By Stephen J Pedroza
The Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus will hold a forum to tackle the present challenges of the Jesuits and to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society at the Southeast Asia Rural Social Leadership Institute (SEARSOLIN) Complex of Xavier University on August 6-7.
In a letter circulated by Jesuits Provincial Superior Fr Antonio F Moreno SJ, the forum is “foreseen as an opportunity to concretize a Province roadmap … and looks forward to the wider, more universal concerns of the Society and the Church that the Province should be taking into consideration as it moves ahead.”
The two-day event includes a discussion on the strengths and responsibilities of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines and in Asia, the various challenges the Jesuits need to address and the directions they will pursue.
The panel will be composed of Fr Mark Raper SJ, president of Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP), Mary Racelis of the Institute on Philippine Culture (IPC), John Nery of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Most Rev Antonio J Ledesma SJ, DD.
The event also serves as an opportunity for the Jesuits to recollect and reflect from the challenges they have surpassed and their achievements over the years.
The last day of the forum will deal with the Provincial’s goals and planning, integration with the Province Congregation and the different pronouncements from Pope Francis, among others.
Remembering the Society’s restoration
The Provincial forum will conclude with a mass celebrating the bicentennial of the Society’s restoration.
During this year’s Red Mass, XU president Fr Roberto “Bobby” C Yap SJ explained in his homily the significance of the restoration of the Society of Jesus.
“The Jesuits were restored in 1814 because, forty-one years earlier, in 1773, the Pope abolished the Society of Jesus. In his papal brief of July 21st 1773, “Dominus ac Redemptor,” Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits worldwide (including those in the Philippines) were expelled except in the Russia of Catherine the Great who refused to promulgate the papal decree in her territory.”
The curtailment of the Society happened during the time when there were numerous tensions between the Church and the different European royal states, as kings and princes were already “getting fed up” with the Church’s thirst for political control and wealth.
The Society of Jesus, at that time had over 22,000 members, became the first religious institution to have been inflicted by the papal suppression.
“Why was the Society targeted during that fight? She was the most developed and powerful religious congregation. The Society was especially dangerous because she was the educator of the youth all over Europe and America (700 schools in all). The Society had been very close to the political powers, as some Jesuits were spiritual directors of kings and princes. To suppress the Society was to weaken the Church in one of her most decisive institutions,” Fr Bobby continued.
After 41 years, on Aug 7, 1814, came the official restoration of the Jesuits with Pope Pius VII’s issuance of “Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum,” the papal bull by which he reinstated the Society worldwide.
Gratitude, renewal and mission
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the restoration with the motto “Ite inflammate omnia” (Go, set the world on fire).
Fr Bobby related the reflection of Jesuits Superior General Fr General Adolfo Nicolás on this commemoration: “He does not want a restoration of the glory of the Society. Something has to die of the desires of power, security, and worldly ambitions. Rather Fr Nico wishes that during this anniversary, we make an effort to live more profoundly the spiritual aspects of our vocation.”
The celebration’s maxim was the same line said by St Ignatius Loyola to his good friend, St Francis Xavier when the Society’s founder sent Xavier on a mission to the Far East.
“‘Set the world on fire’ is a curious expression,” Fr Bobby shared.
“Fire provides warmth during cold nights. But fire also destroys. … Fire purifies too; flames burn up the weeds and the refiner’s fire purifies gold. Fire also signifies passion as when we say that people are set afire with vigor and zeal. These different effects of fire can elucidate the three themes of this bicentennial: gratitude, renewal and mission.”