JCEP

The guiding principle of the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (1974/75): Our identity is realised in action for faith and justice. This direction was difficult to grasp for many German-speaking Jesuits. Two new communities (Frankfurt/M and Berlin) were to put these social and spiritual objectives into practice.

Fourteen years ago, I took as a Jesuit my first steps into the prison, and I entered in the history of the lives of those who live there. I had not realized how delicate the situation was until I found myself for the first time at the door of the prison in Bruges, neither did I understand then how rich an experience it would be.

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.

I have been involved in the broadly defined social apostolate from the time I studied philosophy during formation. I worked in a shelter for homeless women in Krakow, and later did my regency at the Jesuit Refugee Service in Berlin.

The detainees in the only Slovenian 'close detention centre,' which I visit once or twice a week, arouse my deepest feelings and move my heart. My visit is always a special moment for me. The detainees are persons affected by Slovenian laws and European directives on migration in Slovenia, which is one of the Schengen (so-called) countries of Europe.

For last two years I have worked in Centre Avec, the research and social action centre in the South Belgium-Luxembourg province. Our mission is to raise the public's awareness of social issues of a local and global nature, giving people the means of working towards a more just society.

A Hungarian folk tale tells the story of the friendship of a young Hungarian, Dani, with a Gypsy of his own age. The godfather of the young Hungarian asks the boy’s parents to explain to him why they allow their son's friendship with the “no-good” Gypsy Lajos.