Le Moyne College Receives $50,000,000.00

Le Moyne College has received one of the largest single donations ever made to a Jesuit college or university, Le Moyne President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D., announced today. The McDevitt Endowment, currently valued at approximately $50 million, will more than double Le Moyne's current endowment. It will be dedicated to the academic areas of computer science, information processing, physics and religious philosophy.

The McDevitt Endowment was established by a generous donation from the estate of Robert and Catherine McDevitt of Binghamton, N.Y., long-time friends of Le Moyne College and faithful supporters of Jesuit education. Robert McDevitt's cousin, the late Rev. Edward L. McDevitt, S.J., helped establish Le Moyne College's physics department after the college was founded in 1946.

"The McDevitt Endowment is a transformational gift and one of the most significant events in our history," Dr. Pestello said. "The new McDevitt Endowment will enhance our standing in the national academic community, continue our momentum toward becoming one of the finest institutions of our kind in the country and ensure that Le Moyne remains an excellent value."
Link (here)

Our Jesuit Friend In The Curia

In the apostle’s footsteps in Rome
By Belinda Olivares-Cunanan

An Excerpt.
Right in St. Peter’s Basilica, the gigantic marble statues of the two princes of the Church dominate the huge square: the benign Peter on one side holding the keys of the kingdom, and Paul across, wearing his customary scowl and holding up a sword. Statues and paintings of St. Paul invariably depict him with the sword, possibly because it was by the sword that he attained martyrdom in the year 67.

But it could also symbolize, as our Rome-based family friend, Fr. Jose Quilongquilong, S.J. of Cebu City, now a ranking official of the Jesuit Curia,

noted, the penetration of the Gospel in the hearts of men everywhere that Paul did so effectively in his 30 years’ apostolate among the Gentiles.

Link (here)

With Friends Like These....

Our organization contains many faithful Catholics and is co-chaired by Sister Joan Chittister (Benedictine Sister). We seek to recruit faithful Catholics into the NSP, and we do not wish to give them the impression that we are challenging their entire faith.

Moreover, at the SOAW demonstration this weekend you'll be able to meet many Catholics who have anti-war, anti-violence and pro-peace and generosity perspectives--and they represent a major part of American Catholicism. So please help us communicate our outrage at the attempt to silence or excommunicate Father Roy Bourgeois without doing so in a way that indicates respect and genuine caring connection to the many Catholics who remain committed to peace and social justice but who may be afraid to speak out on this issue for fear of losing their connection with the Church

(including many many Jesuits, for example, who share our progressive peace-oriented and social-justice oriented perspectives and would be part of the NSP, but are fearful that they too would be thrown out of their livelihood should they speak out clearly on these topics).
Link (here)

Jesuit Supports Orphanages In Nicaragua

Compass Consulting’s first project is a joint venture with the Fabretto Children’s Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to relief efforts in Nicaragua. The Fabretto Project, as it is called, will sponsor Nicaraguan children.

Fr. Otto Hentz, S.J., an associate professor of theology and the Jesuit sponsor of Compass Consulting, said that the new campus group aims to get students closely involved in the Fabretto Children’s Foundation’s work. According to Hentz, the foundation was established by Kevin Marinacci (CAS ’89), who traveled to Nicaragua for a year after his graduation with other volunteers from Georgetown to work with the poor as a part of a program directed by Hentz. During that year, Hentz said, Marinacci worked with Fr. [Rafael Maria] Fabretto, who managed a few small orphanages for kids from the streets of Managua, Nicaragua.

Marinacci remained in the country after Fabretto’s death in 1990 to develop the foundation which helps over 5,000 children. “When I first got to Nicaragua 20 years ago, it was hard to know what these kids would eat each day,” Marinacci said. “If it weren’t for the Georgetown network, I doubt we would be around today.”

Link (here)

Fordham's New $100,000,000.00 Building

$100 million fundraising campaign with a gala celebration on Nov. 14 at the New York Public Library. The campaign—the largest in Fordham Law history—will aid the creation of a new law school building while strengthening the school’s annual fund, professorships, scholarships and centers. Link (here)

The Jesuits Gave Us The Go Ahead

Over 341 families evicted

Herald Reporter

MORE than 341 families living at a farm belonging to the Roman Catholic Church near Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison were yesterday evicted by the Messenger of Court to pave way for the building of houses.

