On 31 July 2022, the feast of our founder and father, St. Ignatius, INI will complete one year. In a simple online function held on 31 July 2021 Fr. Danis Ponniah, the MDU provincial, launched this venture. So we are one year old – or one year young.
In the past one year we have gained readers in about 25 countries. We are grateful, yes, but we have a long way to go.
This issue carries the interview of Fr. Vitaliy Osmolovskyy, an Ukrainian Jesuit, working hard for the refugees from his native country, who are trying to make a life or living in European countries, especially Poland. Read his interview to learn about the toll this senseless war waged by a heartless neighbor has taken on his beautiful, beleaguered country. He points out the utter futility of international organizations like the U.N. and O.C.S.O. that are not able to stop the war that rains destruction every day on the apartments and factories in Ukraine. What is heartening, however, is what he shares about the valuable service rendered by the JRS and other Jesuit provinces and individuals.
We are obviously aware of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but we, here in Asia, are not as aware as our European counterparts of its wide ranging repercussions for the rest of the world. In his article, Fr. M.K. George, serving in Fr. General’s Curia in Rome, rightly sees our world today as a war-torn world, torn asunder by conflicts of various kinds. Read his article to know the new challenges posed by such a conflict-ridden world to our faith, hope and love and the ways in which we can respond to these challenges.
A very interesting article in this issue of INI is that of Fr. Joe Xavier A, who tries to understand the governing style of our present General, Fr. Arturo Sosa. Read it to learn what Joe Xavier thinks is unique to Fr. Sosa.
Fr. Arock Xavier, a college principal, who deals with youth from all categories every day, emphasizes that we have to see Indian youth anew. He says three factors have changed Indian youth irrevocably. If you read his article you will know what those three factors are.
Citing his own experiences as a Jesuit, Emmanuel Arockiam, the counseling psychologist, points out how even Jesuits could be insensitive to the problems our seniors face. He talks of what we could do in order to grow old joyfully, graciously.
Making use of a talk I gave to about 250 religious men and women and a column I wrote recently for the New Leader, I have, in my article, suggested that the ways in which we think of and respond to the Synod on the Synodal Way is sure to reveal a lot about us. This Synod, as you’d know, has begun in all Catholic dioceses all over the world and would conclude in Rome in October 2023.
So a happy reading! Your feedback is valuable. So don’t hesitate to offer it.
A very happy feast of St. Ignatius!
– M.A. Joe Antony, SJ