tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46792907145431334602024-03-14T18:46:57.686+09:00BrittoniaBrittonia is the Blog of a Sophian in Tokyo, Japan.Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-821970562727991932014-12-27T14:39:00.002+09:002015-01-05T17:45:29.109+09:00Archbishop Joseph Pittau, S.J.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo (c) Mike Milward and the Jesuits of Japan</span></b> </div>
Many persons may be saddened to hear that the former President of Sophia University Joseph Pittau passed away last night (2014 Dec. 26), at about 10:00 PM, in Loyola House, Kamishakujii, Tokyo. Pittau was born on October 20, 1928, entered the Society of Jesus on April 18, 1945, and became a priest on March 18, 1959. He arrived in Japan in 1952 as a Jesuit missionary, and spent most of his academic life at Sophia University. His stature is so great that I expect there will be a couple of biographies about him soon. Everyone at Sophia, especially senior faculty and staff, speaks so respectfully and admiringly of him that one cannot help feeling he must have been an intellectual, administrative, and spiritual giant.<br />
<br />
I've known him since the 1970s, and he always struck me as a very unassuming, simple, open-minded and generous person. He never put on airs or acted superior, but acted very amicably and kindly with all. Even when he was the Rector of S. J. House (1975-1981), he would serve at table and do other menial tasks cheerfully. He played a very important role in the development of Sophia University, for it was during his tenure as Chancellor (1968-1975) and President (1975-1981) that Sophia grew into a noteworthy university. Pittau came to be well-recognized around Japan especially after he solved the student-revolt crisis at Sophia in the late 1960s, when all the major universities too were affected by student revolts. I've heard it said that Pittau was the very first university Administrator to call the Police inside the campus to defuse the crisis. Among his lasting contributions were the democratic process of electing a President (voted not only by the faculty, but also by the staff), the increase in the number of students (from about 5,000 to 10,000), the addition or re-arrangement of several departments and faculties. Most admirable, according to many, was his foresight, arising from his dream of making Sophia a university that can significantly contribute to Japan by remaining faithful to its Jesuit/Catholic calling. He was especially interested in making Sophia an international university, bringing in not only European, Australian, and American professors but also Asian ones from countries like India, the Philippines, South Korea, and Sri Lanka. <br />
<br />
After serving as President of Sophia University, Pittau moved on to become the Jesuit Provincial Superior of Japan (30 October 1980), and it was in that capacity that he welcomed Pope John Paul II to Japan in February 1981. He made sure that all the Jesuits in Japan appeared presentable as 'clerics' before the Pope (e.g., wearing a roman collar). It is said that the Pope was so satisfied with the Jesuits in Japan that he exclaimed, "Would that the Jesuits around the world were like Jesuits in Japan!" Whether this anecdote is true or not, there is no doubt that the Pope looked highly on Pittau, for when the hardworking and saintly Jesuit General Pedro Arrupe became incapacitated, the Pope personally requested Pittau to take over the reins of governing the Society of Jesus (together with the visually handicapped Fr. Dezza). Thus Pittau became the <i>Coadjutor Delegate</i> on October 31, 1981, taking his new post in Rome. Those were hard times for the Society of Jesus, and there were wild rumors of it getting suppressed a second time. Many would credit the Jesuit reconciliation with the Vatican bureaucracy and its resurgence to the labors of Fr. Dezza and Fr. Pittau. After the Society was brought back to its normal working order, Pittau served the Church and the Society in several capacities, traveling to several countries and continents. He was Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University from 1992 to 1998, and a delegate for the <i>Civilta Cattolica</i>. Subsequently he became the <i>Secretary of the Congregation for Education</i>. He was also bestowed the ecclesiastical rank of "Titular Archbishop of Castro di Sardegna" on July 11, 1998 and received the episcopal ordination on September 26, 1998.<br />
<br />
After his international labors outside Japan were over, Archbishop Pittau returned to Japan in 2004, serving for one year in the Ofuna Parish, near Kamakura, and then moving to S. J. House within Sophia University in 2005. While he stayed at S. J. House, he lectured on invitation to several honorable assemblies, and made an appearance in many ecclesiastical and academic events.. About six years or so ago, his eyesight became so weak that he needed special assistance for reading or writing. He could not even watch TV or use a PC because of his eye-problems. A few years ago (in 2011), he left S. J. House for Loyola House, where he was able to move about and even take part in his birthday parties--provided someone assisted him by holding his hand. He looked always happy and cheerful. A few weeks ago, he had to be hospitalized because of pneumonia, and for the past several days there was serious concern about his recovery. Meanwhile two of his brothers (one of them a priest) had come to be close to him, and we may say he returned to his heavenly home as his blood brothers and Jesuit brothers bade him good-bye.<br />
<br />
If there is one message for which Archbishop Pittau is best remembered, I think, it is "to think positive" or "to never lose hope." Having been through various careers and having interacted with many different persons, he had a mature, non-judgmental, and grand view of persons, things, and events. Even though he was well aware of scandals, struggles, and perhaps even deceits and deceptions, he never lost hope and never spoke gloomily or despairingly. He always looked upbeat and encouraged people around him to look at the brighter side and to labor to change imperfect situations with hope and confidence. No doubt, his Christian faith and Jesuit vocation contributed much to his constant energy and cheerfulness.<br />
<br />
<br />
["Pittau" version 2, modified 30 Dec. 2014, with the addition of several dates]<br />
<br />
<b>Farewells</b><br />
<b>December 28. </b> 17:40 PM. Wake at Loyola House, Kamishakujii<br />
(a short walk from Musashiseki Station on Seibu Shinjuku line). <br />
<b>December 29,</b> 7:00 AM Funeral Mass;<br />
15:00 Cremation rites<br />
<strong>January 14, 2015: 13:30 Funeral Mass</strong> at St. Ignatius Church [close to Sophia University]. Tokyo.<br />
<br />
<b>PS</b>: [20141229] See <a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/popes-condolences-for-death-of-archb-giuseppe-pitt">http://www.news.va/en/news/popes-condolences-for-death-of-archb-giuseppe-pitt</a> for Vatican Radio's version entitled: "Pope’s condolences for death of Archb. Giuseppe Pittau SJ". I'm only honored that the Vatican Radio has taken lines from me, but since they have not properly acknowledged this Blog Brittonia as their source, let me assert here, just for the record, that whatever is found in this Pittau entry of Blog Brittonia and the site of Vatican Radio was originally written by me and subsequently taken by the Vatican Radio, and not the other way around! [Previous entries of this blog too have been 'ripped' by others and that is fine, but it would be great if they acknowledge this source, as academic honesty requires some such courtesy.]<br />
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For your reference, I cite below the Vatican Radio write-up about Archbishop Pittau:<br />
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<b>2014-12-27 Vatican Radio</b><br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Pope’s condolences for death of Archbishop Giuseppe Pittau SJ</b></h2>
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his sorrow and sent his condolences to his Jesuit brothers for the death of Archbishop Giuseppe Pittau, SJ, who passed away on the night of December 26 in Kamishakujii, Tokyo.<br />
<br />
Describing Archbishop Pittau as an “exemplary minister of God,” in his telegramme addressed to Father Adolfo Nicolas Pachon, Superior General of the Jesuit Order, the Pope recalls Pittau’s “generous missionary apostleship in Japan” and thanks God for the service he rendered to the Apostolic See and for how he dedicated himself to the Company of Jesus. <br />
<br />
