~ a repost from the Jerusalem Post
President Shimon Peres is willing to hand over Israeli sovereignty of key Christian holy sites to the Vatican, a proposition that is reportedly opposed by Interior Minister Eli Yishai and that has ruffled feathers among other senior government officials, Army Radio reported on Monday.
Beit Hanassi could not be reached for comment on Monday, as it does not issue statements to the press while the president is abroad.
According to the radio report, the president is exerting pressure on thegovernment to give up sovereignty over six sites, including the Church of the Annunciation in …

It’s been almost 400 years since young Johann entered the Jesuits out of Cologne, Germany.  The passage of time was important to Johann.  You see, Johann was one of the Jesuits who helped the Chinese emperors reform their calendar.  Fr. Johann Adam Schall von Bell, SJ will forever be known to the Chinese as Tāng Ruòwàng.  And if you have any sense of China’s enduring fascination with the cycles of time and reverence for the ebb and flow of the world under the heavens, then you’ll have some appreciation for the …

AJAN – the African Jesuit AIDS Network was set up on 21 June 2002 by the Jesuit Superiors of Africa and Madagascar as an important common priority and work. AJAN is a new effort to respond to HIV/AIDS by developing an appropriate social ministry that
Is deeply rooted amongst those who suffer and accompanies those who care for them;
Promotes responsibility and prevention;
Joins in the struggle against stigma and discrimination;
Is sensitive to the local culture, faith and spirituality; and
Collaborates widely with others.
The steps foreseen are three-fold:
First, in each of the 27 African …

by Glen Butterworth, S.J.
Hard to believe a year has passed since we first received ACTS in our mailbox (or spambox, as the case may be).
While it was started as a ministry to young men here in the Northwest, ACTS has blossomed into a fully global blog read by hundreds of people all over the world. That’s right, ACTS is read all over the US, Canada, and Mexico and also in distant lands such as Singapore, Germany, Ireland, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, the UAE, India, and Spain (yes, big brother …

The Jesuits of the Northwest recently met in Seattle for the annual Oregon Province Days. We began our time together with some words from Frank Case, SJ (former provincial and secretary of the Society) and a liturgy celebrating our province jubilarians. Following the pattern of our Ignatian spirituality, grounded in the Exercises of St. Ignatius and the daily Examen, we continued by reviewing the lights and shadows of our history together in the Northwest. We heard from Tom Royce, SJ (former provincial and currently parochial vicar at St. Ignatius in …