Fr. Provincial’s Message

Dear Companions,
The 2025 Jubilee, themed “Pilgrims of Hope,” has begun with the official opening of the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica, and will run until January 6, 2026. Pope Francis has beautifully expressed it: “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and
certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision.” How can we engender hope in a totally hopeless situation?
Hope is not something just personal, to be cultivated in our hearts. It has to come out and affect our relationships and our surroundings, our country and our world. Christian hope is essentially shared hope. In our country, a minority have bright hope about their future; others have some hope; and a majority have dim hopes, because nothing much changes in their drab and painful lives in spite of globalisation, new government, and all the talk of new proposals and schemes for their progress.
Hope calls us to be in solidarity with such people, doing whatever is possible to serve them, and to change economic and social structures which keeps them down. In his work, Jesus and Freedom, Sebastian Kappen writes: “Art, literature, and the mass media can to some extent be used to instil hope. But the more powerful generators are to be sought at the level of social practice. Hope grows only where chains are broken, barriers overcome and walls pulled down. It dies out where man (sic) is not able to overthrow the oppressive structures of the present.” What oppressive structures do we dare to dismantle during this Jubilee Year to instil hope among the despaired? I wish you a hope-filled New Year 2025!

James Arjen Tete, S.J.
Provincial