An eviction notice dated November 10, 2008 stated that the families vacate Manresa Farm by yesterday. Mr Luke Masumba — a member of the Manresa Residents Association — said they had filed an appeal against the eviction. "We have appealed against the eviction and call upon responsible authorities to come to our rescue as we have nowhere to go," Mr Masumba said.
When The Herald visited the farm yesterday afternoon, workers from the Sheriff’s Department were being assisted by police to evict the families. Some of the brick houses had already been brought down while others had been burnt as the owners watched helplessly. Among those evicted were the elderly who claimed to have occupied land at the farm since 1902.

The Roman Catholic Church authorized some of the families to stay at the farm when it acquired the property in 1902."My grandson, this is our home. We don’t know any other home other than this. So where do they want us to go? They will have to kill us," Gogo Creddy Munhuwa said. The 90-year-old woman had already removed her property with the help of her children and grandchildren. Gogo Maud Zebron, also aged 90, said they had been authorised by the Jesuits to stay at the farm long back. "I built my home in 1930 after the Jesuits gave us the go ahead to build our homes. So we don’t know why the police are evicting us," she said.

Mr Edison Umali (21) also said he grew up at the farm and knows no other home. Others who were evicted claimed that some influential people were behind their eviction. "We believe that some of the stands were sold to some high ranking officials from Government and this is why we are being evicted," said another occupant said.
Link (here)

That Translates In English To Holy Tree

Last summer during our tour through former East Prussia in modern Poland we unexpectedly found Jesuit monastery in small village Swęta Lipka (former called Heilligelinde) not far from the town Kętrzyn (former Rastenburg) . Since our main attention was paid to the Teutonic castles we made only very short stop near this monastery. At that time we don't know that this monastery is one from the farthest examples of the so called Vilnius baroque school.

First church has been built here in early 1400s. Since this place became destination of Piligrims in 1618 construction of new bigger church was started. In 1688 - 1698 major of reconstruction of monastery has been carroed on while church was finished only in 1730. Construction of church was done by architect which in Polish sources is called Jerzy Ertli. But probably is more correct call him Georg Ertl since this man was bon in Tyrol region of Austria not far from the place were later Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born. Around 1665 he came to the Lithuania and worked at the construction of Radziwill's castle in Birzai. In 1672 he became citizen of Vilnius and worked for Jesuit's mainly (e.g. at the construction St.John church, etc.). But his main achievement is the church and monastery in here S.Lipka. Here also worked several other famous masters such as Maciej Jan Meyer in Polish (he is Mathias Johann Meyer in German) and Krzysztof Perwanger in Polish (he is Kristian Perwanger in German).

Today monastery is in very good state and full of tourists from Poland and Germany. Baroque is very rare in Prussia so this style looks very attractive here. But in my non-professional view Sw.Lipka has also many similarities with the Austrian boroque too...

Link (here)

Swęta Lipka home page is (here)

This is a Jesuit "Holy Gem" an apparition site of the Blessed Mother.

Jesuit Participates In Vocational Awareness Breakfast

Ten young men from St. George Catholic Church got a tasty breakfast and a taste of what life is like for priests at the annual Breakfast with the Clergy, vocations awareness morning.

All clergy attending the breakfast witnessed regarding their calling and their lives as priests. Each of the participating boys asked questions they had about vocations in the priesthood.

Boys attending were Rodney Johnson, Paul Mansour, Moises Escabar, Justin McClendon, Elias Zavaleta, Javier Zavaleta, Alexander Denny, Ben Johnson, Chris Payne and Preston Winkles. Clergy were Father Austin Fogarty of St. George's, Father Kevin Hargedan from St. Peter's in LaGrange, Father Javier Munoz from St. George's, Father Mike Kingery from Holy Trinity in Peachtree City, Father Henry Atem from St. Peter Channel in Atlanta and Father Al Louapre of Ignatius House Retreat Center in Atlanta.
Link (here)

In 1758 Jesuit Priests To Hagerstown, Pa.

In 1758, a parish (Conewago Chapel) near Hanover, Pa., sent Jesuit priests to Hagerstown. For the next 28 years, priests celebrated Masses in private homes. A log chapel was erected on the present site at 224 W. Washington St. in 1794. That same year, land was acquired for a cemetery.

Link (here)

Postcard of Conwego Chapel

Grand Coteau To Increase In Size

Jesuits to create combined formation program
by Jean M. Schildz, Review Staff Writer

The Missouri and New Orleans Provinces of the Society of Jesus are working together to create within the next year a united formation program. When completed, the joint effort will result in a combined novitiate. It is expected to be up and running August 2009. The new novitiate will be in Grand Coteau, La., the present site of the novitiate in the New Orleans Province.