Please find below the translation of the text of the telegramme:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Reverend Father, having been informed to the passing away of His Excellency Monsignor Giuseppe Pittau, I wish to express my sincere condolences to you, to all his Jesuit brothers and to all those who grieve the death of an exemplary minister of God who lived for the cause of the Gospel. Recalling his generous missionary apostleship in Japan, where he ended his earthly life, I give thanks to the Lord for the service he rendered to the Apostolic See as Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education and for his work as President of Tokyo’s Sophia University as well as Rector of the Gregorian University in Rome and for his dedication to the Society of Jesus. Entrusting his soul to the maternal intercession of Our Lady I impart my Apostolic Blessing in the light of the Resurrection of Christ.<br />
Franciscus P.P.</blockquote>
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Born on the Italian Island of Sardinia in 1928, Giuseppe Pittau entered the Society of Jesus in 1945 and was ordained a priest in 1959. He arrived in Japan in 1952 as a Jesuit missionary, and spent most of his academic life at Sophia University. <br />
<br />
In the words of those who knew him and worked with him he was an “intellectual, administrative, and spiritual giant”.<br />
<br />
He played a very important role in the development of Sophia University. Among his lasting contributions were the democratic process of electing a President (voted not only by the faculty, but also by the staff), the increase in the number of students (from about 5,000 to 10,000), the addition or re-arrangement of several departments and faculties. Most admirable, according to many, was his foresight, arising from his dream of making Sophia a university that can significantly contribute to Japan by remaining faithful to its Jesuit/Catholic calling. He was especially interested in making Sophia an international university, bringing in not only European, Australian, and American professors but also Asian ones from countries like India, the Philippines, South Korea, and Sri Lanka. <br />
<br />
After serving as President of Sophia University, Pittau moved on to become the Jesuit Provincial Superior of Japan, and it was in that capacity that he welcomed Saint Pope John Paul II to Japan in February 1981. When the hardworking Jesuit General Pedro Arrupe became incapacitated, the Pope personally requested Pittau to take over the reins of governing the Society of Jesus (together with the visually challenged Fr. Dezza). Pittau served the Church and the Society in several capacities, traveling to several countries and continents. He was bestowed the ecclesiastical rank of "Titular Archbishop of Castro di Sardegna" on July 11, 1998 and received the episcopal ordination on September 26, 1998.<br />
<br />
After his international labors outside Japan were over, Archbishop Pittau returned to Sophia University and stayed at S. J. House, occasionally lecturing. <br />
(from <i>Vatican Radio</i>) </div>
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Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-61398951547287468892014-09-07T16:51:00.001+09:002014-12-29T23:46:57.074+09:00Meeting Modi in Japan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at last came to Japan in early September, 2014, after at least one postponement, and I happen to be one of the hundreds in Japan who attended his talk, given at the Ambassador's Reception in Ascot Hall at Hotel Okura, Tokyo, on September 2. Although the photos of his arrival in Osaka showed him wearing a dark suit, he seemed to have changed to mostly Indian-style clothes after a day or so. At Hotel Okura, he appeared in a nice whitish 'kurta' (I believe that's what it's called: long pyjama-like pants and a long, loose shirt, flowing to his knees), and a saffron vest. Remarkably, the function began almost on time! All the invitees, about a thousand, were asked to assemble before 6:30 PM, for his scheduled arrival at 7:00 PM. All had to go through a rigorous security check inside the Hall, much like at Airports. About ten minutes before the meeting, someone announced in English the basic procedure, and, frankly, that was the only message I understood during the whole meeting because from then on nobody spoke English or any other language intelligible to the majority! The PM, accompanied by the Indian ambassador in Japan, Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa arrived around 7:05 and all welcomed him with a prolonged and enthusiastic applause. There were also a few Japanese & Caucasians, men and women, but the majority were Indians from, I believe, all the Indian states. After the usual National songs sung by the audience present, some 'Indian' children--presumably going to school in Japan--sang beautifully, accompanied by tabla and a string instrument that sounded like a piano.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modi at Hotel Okura [Thanks to the Flickr contributor]</td></tr>
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After being properly introduced, the Prime Minister began his speech--in Hindi or some north Indian language. No doubt he gave an enthusiastic speech, for those who understood it laughed, clapped, nodded their head in agreement, and even shouted occasionally. (Yes, I forgot to mention, even before Modi began, there were some from the crowd shouting short phrases in Hindi several times--something in appreciation, like "Long Live"--and every time, the whole crowd yelled back "Jai" or something like that.) Of course, the people who didn't know Hindi--of whom, I'm sure there were nearly or more than half--simply clapped or nodded with the crowd without getting the point.<br />
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Although this PM has been quite admirable and charming, I cannot understand his insistence on speaking only Hindi without any translation. India is NOT monolingual. Although Hindi may have been given the status of the National Language in 1950, when the constitution was promulgated, it gave no right to any PM or government authorities to DENY the right to understand what he, as the Head of Government, was saying. In fact, various corrections to the infamous "Hindi Only" policy have been enacted, and English STAYS as a secondary national language of India. Surely, we can praise Modi for speaking Hindi or even Gujarati or Maratti or Punjabi, representing India--but he should have at least given out a summary or translation in English. He seems to forget that he is the Prime Minister of the whole of India, not of only the north of India. He is said to extemporize his speeches making them very personal and casual. That is excellent too, but then he can have a live translator or at least pass on his basic ideas on a sheet of paper. I think the whole language issue has caused much pain to all Indians. Even though the Hindi pushers still try intensely to impose their will, pushing it too hard may rupture the country or stimulate the riots that were rampant in some parts of India in the 1960s. Well, this language issue needs a longer article, so let me leave it at this.<br />
<br />
After going specifically to hear the PM, I only 'heard' it, but 'understood' nothing but a few English words he dropped occasionally. It was extremely disappointing. As there was no way to ask anyone else during the meeting, I had simply to stay put and react with the crowd. After his enthusiastic speech and even more enthusiastic applause and cheers were over, he came down from the dais and stood in front, flanked by the Ambassador and some other VIP, and greeted everyone. Each row of about 25 persons went one by one, and shook his hands or bowed down in Indian fashion with hands folded like a lotus, or even fell down prostrate on his feet. I went next to a Hindu priest living in Japan. The ambassador, who remembered me, introduced me briefly to Modi, and I shook Modi's hands and passed on. Officially, no one was allowed to bring a camera or spend more than a few seconds shaking hands. There were many, of course, taking pictures in their iPhones and tried to carry on a conversation. I tried to be 'rule-abiding' and so neither took any photo nor tarried to chat with the PM.<br />
<br />
In the next room, there was a reception. Most of the people glided over to that room, presumably catered by Hotel Okura itself rather than any of the many Indian restaurants. The food seemed authentically Indian: rasgulla, rasmalai, curried vegetables, potato masala, chicken curry, curried fish, sandwiches, coffee, tea, etc. all served buffet style. I was surprised to find non-veg dishes as I thought many Indians might be vegetarians. Only the drinks were entirely non-alcoholic: orange juice, mango juice, ulon-cha, and water.<br />
<br />
