Jesuit Father Tom Reese Discusses Energy Taxes and Regulations at Georgetown/On Faith's blog

Jesuit Father Tom Reese, Senior Fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, regularly contributes to the Georgetown/On Faith blog, a partnership between Georgetown University and Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive designed to provide knowledge, inform debate and promote greater dialogue and understanding across religious traditions.

Fr. Reese's recent posting at the Geogetown/On Faith blog discusses and gives his point of view on energy taxes and regulations. Here is an excerpt:

The pope has also been convinced by scientists that global warming is a reality and will have terrible consequences on humanity and the world unless we do something to reverse it. And unlike politicians, he does not just talk about it. He has installed solar powered technology to reduce energy consumption and has made the Vatican the first carbon neutral state in the world.

In comparison, the United States has done little to respond to the environmental and energy crises that face our country and the world. Sadly, this is not because of ignorance. We have known what to do since the first energy crisis during the Carter administration.

You can read the rest of his latest blog post here.

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400 years of Canadian Jesuit Archives Now Under One Roof

The Jesuit Archive in Canada, a witness to the activity of all the Jesuits who worked both in English and French Canada and its foreign missions since the arrival of the first Jesuits to Canada in 1611, has been joined under one roof in Montréal, to better serve historians, researchers and those interested in Canadian Jesuit history from the 17 century until today. The Archive includes rare books, works of art, documents and publications relating to Canadian Jesuit and early Canadian history.

A celebration of the official opening of the Jesuit Archive in Canada will take place from September 22 – 23 in Montréal. For the schedule of events, please visit jesuit.org.

For more information, (including bios, photographs, and historical material), contact:
• Pierre Bélanger, S.J. – service des communications – les jésuites at:
514-387-2541, ext. 339 – email: pierre.belanger@jesuites.org
• Céline Widmer – Directrice, Archives des jésuites au Canada at:
514-387-2541, ext. 238 – email: cwidmer@jesuites.org
• Erica Zlomislic – Communications Officer – Jesuits in English Canada at:
416-962-4500 ext. 225– email: communications@jesuits.ca

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Oprah Picks Jesuit Father Uwen Akpan's Say You’re One of Them for Her Next Book Club Selection

Jesuit Father Uwen Akpan, SJ's short story collection, “Say You’re One of Them” is the next pick for Oprah’s book club. It will be announced today on her show.

His five short stories are each set in a different African country. Children play major roles in the stories, which tackle the toughest of topics –  child slavery, rioting and genocide. When the book was published last year it was widely praised by book reviewers but the book’s success up until now is nothing compared with what is likely to be unleashed later this afternoon. Yesterday the book was #165,769 on Amazon.com’s sales rankings, ” by 10 p.m. last night it had risen to #2,151 and #18 by this afternoon.

Related Links of Interest:
The New Yorker Q and A: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/06/13/050613on_onlineonly01

Thinking Faith book review: http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20080930_1.htm

New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/books/03akpan.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=akpan&st=nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/books/27book.html?ref=books

Visit to fairfieldU: http://www.fairfield.edu/currents/stories/08_12/cc_students_dec08.html

NPR radio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91398323

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Reaching Out to Today’s Young Catholics

by Ed Schmidt, SJ    

 

    In 2000, I had some work to do in northern Italy, and my best option was to fly to Milan and travel onward by train. I had never visited Milan, so before heading home I spent two nights with the Jesuits in the center of the city. Close by lies the Duomo, the venerable cathedral with its massive piazza in front. This is the heart of Milan.

New School in the Sudan Offers Renewed Hope

by Tricia Steadman Jump

    As 183,000 students return this fall to the campuses of the 28 Jesuit-affiliated colleges and universities, many will find themselves standing blurry-eyed in the campus coffee house ordering a triple shot, nonfat, no foam venti latte to help keep their eyes open during their first morning lecture hall class of the semester. For the students at Gonzaga University in Spokane, that latte not only helps them make it through their Statistical Analysis 101 class, it also helps students 7,600 miles away on the campus of the Catholic University of the Sudan.

Watch an Interview with Fr. Mike Schultheis on the progress of the Catholic University of the Sudan.

    The pilot program, called the African Outreach Donate a Latte, was started last year and allows Gonzaga students to donate $2 from their dining program’s funds to the Sudanese school in Juba that opened its doors last fall to its inaugural class of 35 students. Thousands of dollars were raised last year via the Donate a Latte program for the new Catholic university, providing much needed materials such as books and even building materials for the school. For Jesuit Father Mike Schultheis, vice chancellor of the Catholic University of the Sudan, Gonzaga’s coffee for charity initiative also keeps him connected to his home province of Oregon, even though he’s been working in educational apostolates in Africa for more than 30 years.

First Jesuit Cristo Rey School Opens in the South

by Susan Branda Martin


Fifty years after the founding of the first Jesuit school in the city of Houston, the Jesuits and their lay collaborators are poised to once again found another school in the same city with a focus on getting the poorest and most-at-risk children of Houston ready for college.  Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School of Houston, the first co-educational school sponsored by the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province, will open its doors to 100 freshmen on August 10, 2009.  Its inaugural class of young men and women will participate in one of the most exciting educational models in the country - the Cristo Rey Network that consists of 23 schools across the nation.

To watch a video from News2Houston on the opening of Cristo Rey Jesuit, click on the picture below.

Middle Jesuits Share Challenges, Create Connections at Keepers of the Fire Conference in California

by Mark Mossa, SJ
 

For four days in June, Santa Clara University experienced a rather unique kind of Jesuit presence. About 200 “middle generation” Jesuits braved the near perfect weather for an experience of fraternity and looking toward the future. These “keepers of the fire,” invoking the words of the recent General Congregation, gathered from all the U.S. provinces, and a few others, to reflect on the call of Christ as experienced individually, and as brothers in the Society of Jesus.



The attendees represented various apostolates and generations within the Society. The youngest in religious life, although not always the youngest in age, were the most recently formed brothers, and those who had been ordained only a year. Others brought the wisdom of having been Jesuits for more than thirty years. All brought their experience of having spent a significant portion of their adult life as Jesuits, no matter their ages.

The History of Jesuits Coming to North America Institute Convenes in Santa Clara

by Kaitlyn McCarthy
 

The author Mark Twain once said, “History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

While this may not have been the official theme of the “History of Jesuits Coming to North America Institute”, it could have aptly served as one. Organized by the National Jesuit Brothers Committee, the Institute, held over four days at Santa Clara University, illustrated a contrast; both the commonalities and the differences within the Society’s North American history.

Common themes such as missionary spirit, the frontiers and adaptation to local cultures were threaded throughout the talks, but the specific applications were varied and unique. The historical tales and themes ‘rhymed’ with the challenges Jesuits face today, but the frontiers in which they work now are very different.