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opinion
Also in this section: About Jesuits and commitments by Raúl Leis R. --- raulleisr@hotmail.com I never studied in high schools or universities run by Jesuits, and even less did I ever aspire to join this or any other religious order, but the presence of members of the Society of Jesus has been fundamental in the roads I have walked on behalf of justice and living Christianity. How can I forget the social training workshops and Dialogo Social magazine, which had the support of Juan de Dios Antolinez, Ignacio Castañedas, "Perico" Moraza, Xabier Gorostiaga and Tarcisio Parrado? Or Fe y Alegria, where I learned the psycho-social methods of Freire and we launched novel popular proposals? Or an indigenous mission among Ngobe and Bugle in San Felix, Chiriqui, and one among the campesinos in Las Lajas, with priests like Jorge Saranedas? Or Colegio Javier and the Servicio Social Javeriano, whose pioneering activities in the area and serch for social change in the common interest brought full life to Christian and profoundly human values together with the desire to help working and living communities carry out certain communal projects for the benefit of all their members? Or the unforgettable Gorostiaga and the foundation of CEASPA 30 years ago? Or the permanent Central American experience of the Novitiate San Ignacio in Pedregal's Villa Lupus; or the literacy campaign of Fernando Cardenal in Nicaragua; the apostolate of the El Salvador martyrs; or the dynamism of César Jerez, Pico y Falla? Or the "Jesus in the Poor" work that has as its objective Christian and social training to determine parochial commitments with the neediest people? Or Néstor Jaén, the Ecumenical Committee, Foro 2020 and the theatrical work "Carta a Héctor Gallego?" A lot of other references have been left out. The truth is that the Jesuit mark on Panama is very old. In a recent examination of Panama's urban history, I found the ruins of Jesuit works in Panama Viejo that date back to 1575: a parish, a primary school, a Marian congregation for black people that also served sick people and prisoners. Later, walking through the Casco Antiguo one can still see the remains of the first university on the isthmus, created in 1749, the Universidad San Javier, which was closed after 18 years when the Jesuits were expelled from Panama and other countries by King Carlos III of Spain --- but still, in 1903 the first bishop of the republican era was the Jesuit Francisco Javier Junguito. In 2006 three important anniversaries are being celebrated by the Church and above all the Society of Jesus. It's the 450th birthday of Saint Ignace de Loyola, the Jesuits' founder and organizer. It's the 500th birthday of Saint Francis Xavier, who is within the church the patron saint of missionaries for his tireless journeys to Indonesia, Japan, and India, where he converted thousands of people. He died on a beach on his way to the coasts of China, which he was trying to visit. Finally, it's the 500th birthday of the beatified Pedro Fabro, a great spiritual leader who attracted a great following in Europe, including among unbelievers, with his friendship and respect. The truth is that my experiences with the Jesuits have been for the most part positive and inspiring, which doesn't mean that they're not a controversial religious order, as Saint Ignace wanted it to be committed to the historical challenges of every time and as these have not been easy the Jesuits have also committed their historic errors. Their principal challenge is to be in keeping with their own motto, "In service to the faith and to the promotion of justice," understanding that faith can't be dogmatism but rather must be an orientation toward the conjunction of humanism and divinity, and that justice today is an inescapable imperative set against an excessive and cadaverous plethora of exclusions, inequalities and inequities. Justice is a day by day, intense and germinal commitment. Eduardo Galeano writes that the word and the deed never meet. When the word says yes, the deed does no. When the word says no, the deed does yes. When the word says more or less, the act does less or more. One day, the word and the deed crossed paths in the street. As they didn't know one another, they didn't recognize each other. As they didn't recognize one another, they didn't greet one another. To articulate the word and the deed in the flesh through the commitment of "green lenses" (faith and politics), as Néstor Jaén wrote, is the current challenge for the Jesuits --- but it's also everybody's challenge.
Raúl Leis is a sociology professor, Panama's most honored living playwright, a newspaper columnist, one of the founders and leaders of the Panamanian Center for Social Studies and Action (CEASPA, a Panama City think tank), and an activist in the fields of environmentalism, human rights and governmental reform. He was the chairperson of the Foro 2020 which arose from the 2020 National Vision process. Also in this section:
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