IN COMMEMORATION of the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus, the month-long 2014 Ignatian Festival carries the theme “Responding to the Continuous Challenges of Restoration.”

The Society of Jesus is a religious order founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola that engages in evangelization and apostolic ministry.

“Restoration is always a meaningful movement in our life of interiority and in our service of others in society,” said University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ.

This year’s Ignatian Festival also highlights sustainability and its role in environmental restoration.

Sustainability is under the environment and development thrust, one of the three that Villarin wants to achieve for the university under his term.

The other two thrusts are mission and identity, and nation-building, which were the focus of past Ignatian Festivals. During Reignite Day, Villarin explained that the Jesuits were suppressed in the 1770s due to a host of “political and religious forces” during the time of Pope Clement XIV.

Reignite Day featured a series of talks held in the Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall Auditorium on July 19.

After 41 years of suppression, Pope Pius VII reinstated the Society of Jesus through the papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum (Concern for all churches).

The lectures featured Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Executive Director Xavier Alpasa, SJ, Office of the Alumni Relations Director Norberto Ma. Bautista, SJ, Ateneo Institute of Sustainability Director Assunta Cuyegkeng, PhD and Jesuit Provincial Head Antonio Moreno, SJ as speakers.

The other activities in the course of the month were a series of talks on Ignatian spirituality, and bird walks on campus, spearheaded by the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability together with the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

This year’s activities commenced with a Mass presided by Villarin on July 1 in the Church of the Gesù.

The Ignatian Festival was organized by the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations, and the Office of Mission and Identity.

Present-day restoration

The focus of the lectures on Reignite Day was restoration in the sociopolitical, environmental and spiritual contexts.

According to Moreno, after the Jesuit’s triumph against suppression, they had to start from scratch in re-establishing their ministries. “It’s not about the return of the glory of the Jesuits or the power of the Jesuits… I think rather it’s an invitation to humility.”

Moreno mentioned that a current problem of the Society of Jesus after restoration is the decreasing number of Jesuits in the Philippines.

He said that 70% of the Jesuit population in the country consists of priests aged 70 years old and above.

According to Moreno, he is considering having a non-Jesuit university president for Ateneo de Manila because of the insufficient number of Jesuits available for the position.

“I don’t want that kind of situation, but what I am trying [to tell] the board members is to be prepared for a lay university president,” he said.

The Ateneo, formerly named Escuela Municipal de Manila, remains the only Jesuit university in the world being run by Jesuit priests since its establishment in 1859.

Environmental restoration

During her lecture, Cuyegkeng dealt with the concerns regarding environmental sustainability as a way of restoring the environment.

“[The environment] becomes sustainable only when the needs of the society, of the economy and the environment are addressed at the same time,” she said.

Furthermore, she gave concrete methods of sustaining the environment, such as the use of reusable food containers to reduce waste disposal.

In line with this, Cuyegkeng also mentioned the breakthrough done by Ateneo Innovation Center (AIC) Director Greg Tangonan, AIC Operations Officer Paul Cabacungan and Engineer Jun Granada in developing a water treatment system.

The said project was utilized for the irrigation of the campus’ Marian Garden and as a water system for the comfort rooms in the New Rizal Library and the Matteo Ricci Study Hall.

A response

As a conclusion to Reignite Day, the lecturers reminded the community to participate in combating the current challenges of restoration.

“Go out, give and serve, then you will become a generous person,” Bautista said in a mix of English and Filipino.

However, Moreno reminded the community that mission should not be equated with work, as work could become an addiction.

Moreno added, “Everything is now covered by work as if we’re doing this for the greater glory of God, but [it’s] actually already a form of [our] own greater glory.”

With all the current struggles of restoration, Alpasa hopes that Ateneans expose themselves to the sociopolitical issues surrounding them.

Alpasa also mentioned two Ateneo alumni, Atty. Bobby Gana and Atty. Caloy Ollado, who participated in the fight of the Sumilao farmers to keep their land in 2007.

“Ang pinaghuhugutan kong pag-asa ngayon… nagpapatuloy ang ‘factory’ ng Ateneo to push for the reform. Ikalawa, nai-involve ang mga ibang tao sa usaping pulitika, usapin ng pagtulong, kahit hindi na sa loob ng Ateneo (I draw my hope from the continuous ‘factory’ of Ateneo to push for the reform. Second, people are getting involved with the discussion of politics, the discussion of helping out, even if they’re outside Ateneo),” he said.