This 'casual' session of sharing a meal was very fruitful as I managed to extract the contents of Modi's speech from an Indian Swamy who seemed to have understood Hindi. He told me that Modi's speech was down-to-earth and entertaining. According to the Swamy, Modi encouraged Indians to be proud of their identity, and told them to invite at least five Japanese families to go with them each to India! Modi also spoke of the economic disparities and issues of Indian filth, and promised to make India more modern and more hygienic. Modi also spoke of giving the <i>Bhagavad Gita</i> to the Emperor, a typical Indian gift even though it may be religious. Apparently Modi also cracked some jokes on his Chaiwalah (tea vendor) career and India's snake-charming reputation (which, he quipped, has now changed to the (computer) mouse-charming tradition!). I was very greatful to the Swamiji for his summary and was delighted to know at least in brief what the PM had said. I also met several old friends and made a few new ones. It was great to meet the Indian Swamy, a Happy Science 'Kofuku no Kagaku' follower, and some from SriSri Ravishankar's "The Art of Living" foundation. No doubt, the Japanese seem attracted by exotic Indian gurus like Kalki, Nithyananda, Saibaba, Amma, and so on. The Indian community owes its thanks to the Indian Ambassador HE Wadhwa, for she was the one who made this get together and the wonderful dinner possible. Thank you, Ambassador!<br />
<br />
Overall, Modi seems to have had a successful visit. The newspapers covered his visit reasonably well, though not in any 'mega-hit' fashion as sometimes they do for American or European VIP visits. There were Indian flags in several streets around Yotsuya--e.g., in front of the detached palace, around New Otani Hotel, Akasaka Mitsuke, and so on. It was surprising that Modi not only visited a school, but also visited the <i>Seishin </i>'Sacred Heart' University, in Hiroo. The Sacred Heart University is a well-known Catholic university, run by Sisters of the Sacred Heart, and among its illustrious alumnae are the current Empress Michiko of Japan and the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogawa. Given the misleading news-reports that Modi is biased against non-Hindus, it was great to read that Modi visited this Catholic university and spoke to students and faculty. The online video shows him speaking Hindi, but, fortunately, there was someone translating what he said; so it was OK I believe. The online images of Modi also show him sipping Tea Japanese style, trying his hand at drumming a <i>taiko </i>'a big Japanese drum', visiting some Japanese temples, greeting students, and so on. His economic mission too seems to have been successful, according to reports.</div>
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Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-26782610976728286992013-12-28T01:30:00.001+09:002014-01-02T09:16:48.501+09:00Gerard Barry, S.J., former President of Sophia Junior College<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US">This afternoon (December 27, 2013), Fr. Gerard
Barry, S. J., the founder of Sophia Junior College in Hadano and former Rector
of S. J. House, passed away quietly away from his friends and family, in a
hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the most liked Jesuits
around Sophia, he had been working as an assistant to the Parish Priest of St.
Ignatius Church, Yotsuya, until about two months ago, when he took seriously
ill and retired from active ministries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was initially hospitalized for about a week, getting treatment for
leukemia, but then returned to S. J. House to be with the Jesuit
Community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, his sickness
worsened, and he opted to move to Loyola House, the Jesuit Community for the
retired persons, in Kamishakujii, Tokyo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Within a short time, however, he had to be moved to a hospital for
exclusive care, and it was there that he passed away this afternoon. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7327sAsk_g/Ur2q8zwGsgI/AAAAAAAAAUA/ddmeZuL9UKg/s1600/BarryAtNisselFuneral02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7327sAsk_g/Ur2q8zwGsgI/AAAAAAAAAUA/ddmeZuL9UKg/s320/BarryAtNisselFuneral02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Jerry at the funeral Mass for Fr. Jack Nissel, S.J.</i></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Microsoft Sans Serif"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Pゴシック"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;">Fr. Barry had an impressive appearance, close to six
feet tall and strikingly handsome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he
was athletic, taking care to cycle, swim, or walk, he had a well-built body
without any excess fat or protruding belly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With his own honest humor, he used to say that when he was young, people
called him ‘Charlton Heston,’ after the Hollywood actor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until the age of 65, he used to bicycle to or
from Hadano at least one way, once a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Never seriously ill, he was afflicted about 20 years ago by a malicious
form of skin disease on his head, which resulted in the removal of a fifth of
his scalp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although he went through a
hard time getting adjusted to his new ‘partly scalped’ head, he continued his
regular work, teaching at Sophia University (Department of the English Language
and Studies) until the age of 70 and then for some years as a secretary and/or
translator for the Japanese Bishops, and then finally as an Assistant Pastor at
St. Ignatius Church. </span><br />
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<i>A smiling Jerry on his 80th Birthday, with Fr. D. Doyle & Archbishop Pittau</i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Fr. Barry was born on October 2 [Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday!], 1927, and entered the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1950. Ordained a Priest on March 18, 1963, he took his final vows as a Jesuit on February 2, 19 65. He arrived in Japan as a Missionary in 1956, serving mostly at Sophia-related institutions. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Because of the year-end and new-year holidays, <b>the funeral arrangements</b> have been made as follows:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Date</b>: January 10, 2014</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Time</b>: 13:30</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Place</b>: St. Ignatius Church, Yotsuya, Tokyo</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Stations nearby:</b> JR Chuo Line, JR Sobu Line, Namboku Subway Line, & Marunouchi Subway Line.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Microsoft Sans Serif"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Pゴシック"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;">[to be continued] </span></div>
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Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-81994297087897284272013-11-01T00:09:00.000+09:002013-11-25T09:53:42.298+09:00Sophia University To Celebrate 100th Anniversary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Sophia University in ancient times</i></div>
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Tomorrow (November 1, 2013) morning, at 10:00 AM, Sophia University is set to begin its long-awaited 100th anniversary celebrations with a Eucharist at St. Ignatius Church, Yotsuya, Tokyo. More than 1200 guests are expected to attend the Mass, including some non-Catholics. The RSVP invitations were sent several months ago, and only the guests who replied to them can attend, since the Church, one of the largest within Tokyo, can only accommodate around 900 persons. Foreign dignitaries, including delegates from Rome, are expected—though not the General and former Sophia University Professor Adolfo Nicolas! The Pope, another Jesuit, couldn’t attend either, but he will send a personal delegate. The Archbishop of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Hollerich, is already here as he has been a professor of Sophia and a resident Jesuit in Tokyo. For the convenience of those unable to enter the Church, the whole Eucharistic Celebration will be televised at this URL: http://view.streamplus.jp/sophia_mass<br />
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<i> Sophia University today, with St. Ignatius Church in the foreground</i> </div>
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The Eucharistic Celebration will be followed by a quick lunch at the Palace Hotel. Immediately after lunch, guests are expected to flood the Forum near Yurakucho, Tokyo, where another formal celebration is set to begin at 14:00. Again, admission only on invitation. Here even more guests are expected including several secular dignitaries, which, many say, will include their Imperial Majesties, the Emperor and the Empress. The climax of the festive day will, perhaps, be the celebrations at the Hotel New Otani, close to Sophia University, where the guests will gather for a sumptuous dinner and toast!<br />
