After eleven years as Secretary for the Social Apostolate at the Jesuit Curia in Rome, I worked on AIDS in Africa from 2002 to 2010 as the founding coordinator of the African Jesuit AIDS Network, based in Nairobi....
In May 2014, igNation launched a series exploring the Jesuit identity as it is expressed in works of fiction: "Keyword: Jesuit, Genre: Fiction". This was followed by the series "Keyword: Jesuit, Genre: Biography". In these two series we hear what others think about what it means to be a Jesuit – in fiction and in biography. This new series – "Keyword: Jesuit, Genre: Autobiography" – will explore what it means to be a Jesuit today – as told in their own words by Canadian Jesuits. The articles – written for igNation –are as different in expression and format as the men who wrote them. Today's posting is by Philip Shano, SJ...
If the only Jesuit you ever met was the subject of a biography in a library collection, what would this individual tell you about Jesuit life?In this series, IgNation blogger Kevin Burns, who is not a Jesuit, takes a look at some of the works that come up in a large urban public library he entered the search term "Jesuit" and filtered it through the genre of "Biography". The books that popped up include some familiar names and some not so familiar but still very real Jesuits....
In this piece, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ, as presented in the paleontological biography: The Jesuit and the Skull – Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for the Peking Man by Amir D. Aczel, published by Riverhead (Penguin) in 2007. Proceed with caution. Two years after his death, the Holy Office announced that "the books of Father Teilhard de Chardin SJ must be withdrawn from the libraries of seminaries and religious institutes; they may not be sold in Catholic bookshops; and they may not be translated into other languages."...
In a recent walk back from Jericho Beach, I came upon a blind woman. Cane in hand, she veered her way up the sidewalk in front of me. Despite the back and forth movement, her feet knew their way. It was obvious that she had travelled this way before. As I approached she bent over to the side and stopped. Not used to such a fast approach, I thought. I gave her space, acknowledged her in silence and continued on my way. Then something happened....
If the only Jesuit you ever met was the subject of a biography in a library collection, what would this individual tell you about Jesuit life?In this series, IgNation blogger Kevin Burns, who is not a Jesuit, takes a look at some of the works that come up in a large urban public library he entered the search term "Jesuit" and filtered it through the genre of "Biography". The books that popped up include some familiar names and some not so familiar but still very real Jesuits.Today: a man who knew everything, Athanasius Kircher SJ, as depicted by John Glassie in A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change....
Many English Canadian Jesuits and our collaborators gathered at Manresa - Jesuit Spiritual Renewal Centre in Pickering, Ontario for five days at the end of July. There were about seventy of us from all over the country and from our various ministries We have been through discernment processes in the past, but this one comes at a crucial moment in our history....
Kristine Barnett was delighted with her baby son Jake. He was a vivacious and responsive child, and she and her husband Michael eagerly looked forward to following his development from infancy to manhood with all the stages in between. Their delight soon turned first to worry and then to fear as Jake seemed to go more and more into himself. Eventually it seemed that Kristine and Michael ceased to exist for him. His world became one of endless order – toys and cards, string and pencils – all became objects of obsessive ordering that consumed more and more of his time. Although he had begun to speak very early, speech soon disappeared. Their little boy lived in a world apart from them, in silence and a seeming disregard for human life around him. The physicians' diagnosis was autism....
If the only Jesuit you ever met was the subject of biography in a library collection, what would this individual tell you about Jesuit life?In this series, IgNation blogger Kevin Burns, who is not a Jesuit, takes a look at some of the works that come up in a large urban public library he entered the search term "Jesuit" and filtered it through the genre of "Biography". The books that popped up include some familiar names and some not so familiar but still very real Jesuits.And who else on the eve of this Jesuit feast day but Saint Ignatius (1491 – 1556) himself?...
If the only Jesuit you ever met was the subject of biography in a library collection, what would this individual tell you about Jesuit life?In this series, IgNation blogger Kevin Burns, who is not a Jesuit, takes a look at some of the works that come up in a large urban public library he entered the search term "Jesuit" and filtered it through the genre of "Biography". The books that popped up include some familiar names and some not so familiar but still very real Jesuits. Today's Jesuit lived from 1888 to 1955, and although little talked about today, his influence on Catholic life in North America was astounding.If the only Jesuit you ever met was the subject of biography in a library collection, what would this individual tell you about Jesuit life?In this series, IgNation blogger Kevin Burns, who is not a Jesuit, takes a look at some of the works that come up in a large urban public library he entered the search term "Jesuit" and filtered it through the genre of "Biography". The books that popped up include some familiar names and some not so familiar but still very real Jesuits. Today's Jesuit lived from 1888 to 1955, and although little talked about today, his influence on Catholic life in North America was astounding....
