Posted: June 7

Oh, the Mo Prov, home again

(St. Louis) It was nice to be at home for awhile, but I am back on the road again, this time for a Missouri Province gathering in St. Louis where I did my first six years of formation and then later worked for nine years on the province staff. The purpose of the current meeting is to discuss possible changes in the 10 U.S. provinces, which might mean combining some provinces or redrawing lines as we adapt to new apostolic necessity and changed realities of fewer Jesuits to maintain the many works we already have. I am not sure what will happen or even what the potential options are, but it is clear that the Society of Jesus constantly evolves in different ways around the world, expanding in one place while it contracts in another. I am basically optimistic and think this is an opportunity and that the Spirit is still very much moving within us.

We had a very spirited meeting of the European cultural reviews in the Curia in Rome in the four days before I left. This is my fourth year of attending these meetings and the men have become friends, so it was good to welcome them into my home for a change. The journals involved include La Civiltá Cattolica (from Italy), Etudes (from France), and Razon y Fe (from Spain) as well as other reviews from Greece, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Belgium. The meeting was blessed as well with the presence of Fr. Antonio Delfau, the editor of Mensaje, the Chilean magazine that can make the unique claim of having been founded by a saint (St. Alberto Hurtado, canonized only last fall). Antonio and Marco Antonio Lacerda SJ from Brazil presented the new online review that they edit, Mirado Global. It has only been officially published since last December, but it is getting good reviews and has a very rich mix of articles, all available in three languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English. Take a look at it: http://www.miradaglobal.com.

These journals focus on their writing not on graphics but they play an important role in the Society's work of engaging contemporary culture at a reflective level.