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<i> In memory of Fr. Hoffman</i></div>
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The idea of Sophia University began in 1906, when Pope Pius X requested the Jesuits to serve the Japanese through higher education. Two years later, three Jesuits, from three different countries, reached Japan to explore the possibilities: a German, Fr. Joseph Dahlmann; a French, Fr. Henri Boucher, and a Briton, Fr. James Rockliff. Their exploration and fundraising resulted in the establishment of the Jochi Corporation in 1911. The Japanese word <i>Jochi </i>was taken from the Litany of the Virgin Mary (Sedes Sapientiae—Seat of Wisdom), and even today that is the word familiar to most Japanese. Sophia, the English equivalent, has also been used since the beginning, though some Japanese may still be unfamiliar with it. After acquiring the required property and crossing all the legal hurdles, the Jesuits opened the gates of Sophia University in 1913 with the departments of Philosophy, German literature, and Commerce, under Fr. Hoffmann as its first President. Two other Jesuits too contributed to Sophia in its infancy: Fr. Hermann Hoffmann and Fr. Yachita Tsuchihashi. You can imagine how small the university was then from the fact that there were only nine students who graduated in 1918! <br />
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<i>Fr. Koso, S.J. explaining Sophia's history to the Pope</i></div>
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Sophia University grew gradually and slowly in early stages, i.e., before the end of the two World Wars, given that it was ‘foreign,’ relatively new, and very small. After the Second World War, however, Sophia reorganized several Faculties and Departments and added a few, built numerous edifices such as dormitories and the impressive 9-storied library, and created the “International Division,” where courses were taught only in English, mostly for foreign students. Sophia came to establish itself as a respectable university, mainly excelling in foreign languages and International relations. Women, who had been denied admission earlier, were able to register for the first time as students in 1957. The reputation of Sophia women soon became so well-known that in the 1970s there were references to Sophia as “Women’s Todai” [i.e., Tokyo University for Women!] given that the Sophia women were highly fashionable, intelligent, and able to speak at least one foreign language. <br />
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<i>Fr. Koso, S.J., Chancellor of Sophia</i></div>
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Among the private universities, Sophia currently ranks as one of the top three in Japan. It is highly admired for the high standard of education it offers, and many of its students are widely known for their linguistic skills. Whether true or false, most people both in Japan and abroad believe that Sophia students speak English fluently.<br />
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<i> Sophia University Eagle</i> <i>Emblem</i></div>
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As regards the Faculty, there was a time, in the early 70s, when nearly 100 Jesuits from about 25 countries taught at Sophia! There was hardly any department then without a Jesuit! Unfortunately, though, the Jesuit number has substantially decreased, and currently there are only about 15 Jesuits who teach full time—most of them belonging to the Faculty of Theology. Despite the challenges, the university’s Chancellor is still a Jesuit, and the university prides itself as being a Jesuit University. Will Sophia continue to be a Jesuit University for the next 100 years?</div>
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Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-20234931668846344232012-12-29T22:15:00.004+09:002013-01-02T12:01:47.435+09:00Lawrence 'Larry' McGarrell, Former President of Elizabeth Music University<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This afternoon (December 29, 2012) there was an announcement within the premises of Sophia University of the death of Fr. Lawrence McGarrell, S.J., (better known as Larry McGarrell) former President and Chancellor of Elizabeth Music University in Hiroshima and an alumnus of Sophia University, Faculty of Theology. Hearing that he was terminally ill, I had gone from Tokyo to see him in Hiroshima on December 23rd and visited the hospital twice on December 24th and had the privilege of speaking with him. He was very feeble and unable to speak in sentences, but he was very alert and able to utter a word or two. He seemed serene and resigned (perhaps the fruit of his years in Zen practice?). <br />
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Larry was born in April 1947 (in Indiana, USA) and ordained a priest by Pope John Paul II in Nagasaki, Japan, in February 1981. Joining the Society of Jesus in New England Province, USA, he lived the life of a Jesuit for a little over 47 years, about 40 of which he spent in Japan, having transferred to the Japanese Province in 1985. He had been teaching on and off at Elizabeth Music University since April 1978, and became an Associate Professor in 1986 and full Professor in 1995. He became a Member of the Elizabeth University Administrative Board in 1994 and Dean of the Music Faculty in 1998. He served as the President for five years between April 2000 and March 2005, and as the Chancellor for six years between April 2005 and May 2011. In April 2011, he was honored as Professor Emeritus.<br />
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I am personally indebted to Larry in many ways, especially early on when I had just arrived in Japan and he was a <em>sempai</em> "senior" by a few months. We were together studying Japanese at the Kamakura Jesuit Language School--now defunct--together with a number of Dominicans, Divine Word Missionaries, Burgos Kai members, nuns, and Lay persons. As I joined at least two months later than others in my class, I had a lot of catching up to do and had to get accustomed to the Japanese ways. That is where Larry played the 'elder brother' role--very kindly, graciously, and generously. We have been perhaps through most of the streets and hills around Kamakura, walking and talking about philosophy, religions, mysticism, music, and so on. He was always a wonderful companion, very knowledgeable about many matters--especially concerning Japan and Japanese language.<br />
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It is my recollection that he constantly strove to be like a Japanse--adopting Japanese ways of eating, drinking, dressing, etc. He was deeply interested in learning Zen and Tea Ceremony, and at every meal he used to have the sour <em>umeboshi</em> 'plum pickles,' drink green tea (which I found tasteless, and used to drink with sugar and milk--until Larry told me that was not the Japanese way of doing things!), and enjoyed the dark-green crispy leaves of <em>nori</em> 'sea weed'. What struck even the Japanese was his inordinate attachment to <em>natto </em>'fermented beans'--sticky beans in a glue-like paste with an odor that can beat even the most stinky French cheese. While there are Japanese who can't stand <em>natto, </em>Larry was committed to eating it every morning with great delight. He always sat in the <em>seiza</em> 'straight back' posture and preferred a <em>tatami 'Japanese mat' </em>to a chair. Larry was also very ascetical and self-controlled in his eating and drinking habits. He hardly ever touched alcohol and almost never ate a full stomach. One wonders how such an ideally behaved person can die so young... <br />
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Larry, of course, was a professional musician, playing the piano perhaps from a young age. In Kamakura, he used to practice several hours, and later on studied music in different music schools, and did get some advanced degree in music. Unfortunately, he was called upon to serve as an administrator even before he completed his doctorate, and he too liked doing extracurricular activities such as giving retreats and serving as a spiritual advisor. He taught music at Elizabeth University for many years and also served as the President and Chancellor. He continued his administrative job even after his health began to decline, and it was only last year that he was relieved of his post. He used to sing often in this season of Christmas his favorite Christmas song, "The Little Drummer Boy."<br />
