Despite being one of
the world’s most Catholic countries, the number of Jesuit vocations in
the Philippines is on the decline - and it’s something that’s happening
across the entire Asia Pacific region.
But according to Fr Antonio Moreno, the
Prior Provincial in the Philippines, the order must worry less about
numbers but more on strategy: he wants a set of clear priorities
focussed on the “needs of the times” to come out of the General
Congregation gathering in Rome this month.
And he believes these need to define a mission that
looks beyond Pope Francis, who turns 80 next year, admitting that some
in the order fear a backlash against the Jesuits after Francis - whose
opponents are numerous - has gone.
Speaking to The Tablet in the
Jesuit’s headquarters on the Borgo Santo Spirito, Fr Moreno explained
he is now in charge of 261 Jesuits - with a third aged over 70 - with
this figure down from a peak of 443 around 30 years ago.
The decline, he explained, is
across all of the countries in Asia Pacific with only Vietnam seeing an
increase. Fr Moreno says the downturn is due to changes in family life,
new job opportunities for young people thanks to economic growth and
says the past growth in the Philippines was partly due to the
persecution of the church is under the Marcos regime.
The 55-year-old, who has a
PhD in Development Studies from Swansea University, says while the
decline is a concern, the numbers cannot make up for a strong sense of
mission.
“As Fr Adolfo Nicolas
[outgoing Jesuit General Superior] once said ‘you can increase by a
thousand but if we are not clear about our priorities you will always be
overloaded’,” Fr Moreno explained.
The Society of Jesus, he
said, need to follow the example of the most famous member of their
order - Pope Francis - and discover new places to evangelise, which
includes cyberspace in order to reach those who have “gone virtual”.
Fr Moreno, who is a member of
the General Congregation co-ordinating committee, explained: “We have
to ask ourselves: are we in the peripheries? Are we in the frontiers?”
He is particularly worried by
the growth of extremism and political violence across the world,
including in his own country which, following the election of President
Rodrigo Duterte, has seen a brutal crackdown on crime with thousands of
extra-judicial killings.
“Right now we are still a divided nation,” he said.
For their part, the Filipino
Jesuits, whose major work is in university education, are working on
efforts to bring about dialogue and peace.
Fr Moreno used to run the
Ateneo de Zamboanga a Jesuit university in the south western part of the
Philippines which specialises in trying to mediate between armed groups
- a number of them Islamic extremists - in the surrounding areas.
He explained the university
offered Islamic theology courses to Muslim students while trying to
engage in meaningful dialogue and reconciliation work where it could.
It is the kind of work that
this Pope would approve, but for Fr Moreno the Jesuits need to take
ownership of Francis’ message for themselves.
“He has given us so many inspiring messages, inspiring homilies and encyclicals,” he said. “But
we realise also that he’s not going to stay forever. So what will
happen if he’s no longer there? We cannot simply say ‘oh, because Pope
Francis inspired us then we go this way’. We should be prepared for all
seasons.”
Are the order worried about a
“backlash” against the Jesuits after this Pope has gone?
Particularly
has he has run up against such opposition internally to his reform
drives.
“It’s a possibility but it’s also possible that his inspiration will stay a little bit longer,” he said. “|n the short run maybe that’s the fear of people, but we’ve endured - the holy spirit is there. It may go in cycles.”
Voting for the election of the new Superior General
will start on Friday and Fr Moreno says the field for candidates is a
wide open. He argues that while there has been a demographic shift among
Jesuits to the global south there is no guarantee the candidate will
come from the region.
What is crucial for Fr Moreno is less where the new Jesuit leader comes from but more about where he is leading them to.