High energy in Malta
Fr General visits the Works of the Maltese Jesuits
Paulo Freire Institute in Żejtun - 9 May
Father General’s visit to Malta began at the Paulo Freire Institute. He arrived late in the morning on 9 May and had a fraternal meeting with Fr Edgar Busuttil, the director.
“In a way, the work was born in 1989”, he explained, “from the decision to live close to the people in order to understand their real needs.” This is the reason why the Province of Malta opened a small community residence in Ir-Raħal t’Isfel, Żejtun, as part of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice that had recently been created. At the same time, the community was entrusted with the task of reflecting on issues of social justice in order to create awareness about these realities.
Read more on the EUM Province’s website:
Paulo Freire Institute in Malta: promoting the development of the most vulnerable
Activities at the Paulo Freire Institute.
Loyola House in Naxxar - 9 May
After the meeting with the Maltese Jesuits at Mount St Joseph, Fr General, celebrating Mass at Loyola House in Naxxar, spoke of listening and discerning new needs: “Where is God leading the Maltese Jesuits today, what is he asking of them in this concrete situation? Today you are once again invited to experience the transformative power of change, in a time of diminishment, allowing the process of a new Province and the new directions of your mission within it, as expressed in the Universal Apostolic Preferences, to reshape your path.
Having experienced faithfulness in the past, you are called to trust and embrace this present, to listen to the Spirit and allow change to mould you to meet the needs of today. You are being called to new growth and renewal of spirit, to new life.”
Read more on the EUM Province’s website:
Fr Sosa to the Maltese Jesuits: “Open to the new”
Fr General celebrating Mass at Loyola House.
St Aloysius College - 10 May
“Forming men and women with and for others. This is the mission of our College,” the Jesuit rector of St Aloysius College, Fr Jimmy Bartolo, highlights, “which today welcomes 1,524 students and has undergone many important changes in recent years: emphasis on inclusion, the introduction of co-education in the Primary School and eventually in the Secondary school; changes in the assessment policies and refurbishing school buildings and the sports complex. But the aim remains the same. We are focusing on the 4Cs of Jesuit education (competence, compassion, conscience and commitment) as well as implementing the ten indicators that characterise Jesuit education. We can only do this together: Jesuits, members of staff and parents/guardians collaborating in the one mission of the Society.”
Read more on the EUM Province’s website:
– St Aloysius College: inclusion and formation to become ‘men and women with and for others’
– Malta, Fr Sosa tells students: ‘Use your voice well’
Arriving at St Aloysius College.
Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) - 11 May
“Thank you for helping to bring me again to the reality of the lives and difficulties of refugees and asylum seekers”, said Fr Sosa. “For the Society of Jesus, JRS is becoming more important every day. The magnitude of the phenomenon of migration of people who feel constrained to move to another part of the world is enormous, they find so many obstacles, but they find you, people willing to give a hand. People only leave home because they are desperate. To bring and maintain humanity in such situations is so precious.”
JRS Malta began in 1994 when Fr Joe Cassar, together with a few volunteers, initiated a programme of support for refugees in Malta, mainly from Iraq and the former Yugoslavia. Over the past 25 years, JRS Malta has focused on providing information and professional services, establishing the first free legal service for asylum seekers in 1999.
Read more on the EUM Province’s website:
JRS Malta: for 30 years walking with the Excluded
Fr General with the JRS team.
‘Dar Manwel Magri’ Residence | University Chaplaincy - 11 May
The decision was taken a few years ago. To renovate the Jesuit residence ‘Dar Manwel Magri’, located next to the University of Malta, which currently has five Jesuits, the ground floor was refurbished and repurposed into a student hub. The project has been successful, and the house is constantly used by many students who come to study, socialise, prepare group work, cook and relax. Many CLC communities of young adults have been formed through the work and outreach at Dar Manwel Magri and the University Chaplaincy, offering long-term Ignatian formation, and several of these groups meet at Dar Manwel Magri for their weekly meetings.
This is where Fr Sosa stops to share lunch with the community. “For the students, it is synonymous with home”, explains Fr Patrick Magro, chaplain. “Many are involved in supporting the work of the Jesuits and the lay chaplaincy team.” The house is also used for live-ins, especially for groups receiving formation for voluntary work, and for community-living experiences, such as preparation for the Easter liturgies.
Read more on the EUM Province’s website:
Malta: how the Jesuits create space for young people
The entrance of the residence ‘Dar Manwel Magri’.
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