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Larry had a remarkable talent for telling funny stories, changing his voice to that of the characters. He was also adept at mimicking different accents. Linguistically, he was very fluent in both spoken and written Japanese and had a working knowledge of French and a smattering of German. He didn't seem to show much interest in abstract philosophies or arguments, but leaned towards practices and experiences. Presumably, given his administrative and spiritual commitments, he could not get too deeply involved in unrelated sciences and philosophies. As a human being, though, Larry was a very lovable and loving person, always willing and eager to help others and always patient and non-judgmental in listening to others like Momo.<br />
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Wake: 6:00 PM, on Dec. 30, 2012, at the Catholic Cathedral, Hiroshima. <br />
Funeral: 10:00 AM on Dec. 31, 2012, at the Catholic Cathedral, Hiroshima<br />
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Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-26369004812015359392011-03-13T00:46:00.010+09:002011-04-03T22:46:52.602+09:00Tokyo rocked by Mother of All Earthquakes<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-enq0r7nsH6k/TXuVo4TYACI/AAAAAAAAAQs/DFTOeyB1dbw/s1600/P3130001sJLadyStatue.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-enq0r7nsH6k/TXuVo4TYACI/AAAAAAAAAQs/DFTOeyB1dbw/s320/P3130001sJLadyStatue.jpg" border="0" alt="A 'fallen' woman showing her er... reaction to the quake!"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583220692596817954" /></a><br />Friday (March 11, 2011), afternoon around 2:50, I was in bed taking a siesta--as I went to bed last night, or this morning, only around 3:00 AM. It was time for me to get up, but I was still psyching myself to get up while listening to Narnia, the C.S.Lewis fable for children. One of the characters in the story, Eustace, was wondering who he was as he suddenly found himself changed to a dragon. Then I sensed small mild tremors. Although most of us, accustomed as we are to innumerable tremblers, tend to take them easy, today I got up, got out, closed the door, and stood in the usual 'safe' place, which is the door frame, between the room and the corridor. [It is 10:15 PM now, and I just returned after going out, as the building started shaking again.] It looked like the usual rattle, with some shakes and squeaks, but suddenly it got serious and continued on and on, with violent movements of everything around me. I could hear inside the room things crashing and books falling, and the whole building was moving in different directions. The noise was really the most frightening as it was like going on an old steam engine train over a broken down bridge in India. Or, (for those who have not been to India) it was as if the whole building was an airplane going through a turbulence over the Pacific! <br /><br /> Today was supposed to be the wake of Fr. George Graziano, whose lifeless body lay just about 20 meters from where I was, and no doubt I prepared interiorly to join him saying goodbye to this world. I could hear things falling in different rooms, but could hear no one crying or shouting. Neither could I see anyone running. It was as if I was the only one in the whole building, going to face this calamity. The quake seemed to continue much longer than usual, becoming extremely severe at times. I could see the door of the tiny chapel in front of my room open, and two statues (one of Mary and the other of Joseph) falling down and crashing into pieces. The decapitated head of Joseph rolled towards the exit, and moved back and forth in rhythm with the quake. I was wondering whether to get out of the building by running just a couple of meters to the exit door, but the threat of imminent doom held me strapped to my 'safe' spot. At last--some say after about three minutes, some say after about five minutes--the quakes subsided, and I rushed out of the building to the open ground between a three storied building and a five storied building.<br /> <br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghvtxP39icQ/TXuWDwUWhGI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/C4vpIS_n4hw/s1600/P3130003JesusStatue.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghvtxP39icQ/TXuWDwUWhGI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/C4vpIS_n4hw/s320/P3130003JesusStatue.jpg" border="0" alt="a broken statue"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583221154309899362" /></a><br /> There in the same area, I met a young man in his twenties, who had come to Japan just a couple of months ago. He was dressed in black for the wake of George, and he was dusting himself and pressing down his pants. As he was a foreigner, I asked him where he was during the quake and how he found the experience. Although he looked cool, his story was even more chilling than mine, Apparently he was in the adjoining building using a personal computer, when he felt the quake. He tried to get out, but in the corridor, he was not sure if he could make it safely to the exit. So he went back to the computer room and opened the window to get out. Unfortunately, outside the window there is a two-meter-wide pit going all the way down to the concrete basement, and the only solid ground is about two meter away. To add to his problems, the window too is quite small and about a meter above ground; so he could not sprint or stand near the window to jump. Still being young and perhaps scared, he just jumped and landed safely on the muddy ground with some interior scratches in his leg. So he was still tense with fear, which increased as he viewed the nearby tall buildings swaying back and forth. Luckily he had no serious injury, and he looked cheerful. <br /> <br /> The aftershocks continued as I took a walk around the building and the garden. I could see a large number of persons standing outside in the streets of Sophia University, but there didn't seem to be any damage. Many residents I spoke with mentioned about things falling down and room in disarray, but nobody reported any human injury. The Sophia employees meanwhile came out and directed everyone to go out to the playground, which is the official 'safe'' area for people around here during a major quake. Today there were some graduate school entrance examinations, and so there were many more people than usual. I went to the Sophia crossroads, met many students and friends, and walked towards the playground. There were a few hundred people in the playground just in front of the main entrance to Sophia. I went up the dote 'embankment' where too there were many people, each one with a cellphone trying desperately to contact someone or other. Apparently cell phones didn't work for some time or they worked only partly. So some seemed frustrated. Of course, everyone seemed to be narrating to someone else how he or she escaped the quake and which things fell down or broke. As I walked towards the Yotsuya station, I could see that the cross on top of the St. Ignatius Church tower had rotated 180 degrees, hinging on a screw that held it aloft over the tower. Some bricks or concrete debris seem to have fallen down, and so there was a no entry zone around the tower.<br /><br /> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BLCKbbPVdgM/TXuWggHAxFI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/M9UTbuMm7iw/s1600/P3130004s.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BLCKbbPVdgM/TXuWggHAxFI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/M9UTbuMm7iw/s320/P3130004s.jpg" border="0" alt="Fracture on the wall"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583221648175187026" /></a><br /> It was after about 15:40 that some Sophia employees announced in a megaphone that they could return to their places. [It was surprising that they didn't use the loudspeaker; they only used a simple megaphone, which could be heard only by a few people nearby!] The trains had stopped soon after the quake, and so many people had nowhere to go. According to TV, most taxis and buses too were unavailable. So many started walking back. Many students and employees returned to the university. Many persons slept yesterday in shelters as they could not return to their homes, and some walked for three to five hours to reach their home! Sophia too made its space available to those who sought shelter.