Jesuit Father David L. Fleming, now formation assistant to the provincial of the Missouri Province, is working with Jesuit Father John Armstrong, formation assistant for the New Orleans Province, to oversee the development of a combined program. As of Jan. 1, Father Armstrong will become the single formation assistant to the provincials in the Missouri and New Orleans provinces.

The two provinces will continue their existing formation programs under his direction. He will oversee all the men in formation. Jesuit Father Mark Thibodeaux of the New Orleans Province will be novice director. Jesuit Father Dan White of the Missouri Province will be assistant novice director. The New Orleans Province has 45 men in formation. The Missouri Province has 22; four men from the Missouri Province were ordained this past June.

Read the full story (here)

Photo is of the Jesuit cemetery at Grand Coteau
More links on Grand Coteau (here) , (here) and (here)

Jesuits Leave Parish In North Camden, New Jersey

The Jesuits have informed the diocese that Father William Kelley, S.J., current pastor of Holy Name, will take a new assignment as Provincial Assistant for Pastoral Ministries with their California Province beginning in January 2009. Father Thomas Gavin, S.J., will continue his involvement with the parish as associate pastor, but will reside in Philadelphia to live with the Jesuit community there. Meanwhile in April, Bishop Galante announced his intention to merge Holy Name parish in North Camden with Our Lady of Mount Carmel/Fatima and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Under the intended parish reconfiguration, the Oblates of St. Francis deSales will have responsibility for the care of the new parish once it is formally established. When Bishop Galante announced the intended merger last April, he said it could take 12-24 months before new parishes would be formally established.

Link (here)

The Famous "Pro-Choice" Georgetown Graduate

Who is this famous person? Watch the interview (here)

New Jesuit Blog

Father Bill Rickle, S.J.read his blog (here)

Fr. Z On The New DVD Available To Priests And Seminarians For Free

The title is The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, an Instructional Video for Priests and Seminarians. This DVD is stunning in its production values and its detail. It is easy to follow, well explained, beautifully recorded. This is a must obtain for priests, must give to seminarians, must be used by them set of disks. I have been contending that Summorum Pontificum is primarily a gift for priests. Learning to say the older form of Mass changes a way a priest sees Mass and therefore sees himself.

Link (here)

Fr. Calvin Goodwin,FSSP is a former Jesuit. Read more about Fr. Calvin (here) , (here) and (here)

St. Jean de Brebeuf S.J., His Legacy Continues

The bustling activity within the 400-year-old fortress of the First Light celebrations at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons captures the festive mood of Christmas past.

Back in 1626, the arrival of Father Jean de Brebeuf and his band of missionaries was watched by the natives with suspicion.

The historic site will open during the early evening hours of Dec. 4 to 6, authentically costumed missionaries, soldiers and tradesmen reveal what life was like here in the 17th century. Decorated for the festive season, the buildings invite visitors to warm up while sampling the foods of long-gone days – fresh-baked biscuits and cookies – while listening to musicians and checking out the crafts of local artisans.

A Jesuit priest leads you to the old chapel where another priest kneels in prayer on the dirt floor in front of a wooden cross, barely illuminated by a lone flickering candle. Here is the final resting place of Father Brebeuf.

Outside, soldiers fire a volley, then reload their muskets by the light of a bonfire. In the longhouse, open fires, dried herbs, smoky deer hides and the aroma of freshly baked bannock.

Link (here) to the full article

Texas Protestant On Jesuit Magis

I've been reading a lot about magis lately. The word is Latin for "more, to a greater extent"--a simple word that names for the Jesuits a truly powerful way of looking at life. Yeah, that's right--Jesuits. I've always been a bit enamored with the Jesuit order

Michael Warden

Link (here) to the full post entitled Magis, at the blog called The Sojourner Blog.

Eagles Claw Noles 27-17

More (here)

Holy Father Promotes Jesuit To Important Position

Pontifical Acts of 11/13/08 VATICAN CITY, (VIS) -

The Holy Father appointed:-

Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer S.J.,

secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as consultor to the Congregation for Bishops.

