A Word In Arabic

Fr. Lawrence Andrew, S.J.

The nation's inspector general said he would continue investigating a prominent Jesuit under the country's Sedition Act, but he would not question him again.

Jesuit Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Catholic Herald, is under investigation for telling the news portal Malaysian Insider that "Allah" would continue to be used in Malay-language Masses in the state of Selangor, because it is the Arabic word for God.

In November, the sultan of Selangor, who is also the head of Islam in the state, said only Muslims may use the word "Allah." The priest's remarks were published by the news portal Jan. 7; on Jan. 8, the priest was questioned by police after they received dozens of complaints about his remarks. The following day, Malaysian Insider reported that the inspector general was continuing his investigation but would not recall Father Andrew.

The 1948 Sedition Act is designed to prevent acts of discontent, resistance or rebellion against the government and includes as an offense uttering "any seditious words." It defines as seditious "any act, speech, words, publication or other thing ... having a seditious  tendency," which could include promoting "feelings of ill will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia." For years, the Catholic Herald has been involved in litigation over its use of the word "Allah" to refer to God in its Malay-language edition. In late 2009, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled that the Home Ministry's order banning certain uses of the word was illegal. The court also said the word "Allah" is not exclusive to Islam.

Link (here) to The Catholic Sentinal

Fr. Jojo, S.J.

Fr. Joseph "JoJo" Fung, S.J.

He saw a Malay Muslim family in the car and asked: “Boleh saya tolong?” (Can I help?) 

When the driver alighted, Father Joseph Fung, S J. saw that, he was dressed in a robe and turban and looked like an Arab mullah. As they were trying to push-start the car, 

Father Jojo thought with amusement that it would look very interesting if he was dressed in his Jesuit cassock.

Link (here) to the article entitled, Fr. Jojo, the super cool Jesuit

On Praying For The Society Of Jesus

The Golden Jubilee Committee for the 50th anniversary celebration of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Selangor, Malaysia invites parishioners to pledge their presence before the Blessed Sacrament to pray for our beloved Jesuit priests

Link (here)

Eucharistic Procession Marks Jesuit Feast Day

THOUSANDS of Catholics from all over Malaysia and Singapore as well as non-Christians and foreign tourists gathered at St Paul’s Hill in Malacca recently to commemorate the annual feast of St Francis Xavier.

This year’s celebration was special because of the revival of a tradition involving a candle-light procession to mark the feast of the Patron of Missionaries.

This tradition was last observed in 1985. The procession, preceded by two illuminated floats decked with flowers and garlands and carrying a large wooden cross and the statue of St Francis Xavier, started from the ruins of the 16th-century Portuguese church at the peak of St Paul's Hill.

Link (here) to the full article

Jesuit On The Struggle Between Faiths In Malaysia

Aloysious Mowe, SJ is an International Visiting Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. He is a Jesuit priest with an academic interest in Islamic law and history.

The position of the ahl al-dhimma, at least as found in the classical sources in Islam, is not one to which any non-Muslim living in Malaysia should be aspiring. Neither the Charter of Medina nor any of the early Muslim sources can provide a model for any modern nation. We need to go beyond these historical religious sources if freedom of conscience, equality, and citizenship are to have any meaning for Malaysians.

Read the full article (here)

More from Aloysious Mowe, S.J. (here) , (here) and (here)