A delegation from the Old Aloysians’ Association, led by its president, Stephen Gatt, represented Malta at the quadriennial congress of the European Confederation of Jesuit Alumni/ae held in Rome.
The main speaker at the congress was Fr Thomas Smolich, SJ, the International Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), who explained to delegates the Jesuit project, Mercy in Motion, in response to the Jubilee Year of Mercy launched by Pope Francis.
In his address to the delegates, whom he received in a private audience, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to become head of the Catholic Church, described the current refugee crisis as the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II, with more than 65 million persons forcibly displaced around the globe.
“If we move beyond mere statistics, however, we will discover that refugees are women and men, boys and girls who are no different than our own family members and friends. Each of them has a name, a face, and a story, as well as an inalienable right to live in peace and to aspire to a better future for their sons and daughters,” the Pope said.
He praised the Jesuit Refugee Service, founded 35 years ago by its then Superior General Pedro Arrupe, who was moved to act in response to the plight of the South Vietnamese boat people who were exposed to pirate attacks and storms in the South China Sea, while trying desperately to flee from violence in their homeland.
“Sadly, the world today still finds itself embroiled in countless conflicts,” the Pope said. “The terrible war in Syria, as well as civil conflicts in South Sudan and elsewhere throughout the world, can seem irresolvable. This is precisely why your gathering ‘to contemplate and act’ on the issue of refugees is so important,” Pope Francis told the delegates.
He urged them to follow the example of Fr Arrupe: “Through your Jesuit education, you have been invited to become ‘companions of Jesus’ and, with St Ignatius Loyola as your guide, you have been sent into the world to be women and men for and with others. At this place and time in history, there is great need for men and women who hear the cry of the poor and respond with mercy and generosity.”
The delegation also included Mark Brincat, Anthony Zammit, and Malcolm Lowell, who were accompanied by their wives.