It has been
five months since Fr Mark Raper SJ arrived in Manila to take up his post as President
of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania after a whirlwind final year
as Provincial of Australia which included World Youth Day, MAGiS and the 35th
General Congregation. Since then, Fr Raper has travelled extensively within the boundaries of
his designated conference, canvassing grassroots sentiment and clarifying the
priorities that face him in his new role.
On a visit to Sydney over Christmas, Fr Raper reflected
on the challenges of the job undertaken by him on a part-time basis in March
last year, while he was still provincial. He moved to Manila full-time in
September and, having already adjusted to the Asian way of life during his
tenure as Director of JRS in Asia-Pacific in the 1980's, found it easy to
settle into his new home.
‘I've had a
wonderful welcome from the Philippines Province, and from the various
international groups I've been dealing with', said Fr Raper.
But while
Fr Raper finds himself in the one region of the society that grew last year -
by an impressive 25% - he has nonetheless identified Jesuit Formation as his
chief priority.
‘We have a
number of regions in Asia and the Pacific - China, East Timor, Myanmar,
Vietnam, Malaysia - which all have people entering the society, but they have
neither the personnel nor the institutions nor the funding for Jesuit
formation', he said.
Provinces
that are better equipped to enhance formation, such as Australia, Indonesia and
the Philippines, will be called upon to share their resources so that formation
can be strengthened. ‘We have international houses in the Philippines,
especially for the early formation, but now we want to build up a very good
school of theology.'
This
imbalance of resources has also motivated Fr Raper to focus on smaller, younger
regions such as Cambodia, East Timor, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand
and Micronesia, which often lack the leadership and management needed to
undertake their apostolate.
Though
small in terms of their number of Jesuits, explains Fr Raper, they are ‘not small
in terms of the numbers of problems they are facing. The whole conference wants
to support them with personnel and with material support in some cases.'
To this
end, planning programmes have already been held with Jesuits from Thailand,
Myanmar and Cambodia. ‘It's a question of really encouraging planning,
encouraging thinking ahead. By doing our planning in a more participatory way
we see more alternatives to respond to.'
This
cooperative imperative can be applied to a range of possibilities, says Fr
Raper. ‘In Indonesia they're starting a school for the poor, in the Philippines
they're wanting to do more of that, in Thailand they're considering education
for the poor, in Cambodia it's always a challenge and East Timor has a new
educational task coming up. What I'm saying is let's plan a little bit together
and explore all the methodologies rather than each one feeling under-equipped
to do so.'
This
pooling of resources furthers the supposition of last year's General
Congregation that ‘international problems require an international response'.
It's an idea that has strengthened the conferences, says Fr Raper. ‘Even a
local problem can be helped with an international response.'
A third -
and more nebulous - priority for the conference is that of refashioning the
structure of international cooperation originally set up in the 1960s and
1970s. ‘The world has changed', says Fr Raper. ‘It will take some time to
conceptualise better how we can cooperate internationally.'
This
process will require the balancing of the Jesuits' universal mission, as
stressed in last year's General Congregation, with the diversity of East Asia
and Oceania. ‘In Asia there are such different cultures, languages and local
situations that we have to match this homogeneity of a universal mission with
the great heterogeneity of the local situation.'
Ultimately,
Fr Raper's role requires him to provide a level of support that can be
sustained in diverse locations despite the language, cultural and situational
differences. Moreover, the widespread use of English as the language of debate
and negotiation helps to expedite the process. ‘We have really worked these
last decades on having English as a common language, so now we can speak at
some depth and in quite a nuanced way with one another about our mission.'
Despite the
scope of the conference, Fr Raper says the presidency is a less intense job
than that of Provincial. ‘I'm really giving support to the provincials for the
international aspects of their work', he explains.
Away from
Australia, Fr Raper has had time, no doubt, to reflect on the frenetic final
year of his Province leadership, and his hasty transition to President of the
East Asia and Oceania Conference. ‘I guess because of the nature of the timing
I left rather abruptly from one to the other. I hardly had a chance to say
farewell and to thank so many people who helped me [during the busy year]. But
what a wonderful thing it is to be given a new assignment and one that I feel
is so timely.'
By Catherine Marshall