The scj Asia Conference was the specific Asian scj strategy for putting in place the decisions made at the scj General Conference in Recife, Brazil, in May 2000, on "The Economy and the Reign of God".  Congregation wide the General Conference made several important proposals:

1)  The scj membership needs to educate and inform itself about social justice issues that surface because of economic liberalization and globalization; that strategies for doing this need to be developed especially on the regional and local levels.

2)  That social justice education needs to be integrated in formation programs for scj candidates.  This education is to take place at every level of formation.

During the Asia Conference, provincial and district superiors, formation personnel, and promoters of social justice educated themselves about the issues that surfaced at the General Conference, and explored possibilities for collaboration, creating a concrete Asia plan related to JPIC Formation and Action.

As stated by Fr. Carlos Alberto da Costa Silva, scj, General Councilor and JPIC Director for the Congregation, in his presentation, the scj General Conference in Recife was for us

A Call to Action:

• to work together with others
• in building the Kingdom, as Prophets of Love & Servants of Reconciliation
• in solidarity with the poor

• in how we deal with money and possessions
• to educate ourselves about social justice
• to prepare future scjs for the work of JPIC

Philippines -  The spirit of the Church in the Philippines is lay centered.  Lay people are very active and participate in the decision making process.  After 12 years in the Philippines we work in 6 parishes, and have 25 students in formation.

Indonesia -  In the future we hope that we can commit more seriously to the work of social justice.  There are some good signs of hope.  Students are exposed to social issues sarting in the novitiate, and continue in the scholasticate.  Since the VI Provincial Chapter, the Indonesian province has been committed to labor issues.  Besides our work with Blue Angel (rehabilitation for drug addicts) in Jakarta, for many years scjs have been involved in social action in the diocese of Palembang.

India -  Being in India for only 7 years, our priority continues to be formation.  Social justice education is an integral part of all of our formation programs.  The scjs in India are  committed to preparing our students to be future ministers of Social Justice.

Presentations

Fr. C. van Paassen, scj, in his paper "Sacred Heart Spirituality and Social Justice", spoke of the challenges and opportunities that come from our living in Asia; that the opportunities for religious dialogue with Eastern religious traditions, and the challenges that come from Asia having the "biggest share in global poverty and misery", will possibly bring Christianity to the next step of its evolution.  Fr. van Paassen presents some very important questions for us:

• "What is it that the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart has to offer to the Asian Church which she doesn't have?"
• "What are we, here in Asia, going to do with our Founder's Spiritual Testament and what does it mean for us, today and here in Asia?"

Mrs. Afra Siauwarijaya, described her life with the Dayak tribe in Indonesia.  Spending 15 years with those "poorest of the poor" she spoke of her experience of conversion that led her from a sacramental preparation approach to ministry to actually becoming involved in the issues in their social reality.  She spoke of how, living the problems of the poor, she was able to enable them to develop themselves and grow as God's people.

Fr. Mardi Atmaja, sj, "Some Theological Notes on our Peace and Justice Mission", talked about the false separation between the Good News and Working for one's neighbor.  He made the distinction between the "fruits of injustice" which we see all around us, and their "tree", the cause, which is in the minds and hearts of people.  Working and living justice involves a conversion of heart.  He suggests that we must first and principally bring healing to the minds and hearts of men and women; the mission extends to the change of structures secondarily.  We were reminded of the 1974 Declaration of Bishops, that "Promotion of Justice is an integral part of evanglization."

Live-In.  During the weekend, every participant of the conference was assigned to live in the home of a factory worker, where they might experience first hand the poverty and quality of life of the working poor in Indonesia.  Most of the families live in very simple company-built housing projects, surrounding the city of Jakarta.  They work for very long hours for low wages, a very attractive situation for foreign companies looking for "cheap labor".  The time on Monday was dedicated to sharing experiences and information about the Live-In.  This event was organized by LDD, a workers' organization sponsored by the Diocese of Jakarta.

Blue Angel (BADAN LAYANAN UMUM EKAMATRA untuk ANTI NARKOTIKA dalam GERAKAN EKASAPTA LESTARI or Unidimensional Public Servicing Board for Anti Narcotics and Psychotropic in Seven-In-One Everlasting Movement) representatives gave a presentation on the history, present status, and future hopes of the drug rehabilitation project, a NGO sponsored by the scj Province of Indonesia.

COLLABORATION

Fr. Martin van Ooj (India), Fr. Paul Sugino (Indonesia), Fr. Jerome Sheehy (Philippines)

Finally, and most importantly, the scj Asia Conference participants considered possible collaboration projects.  The following are some decisions that came out of these discussions:

1. Of very high priority was the desire for a "sharing of information" among the scjs in Asia.  It was agreed that we initiate a newsletter for this purpose.  Every 4 months, starting with India, a Province / District will publish a newsletter about JPIC issues, spirituality, culture etc...,  Br. Leonard Zaworski (India), Fr. Eduardo Aguero (Philippines), and Fr. Kusmaryadi (Indonesia) were appointed to be the contacts for each area.  There was also expressed interest in an scj Asia Website also for this purpose.

2. It was decided that an scj Asia Conference be scheduled every 3 years.  The next scj Asia Conference will be held in the Philippines, in 2003, tentatively January or February.  The theme will be "Inter-Religious Dialogue".

3. Other decisions:

a)  Preparation for Final Vows - It was decided that some time together before Final Vows would be a good element of Final Vow Preparation.  A time of preparation together would reflect the international dimension of our Congregation.

b)  Sabbatical experiences for scjs would be welcomed by the Asia Province / Districts.

c)  It was decided that time would be scheduled during or after scj Asia Conferences for meetings of Asia Formators and Promoters of JPIC, to share information and evaluate programs.  It was also suggested that the Province / Districts might invite scjs to share information regarding Formation and JPIC programs.

During our stay in Indonesia we experienced the utmost hospitality from the scjs of the Indonesian Province.  A lot of preparation went into making our first scj Asia Conference the success that it was.  One of the high points of our time together was the Intercultural Mass that was celebrated at St. Stephen's Church in Jakarta.