<br /> <br /> On TV, of course, the earthquake has been the only news in all channels, and even now at 12:10 AM, on March 13, they still broadcast earthquake news. When I saw the news some time ago, about 1400 were reported dead, and a large number missing or wounded. According to news, this earthquake was perhaps the most serious in anyone's living memory, and perhaps the deadliest in a millennium. This was also a mega quake that has affected almost the whole of Japan, all the way from Hokkaido to Okinawa. The center of the quake seems to have been somewhere in the sea near Miyagi, with a frightening 8.9 magnitude. Miyagi seems to have felt a quake of 7.8 magnitude, and the Tokyo area, a quake of magnitude between 5 & 6. The duration of the quake, about three to five minutes, too seems to have been quite unusual. <br /><br />What seems to have done the greatest damage is the tsunami. Although the news channels warned about the tsunami soon after the quake, people seemed to have had no time to remove their belongings to a safe area. The news clips of the inundating tsunami look like Hollywood movie clips as rushing water pours into airports, homes, and highways hauling cars, trucks, boats, houses, and even buildings! There were also fires in many places. The Sendai airport seems to have practically sunk under tsunami though parts of the main building were above water. And now there is the very serious talk of chemical leaks from the atomic plant, which has made it necessary to move nearby residents to safe areas at least 30 kms away.<br /> <br />One point that struck me after the quake was how sturdy the modern buildings are! Really the Japanese architects have done an excellent job! Although in movies we see skyscrapers crashing and crushing people, not a single major edifice seems to have fallen during this monstrous quake. A couple of minor accidents were there, but no major collapse of any building. In Tokyo there were only very few deaths due to the structural failure of buildings--one of the saddest being the Kudan Kaikan crash that seems to have killed two and injured about 20. No doubt, the Police, SDF, Fire Service, and other service personnel too are doing a remarkable job during this critical time. Congratulations and thanks to all of them!<br /><br />Although it is nearly 32 hours after the major quake, I can still feel tremors now and then. The aftershocks have continued since yesterday afternoon, and one doesn't feel relaxed enough to go to sleep. I hope we will all live through this monstrous mother of all earthquakes and learn additional lessons to protect ourselves better.<br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-88706244511105837362011-03-09T19:58:00.017+09:002011-03-23T18:45:48.096+09:00George Graziano, Jesuit Professor of English<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rMTh2DoczHc/TXjOPyhYzKI/AAAAAAAAAQk/oSvvfWhBfJo/s1600/Graziano1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rMTh2DoczHc/TXjOPyhYzKI/AAAAAAAAAQk/oSvvfWhBfJo/s320/Graziano1.jpg" border="0" alt="Fr. George Graziano, S.J."id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582438508780899490" /></a><br />I have to apologize for reporting the death of another Sophia University Professor, Fr. George Graziano, S.J., who passed away around 7:30 P.M. today (Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011). <br /><br />I don't think George was ever hospitalized during his long life except for the final three months. His hospitalization, towards the end of last year, proved to be not only the first, but also the last. When he reluctantly left for a checkup, he was looking forward to returning within a short time, but his situation deteriorated gradually and turned critical after a couple of falls in January.<br /><br />George was born on February 2, 1930, entered the New York Province of the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1947, and was ordained a priest on June 20, 1959. He had been in Japan since 1955, mostly teaching English at Sophia University until his retirement around 2000.<br /><br />With a degree in Applied Linguistics, George taught mostly oral English, presentation skills, and writing. George was a pioneer in introducing media-based English courses at Sophia, and, according to various accounts, he even had a bus with audio-visual gadgets in the 1960s and 70s. Although he belonged to the Department of English, for many years he taught in the Faculty of Law, grooming many generations of youngsters. He was a dedicated and committed teacher, willingly giving his time to students, helping them improve their oral and written English. His office door was always open, and there were always students there, often learning English while watching a movie or a Columbo episode. He kept in touch with students even after their graduation, and he officiated at the marriage of many of them. <br /><br />George was much interested in audio-visual machines and computers. He had a substantial collection of audio and video tapes for teaching English, some of which he himself edited or compiled. His favorite teaching tool was the <em><strong>Columbo </strong></em> TV series, many episodes of which he knew almost by heart. He was one of the earliest users of a computer at Sophia, especially from a non-Science Faculty, going back to the days of punch cards. After the arrival of PCs, he used almost every version of Windows until Windows Vista. He was competent in handling the programming language BASIC and wrote several programs for use in class. In fact, after his retirement from Sophia, he volunteered to work in Myanmar, and there too he employed his personally developed CALL system, which consisted of a set of lessons with Columbo episodes and custom-made dialogs and questions, all controled by his own software program. <br /><br />George had the knack of attracting people and was often surrounded by former students who came from different walks of life. One of the reasons for his popularity might have been his membership in a yachting club, to which he belonged for many years. Almost every year, he attended numerous functions associated with the club and was regular in giving opening or closing speeches. He was also a 'socialite' being very generous in treating friends, sometimes even cooking for them. George was a very talented cook and had very clear notions about the quality of food and the manner of serving and eating. Perhaps he came from a family of restaurateurs, educated since a very young age in food vocabulary and food criticism. He often made bread, pizza, and other dishes in his office and ate with others.<br /><br />George was a memorable character. Perhaps no student is likely to forget George's sonorous voice and impressive appearance. Most notable were his hair, which he laboriously wound around to cover his bald pate, and his pants, all of which were ultra-tight. Of course, he was always dandy, paying close attention to the colors of his clothes, the design of his tie, and the choice of his jacket. Perhaps more than his voice and appearance, what made him memorable was his vocation-inspired sociability and generosity, as he always strove to be available and generous to others. R. I. P.<br /><br /><strong>Funeral Details:</strong><br /><strong>April 9, 2011 (Sat), 10:00 AM: There will be a Memorial Mass for Fr. Graziano at St. Ignatius Church, Yotsuya, Tokyo.</strong><br /><br />Wake and Funeral were canceled due to the calamitous Great Quake of March 11. <br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-65463233286238827272011-03-01T13:08:00.023+09:002011-03-10T01:24:54.107+09:00Klaus Luhmer, former Chancellor of Sophia University<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVPg51bpjdY/TWyGkshc0zI/AAAAAAAAAP0/8nccjk7wvgo/s1600/KlausMetroCardS.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVPg51bpjdY/TWyGkshc0zI/AAAAAAAAAP0/8nccjk7wvgo/s320/KlausMetroCardS.jpg" border="0" alt="Luhmer MetroCard"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578982003390075698" /></a><br />[<strong>FYI:</strong> <em>For a printable version of this entry and for the Japanese Eulogy delivered by Fr. Jerry Cusumano, S.J., on the occasion of Fr. Luhmer's funeral, please click the following link and view the first entry: </em><a href="http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/britto/xavier/">http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/britto/xavier/</a> ]<br /><br />I hate to make this into a blog of obituaries, but unfortunately so many illustrious professors and builders of Sophia University are disappearing that I am forced to write something about at least some of them. Just a couple of minutes ago, I heard that Fr. Klaus Luhmer, one of the most well-known faces of Sophia University, passed away at the age of 94, at 12:20 PM today (March 1, 2011).