, organic farming and sustainable agriculture practices among the students of St. Xavier and the general public. It is an agro, eco, biodiversity park spread over 25 acres in the college’s property at the Irudayakulam, V.K. Puram, Ambasamudram Taluk, Tirunelveli district. It is a response to Pope Francis’ call through Laudato Si to protect our common home.

For many years I have ministered to the landless poor in India, the Dalits and tribals whose lands have been taken from them in a country where 10% of its population control 80% of the wealth. A grassroots social movement have been working tirelessly to restore the dignity and the land that was stolen from the poor.

This is one of the most significant events in my life in which I learnt that if we fight together with definite purpose and proper plan, we can overcome any difficulty. It is because of God’s grace that we came to know of SHGs in 2014 and with support from the Purvanchal Pragati Samaj we emerged victorious in 2017 after three months of continuous struggle for the justice.

I realize more and more that my life is a gift. In and through this gift, the Lord is revealing himself to me and he is toiling and labouring...

From my childhood, I used to go to the tea plantation estates along with the religious sisters for training the workers children in catechism and choir.

‘Working with the excluded’ necessitates a vision of all encompassing inclusion, confronting excluding attitudes and structures as a contemplative, being ready for collaborative action with all, especially the youth, cherishing our Common Home, the whole world, both the land and the sea, with its infinite possibilities for sharing resources equitably and sustainably, celebrating life and celebrating suffering itself like in the Last Supper of Jesus.

Working against Discrimination on the basis of work and decent has been the one thing I have been grappling with during the 37 years of my life as a Jesuit.

My grandparents had great hopes of seeing brighter days, when the British brought them to Assam, to work in the tea gardens. They did not really see a better life but they worked hard and did not starve. I did not see them. My father was born in Assam and never saw the birthplace of his parents in Jharkhand.

My first experience with migrant workers was when I was a 23 year old scholastic. I was travelling by train, in an emergency from Calcutta to Kerala, my home State in an unreserved coach.