Link (here)

More (here) and (here)

Jesuit Native Of The Congo

Kafahire Murhula, S.J., a Jesuit priest at Loyola (Chicago) and a native of Congo. Murhula originally came to Loyola through the Jesuit network as a graduate student in political science. "What has been going on, especially in northern Kivu right now, it is just horrendous," Murhula said. "The killings that are happening you cannot describe. I just cannot find words to describe such brutalities, atrocities."

Excerpts of a much larger article (here)

He Blamed It On Liberation Theology

A self-taught musician, the Sight Below accrued a few college credits in music composition, theory, and sound design, and toiled a few years in Miami recording studios, where, he recounts, he spent "countless hours mixing crappy pop and urban music. I attended a Jesuit school for several years as well, so perhaps all that 'liberation theology' has subconsciously been an influence when it comes to my approach to music composition, etc."

Link (here) to the full article

Jesuit Museum

Celebration of art
Two special exhibitions will highlight the 15th anniversary of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at St. Louis [Mo.] University. The interfaith museum, founded by director, curator and priest Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J., is located in a renovated chapel at the Jesuit university.
Link (here)

"Drink And Eat Their Own Condemnation" If They Do Not Confess Before Receiving Communion

"If the bishops wanted 54 percent of the Catholic population (who voted for Obama) to go to confession before receiving Communion, they would have said so at their meeting in Baltimore," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center. He added: "There's a good reason why priests should not say stupid things but be very careful when talking about confession, Communion and politics."
Link (here)

Communist Leader To Speak At Fordham

Background Information on President Evo Morales

(here) , (here) , (here) , (here)

• In Bolivia, President Evo Morales’ own police chief is an ex-Jesuit and a staunch liberation theologian, Rafael Puente Calvo, considered one of the president’s ideological hardliners. (here)

• Mauricio Bacardit is a Jesuit priest who has been Mr Morales' mentor for 20 years, watching over him as he rose to become leader of the coca growers' union. When I ask him whether he gives MrMorales spiritual advice he almost chokes on his whisky. "No, not spiritual advice. Power. Evo is a leader, leadership runs through him. He has responded to what the masses wanted." (here)

• Bolivian President Evo Morales on Tuesday said some members of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy are behaving as if they were in "the times of the Inquisition" as he defended his government's plan to remove Catholicism as the sole religion taught in schools. Morales comments came a day after Education Minister Felix Patzi referred to Catholic "monsignors" as "liars" and said they have been serving the oligarchy for the 514 years since Spain colonized the country. "I want to ask the [church] hierarchies that they understand freedom of religion and beliefs in our country," Morales told reporters. "It's not possible to impose their views." He said he was "worried by the behavior of some Catholic Church leaders who are acting like in times of the Inquisition." Link (here)

More on the evils of Communism (here)

Bolivian President Morales to Speak at Fordham on Nov. 17

Contact: Syd Steinhardt
(212) 636-6534
steinhardt@fordham.edu

President Evo Morales of Bolivia will address members of the Fordham community on "The Realities Of Democracy" on Monday, Nov. 17 at 4 p.m. at McNally Amphitheatre.

In his address, President Morales will express his thanks to the civil society and nations that supported his government during the recent violence in Santa Cruz; discuss the negotiations that led to the agreement his government reached with the opposition on proposed constitutional changes; and explain how those changes, which are subject to the results of a Jan. 25 referendum, will work within the framework of Bolivian democracy.

WHO:
His Excellency Juan Evo Morales Ayma
President, Republic of Bolivia

WHAT:
"The Realities Of Democracy"

WHEN:
Monday, Nov. 17
4 p.m. EST

WHERE:
Fordham University
McNally Amphitheater
140 W. 62nd St. at Columbus Avenue
New York

Link (here)

Former Jesuit On His Former Rector

I would not also forget is Fr. Asandas Balchand, SJ, and my Rector at the Loyola House back in my Jesuit days. Fr. Balch, as we courteously called him, was a pure-breed Jesuit – simply brilliant in short. He has a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University, notably the best school in all of Christendom. Fr. Balch is known to be one of the best scholars in Theology in and out of the Philippines. He taught us to go beyond the limits, to think outside the box, to always see not just a half-full glass of water but rather how to make lemonade out of it. He discouraged us to be trapped within the norms of conservative religiosity but rather to reach out and be part of something greater than ourselves. Personally, he taught me what it means to be a Jesuit and to be a soldier.

Link to the blog called the Crucible, read the full post (here) .

Ignatius, A Phillies Fan?

Read Jesuit Fr. George Bur's blog entitled The Spirit Blows Where It Will.
See his original post (here)