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| Arrupe House at 20: Sowing the Seeds of International Cooperation |
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 Everything has a pre-history and Arrupe House is no exception. Few will know who was the first one to speak about the idea of a common house of studies for Jesuits in East Asia. It was Father Robert Deiters, then Provincial of Japan, who first spoke of an Asian Juniorate. He experienced in his own province a need for facility in English. He also saw that there probably could not be adequate cooperation among the Jesuit Provinces in this area until a sizeable numbers of Jesuits got to know one another. But that was some time before Arrupe House was conceived of.
Father Deiters, however, was not the founder of Arrupe House. The founder was Father Daven Day of Australia who had become the President of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia. He had the same concerns as Father Deiters but discovered further needs and he acted on this discovery. One of the concrete needs was the intellectual formation of young Jesuits of the smaller units of the Jesuit Conference area. These were: Thailand, Singapore-Malaysia, Micronesia and later East Timor and Burma. Father Day engaged in lots of planning and persuasion of the Major Superiors of the Jesuit Conference. It is clear to this writer that Arrupe House would not have come into existence were it not for Father Day’s vision and persistence. Even after Arrupe House became a reality Father Day as the first Major Superior of Arrupe House was much involved with those first few years of the House until he was succeeded by Father Ismael Zuloaga.
I recently found the group picture of the first year at Arrupe House and happily old age did not prevent me from remembering the names of everyone in that picture. There were two staff members, Peter Kim Se Mang of Malaysia who was Prefect of Studies and James Meehan who was Prefect of spiritual matters. And there was the rector. Ten young men were from Malaysia-Singapore, three from the Philippine Province, two from Indonesia. There was one each from China Province, Upper Germany, North Germany, Thailand and Micronesia. Later Australia, Korea, India and places in Europe and North America were added.
What are these men doing today? Four are parish priests. Two are seminary professors. There is one University President, two university professors, one engaged in university student apostolate, one Novice Director and one former Novice director. One man is recuperating from illness and there is one whose assignment I could not find out. The rest are either husbands, fathers, bachelors or a combination.
In those beginning years there were a number of things that made the early years easier than what might have been the case. All of the men had adequate English and some were excellent. The effort to create programs for spiritual growth was made easy by the fact that the young men desired these programs. As a matter of fact most took responsibility for their own formation as they were urged to do as mature young religious. While there were some minor problems that come with any new house, there was considerable openness to sharing in the house chores. All had a common vocabulary from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and most were deeply affected by the spirit and values of those Exercises.
We have to be grateful for the many things that pre-existed our occupation of Arrupe House right there on the Ateneo Campus. These were a support for what we were sent to achieve. The Ateneo College with its liberal arts curriculum and the set-up of Loyola School of Theology were ready made for these Jesuit students. And both of these institutions were open to positively consider suggestions coming from our particular needs. Even in that first year there was established an academics committee with faculty members of both those schools so that we could learn faster what was expected of us and how we should direct the scholastics and brothers. Fortunately too we had three Filipino in formation, two Philippine Province priests were among the four official consultors of the rector in addition to the willingness to advise us on the part of the two successive rectors of Loyola House of Studies, Fathers Salanga and Balchand. One example of a positive arrangement that was made before the opening of the House was the fact that the dining room was positioned almost at the very entrance to the central building. This facilitated our desire to have a very hospitable house. And there were several other arrangements which helped in other ways.
Of course there were difficulties. There was an unavoidable lack of familiarity with what was new. The college was largely an unknown to us. Very few knew any Tagalog and few knew much about Philippine culture. Although each was nourished by the Ignatian Exercises and other Jesuitica, there were occasional miscommunications stemming from the nuances of difference in previous formation. There were inevitable distractions from the need to complete some of the minutiae of the building construction, the hiring of help, deciding what house jobs needed to be distributed and to whom, all this when we were anxious to get busy with the growth of the young men. Cultural differences were occasionally a concern but the biggest problem over all was the “Jesuit age spread”. We had young men just out of the Novitiate right up to ordination and beyond. Before very long, however, we found some ways to ameliorate the problem for instance by creating groups which met several times a month in pre-regency and theology groups and later even special studies groups. Another hurdle was the lack of background of the rector in Jesuit formation. However, a great deal of help came from the Loyola House rectors, the Arrupe House consultors, the academics committee, etc. These also helped to meet the challenge of having no traditions. This, of course was a mix of problem and opportunity for creative thinking.
Now in 2010 there are some obvious differences from how things were in the early nineties. There are now more small units in the Jesuit Conference area, notably East Timor and Burma. And now no unit of the Conference area has a near majority today as Malaysia-Singapore did in the beginning. Then the number of men in the pre-regency stage far surpassed those in theology. Now the proportion of those in Theology has increased. And there are considerably more people in Arrupe house than in the early years. The number never went beyond 42 in those early years and that only once. Now it is about sixty. This fact explains the addition of one new building to the original three.
From the beginning of the Society of Jesus, it was international. The Pope, Kings and Ignatius himself and his successors sent men all over Europe as well as to Asia, Africa and the Americas. That international thrust also created the Roman College, the German College and here in our backyard the East Asian Pastoral Institute. Changes are always welcome but if ever the Society of Jesus ceases to be international in spirit and reality it will also cease to be the Jesuit Body conceived by Ignatius. I believe that Arrupe House was and is the fruit of that concern beyond borders and at the same time it is one of the seeds from which the future growth in internationality issues. The friendships that were formed at Arrupe House have to lead to openness to cooperation in the Asia-Pacific area and beyond. Its existence is a reminder and a stimulus to our internationality. I have the conviction that it has contributed to the expanded vision of the Major Superiors who form what is now happily named the Jesuit Conference of Asia-Pacific. Arrupe House has been a spur to the generosity of the Philippine Province, a challenge well met. Even if some of these achievements had not been realized, we have only to look at the twelve Arrupe men from that first year alone who are working in the Asia-Pacific Vineyard. And now we have alumni from nineteen other years.
I recall saying at least to myself that I would not be disappointed if I were to be the last rector of Arrupe House because all Jesuit Houses should be international. Well, there was truth in what I said but from the ongoing success of Arrupe House I have to admit that I am glad I was not the last Rector.
- Fr. William McGarry, SJ
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The more than 300 men of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus serve in five universities, numerous schools for basic education, two diocesan major seminaries, three urban and five rural parishes... (READ MORE)
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The Windhover Online The Windhover - September 2010 Arrupe House at 20: Sowing the Seeds of International Cooperation
The Windhover Online The Windhover - September 2010 Arrupe House at 20: Sowing the Seeds of International Cooperation
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