<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQmtkIRl29A/TWyG4OG2NqI/AAAAAAAAAP8/i6MMXUBvNSc/s1600/KlausIn1934AsaHandsomeMan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 142px; height: 309px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQmtkIRl29A/TWyG4OG2NqI/AAAAAAAAAP8/i6MMXUBvNSc/s320/KlausIn1934AsaHandsomeMan.jpg" border="0" alt="LuhmerAs a young man"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578982338822813346" /></a><br /> My association with Klaus goes back to many years, but it started getting closer and warmer since the time he started using computers and email, in mid-1990s. He was one of the most athletic, energetic, and enthusiastic men around, and so his curiosity knew no bounds. He boldly embraced the Internet, and despite numerous 'electronic accidents', he continued to use it and do creative work with it. I believe he started engaging himself seriously in Montessori-style education around that time, and he started translating, writing, and editing numerous books and articles on Montessori--of course, with several Japanese collaborators, one of his closest associates being Professor Masako Ejima. He also became the President of Nihon Montessori Association (日本モンテッソーリ協会会長) and was eager to give some exposure to the Association on the Internet. That was what brought us together. Following his suggestions and recommendations, I opened a Montessori web site for him at Sophia (with web-data created by another Montessori colleague), since the Association had some links with Sophia University then. Sophia, unfortunately, cut off its ties to the Association after some years, and so the Webpages had to be removed. Luhmer too gave up the Association's Presidency in favor of some other person. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j9ueoVlOP4Y/TWyHR07FasI/AAAAAAAAAQM/EZS1YRqtrkc/s1600/KlausShowingSkatingSkills.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 230px; height: 307px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j9ueoVlOP4Y/TWyHR07FasI/AAAAAAAAAQM/EZS1YRqtrkc/s320/KlausShowingSkatingSkills.jpg" border="0" alt="Luhmer skating at the age of 84!"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578982778739190466" /></a><br /> Around the same time, I also created a Web site for Fr. Luhmer, aptly named <a href="http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/luhmer/">LUHMERLAND</a> (see http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/luhmer/), listing major events in his life and the series of Montessori books he authored, edited, or translated. Even after he moved to Loyola House, he continued supplying some information for the Web page, including his meeting with Agnes Chan, a Sophia University alumna and a teen idol of the 1970s. Fr. Luhmer really enjoyed life and loved to be in the company of people, and so he was constantly on the move meeting persons, giving talks, and visiting the sick. It was hard to keep up with all his activities, and so I have to confess that I was a bit negligent in reporting many of his activities.<br /><br />Here is a list of some major events in his life:<br /><br /><blockquote><br /> **1916, September, 28 : Luhmer was born in Koln, Germany. Had his early education at Beethoven Gymnasium near Bonn. <br /><br /> **1935, April 26 : Entered the Society of Jesus. <br /><br /> **1937, February 18: Arrived in Japan, via Siberia, with other illustrious Jesuits such as L. Laures & Erlinghagen, after 13 days of travel! Studied Japanese in Tokyo and Hiroshima for about 18 months, and then studied philosophy at Hiroshima noviciate for about three years. <br /><br /> **1943: Studied at Tokyo Azabu Theologate, while experiencing many aerial attacks and bombs.<br /><br /> **1945 July 1: Ordination to priesthood, and on August 6, witnesses the incredible atomic bomb over Hiroshima, from a distance of 4 kilometers. Enters the bombed zone within the city several times to help the wounded, rescue Fr. Enomiya Lasalle, and save some Church relics and sacred vessels. Thus becomes acquainted first hand with the atom bomb, and also gets affected with some skin infection.<br /><br /> **1947: After acquiring teaching skills at Kobe Rokko Gakuin, proceeds to Detroit University, USA, for studying Educational Administration.<br /><br /> **1953: Enters Sophia University as a Professor in the Department of Education, Faculty of Literature. He teaches Western Educational History and Comparative Education. <br /><br /> **1957-1965: Holds the position of Sophia University Chancellor. Among his achievements as Chancellor were the buying of the Kioizaka Building, establishment of the Science Faculty, and the recruitment of illustrious Japanese to hold important positions.<br /><br /> **1965: Is in charge of Public Relatioins, and gives publicity to Sophia overseas. Also sees to the publication of student newspaper and dissemination of information about Sophia.<br /><br /> **1969: For about three years--especially during the Student Unrest period--serves as the Vice-President of General Affairs under President Moriya.<br /><br /> **1985, November: Receives an Award from the Japanese Government for his services (勲三等旭日中授賞)<br /><br /> **1987: Even as he is ready to retire at the age of 70, he is appointed the Chancellor of Sophia University once more! Also made a Professor Emeritus.<br /><br /> **1992 March: Retires from the job of Chancellor, and takes up wholeheartedly and intensely the study of Montessori Education. Visits various countries like India and Italy to get to know Montessori first hand, and attends many conferences on Montessori. Becomes President of Nihon Montessori Association. Publishes several books (see <a href="http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/luhmer/album.htm">http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/luhmer/album.htm</a>), including <em>The origins of Liberal Education: From Plato to Montessori, The Way of Montessori Education,</em> and <em>Schule und Ildungsreform In Japan I & II</em> <br /><br /> **Fr. Luhmer was not only an academic, but also a sportsman, doing ice-skating even in his mid 80's, and a man of many talents. He loved playing the flute and organ, often playing with friends in an ensemble. Even at the age of 90, he was learning Korean, Spanish, Italian, and French listening to the NHK radio!</blockquote><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1t7fcooM5E/TWyHHO0FsyI/AAAAAAAAAQE/YQciK0D-fYQ/s1600/KlausWithPopeJPII.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1t7fcooM5E/TWyHHO0FsyI/AAAAAAAAAQE/YQciK0D-fYQ/s320/KlausWithPopeJPII.jpg" border="0" alt="Klaus With Pope JPII"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578982596710609698" /></a><br />Fr. Luhmer was perhaps born to govern as he spent most of his life occupying positions of power and administration. Still, he had a simplicity and gentleness that made him amiable and approachable. He was friendly with all and never put on airs. Like most great men and women of history, he had a way with fellow human beings, and dealt with them respectfully, fairly, and generously. He seemed adept in using languages--especially Japanese--and wielded Japanese ably to raise funds, extract cooperation, and encourage colleagues. He used to speak of the verbal and non-verbal cues that the wealthy gave him whenever he went fundraising, and had a list of signs that guided him when to continue a conversation and when to cut it short. <br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rNZZa-hZq_o/TWyVMdwt7lI/AAAAAAAAAQU/R8KNbk8ue3U/s1600/KlausWearingOneOfTheAwardsHeGot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rNZZa-hZq_o/TWyVMdwt7lI/AAAAAAAAAQU/R8KNbk8ue3U/s320/KlausWearingOneOfTheAwardsHeGot.jpg" border="0" alt="Klaus with a medal"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578998079785135698" /></a><br /><strong>Funeral Arrangements:</strong><br />WAKE: March 3, 2011 (Th), 19:30, at St. Ignatius Church, Yotsuya, Tokyo<br />FUNERAL: March 4, 2011 (F), 13:30, at St. Ignatius Church, Yotsuya, Tokyo<br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-83029652018984212052010-12-16T00:09:00.014+09:002011-01-21T21:55:08.961+09:00Sophia University gets a new President!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TQjbwD_QtzI/AAAAAAAAAPU/rpkb02zXj5k/s1600/TakizawaTadashi01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 301px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TQjbwD_QtzI/AAAAAAAAAPU/rpkb02zXj5k/s320/TakizawaTadashi01.jpg" border="0" alt="Prof. Tadashi Takizawa"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550928159484983090" /></a><br />This evening the Sophia University Presidential election results were announced, and the winner is ... Professor Tadashi Takizawa of Law Department. Universities in Japan follow different norms to elect or appoint a President. At Sophia, since the Student Revolt of the late 1960's, they have the custom of <em>electing </em>a President. Every tenured or quasi-tenured 'shokutaku' member of Sophia, including non-teaching employees, is eligible to vote. Usually three candidates are presented after various preliminary procedures and vetting, and the voters decide which one of the three they'd like to have as President. Although Sophia is a Jesuit University, the President doesn't have to be a Jesuit; in fact, s/he doesn't even have to be a Catholic or a Christian. The highly esteemed and appreciated current President Yoshiaki Ishizawa, for instance, is not a Christian.<br /><br />Professor Takizawa is a graduate of the prestigious Todai 'Tokyo University' getting his doctorate in Law and Politics in 1976. He came to Sophia as a Professor in 1984, and has held several important positions including the Dean of the Faculty of Law. He currently serves as the Chief Librarian of Sophia. He has also taught part-time in many other universities, and has spent a couple of months at the Catholic University of Leuven as a visiting Professor.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TQjigptdAVI/AAAAAAAAAPc/455llJOz8Qg/s1600/IshizawaYoshiaki.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 149px; height: 198px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TQjigptdAVI/AAAAAAAAAPc/455llJOz8Qg/s320/IshizawaYoshiaki.jpg" border="0" alt="Prof. Yoshiaki Ishizawa"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550935591314325842" /></a><br />Professor Takizawa succeeds Professor Ishizawa, who did a remarkable job as the President serving for two terms. Professor Ishizawa brought many honors to Sophia especially by his pioneering research and discoveries in Cambodia, <a href="http://brittonia.blogspot.com/2009/03/sophia-university-in-cambodia.html">where Sophia University's presence can be seen in Angkor Wat</a> and several other voluntary activities.<br /><br />Photo Credits: (c) Sophia University, Tokyo<br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-14651134017440352502010-11-30T21:50:00.023+09:002011-03-04T10:15:51.317+09:00Jesuit Robert Spitzer rebuts Atheism<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TP7sphssLUI/AAAAAAAAAO8/vrYE4u2bOZw/s1600/BobSpitzer01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 166px; height: 250px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TP7sphssLUI/AAAAAAAAAO8/vrYE4u2bOZw/s320/BobSpitzer01.jpg" border="0" alt="BobSpitzerSJ"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548131989131636034" /></a><br />Just today I received a copy of Robert Spizer's <em>New Proofs for the Existence of God - Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy</em>, sent by a friend in USA. Obviously, I haven't read it. I tried to find out about it, and it looks like a heavy, I mean difficult, book with lots of scientific jargon. <br /><br />One reason I was interested in "New Proofs" was that there seem to be extremely few books from God-affirming scientists rebutting the arguments of God-denying scientists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Stephen Hawking. There are, surely, many apologetic books from so-called believers, who simply repeat what they were taught, without much critical or scientific reflection. Even in debates, often the believers come across as 'uninformed' or 'naive' with little awareness of contemporary science and are easily talked down to by their opponents. The only book of a God-affirming scientist that made waves internationally--prior to Spitzer's--was Francis Collins' <em>Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.</em> Spitzer is not a professional scientist like Collins; but he is a Doctor of Philosophy, and hearing him talk, one cannot but conclude he does have quite a bit of scientific knowledge. Perhaps his doctoral studies were in Philosophy of Science, combining Philosophy and Science. Anyway you can judge for yourself after watching, for example, this fiery and eloquent presentation of Spitzer:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EYRES03iylA?fs=1&hl=ja_JP"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EYRES03iylA?fs=1&hl=ja_JP" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Here is another video clip of Spitzer speaking on "The curious Metaphysics of Dr. Stephen Hawking."<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O1cy3iCrxic?fs=1&hl=ja_JP"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O1cy3iCrxic?fs=1&hl=ja_JP" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Hearing him talk and having read about 60 pages of his book, I believe Spitzer's rebuttal of atheistic scientists boils down to the age-old maxim, "Nothing can come out of nothing!" The 'something' of a scientifically established Big Bang, initially formulated by the Catholic Priest-Scientist Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, cannot simply come out of nothing--going against all sicentific principles. Spitzer quotes numerous scientists, talks their language, and presents their formulae and theories to show that Science simply has no other valid hypothesis except God to explain the origin of the universe at Big Bang. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TP7sqo0A5NI/AAAAAAAAAPE/q8-fV-h8LW0/s1600/LemaitreG.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 157px; height: 186px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TP7sqo0A5NI/AAAAAAAAAPE/q8-fV-h8LW0/s320/LemaitreG.jpg" border="0" alt="Lemaitre"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548132008221271250" /></a><br /><br />As we know, even among atheistic scientists, the conscientious ones do not say, "There is no God," or "We can prove there is no God," but only say, "God is unnecessary," or "We don't need God to explain any of the observable phenomena." For example, when buses were run in Spain and England procaiming atheism, the awkwardly worded poster read: "There's probably no God! Now stop worrying and enjoy your life!" [Not clear what the significance of the poster is when most surveys suggest that people who believe are the ones who enjoy life and have fewer worries!]<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TP7sq1NeQoI/AAAAAAAAAPM/lYkr_0pMieQ/s1600/ProbablyNoGod01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 129px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TP7sq1NeQoI/AAAAAAAAAPM/lYkr_0pMieQ/s320/ProbablyNoGod01.jpg" border="0" alt="NoGod"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548132011549278850" /></a><br /><br />Spitzer appeared a couple of weeks ago together with Stephen Hawking and Deepak Chopra on Larry King Live to discuss the book of Stephen Hawking, which the media proclaimed as Hawking's attack on God. There are three video segments of this discussion: the first presents the curt answers of Hawking to Larry King's questions, and the other two the responses of Spitzer et al. Here is the second segment in which Spitzer plays a major role: <br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BCoTGTRfDy0?fs=1&hl=ja_JP"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BCoTGTRfDy0?fs=1&hl=ja_JP" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AdKEHzmqxA">Click here to watch the First segment.</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIttENo2eOM">Click here to watch the Third / Final segment.</a><br /><br />Whatever the merits of Spitzer's book, it is great to see a book that talks science and debates with scientists on an even plane. I was impressed by the number of scientists that he presents as supporters of a God-hypothesis. It is up to atheistic scientists to rebut Spitzer's arguments! You can read more about Spitzer's work at his site <a href="http://www.magisreasonfaith.org/library/">http://www.magisreasonfaith.org/library/</a> and even order a copy of his book <em><a href="http://store.magisreasonfaith.org/index.php/?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1">New Proofs for the Existence of God - Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy</a></em>.<br /><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-50404664508057587862010-11-04T23:41:00.014+09:002011-03-04T10:16:59.204+09:00Sophia University Ranked First!<a href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 172px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TNS9UD-8U-I/AAAAAAAAAO0/SZB7tjki_hw/s320/ViewFromChurchyard.jpg" border="0" alt="Sophia University"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536257994309522402" /></a> A recent article in the <em><strong>Nikkei Career Magazine Special Edition </strong></em>(日経特別編集キャリアマガジン, June 10, 2010) ranks Sophia University first among the 480 Japanese universities surveyed for "Developing students' skills most needed for contemporary employment." The survey, limited to only four-year universities--thus excluding professional schools, junior colleges, etc.--was based on the responses of 4,684 students who were about to embark on job hunting.<br /><br /> The 25 survey questions dealt with four significant areas concerning (1) Personal feeling towards the university (大学愛 'Love for the university'), (2) Social relationships (交友関係 'friendships'), (3) Extracurricular Activities (課外活動), and (4) Satisfaction with academic work (学業 'Academic work'). Why these four topics? The surveyors say that a major difference between students who get employment and those who don't is their social skills or their ability to fit smoothly into society. The four major areas explored are indicators of students' social skills, and the university that contributes to the development of these skills is the most successful in educating the future workforce of Japan. The questions were of Multiple Choice format with 2, 3, 4, or 5 options.<br /><br /> According to the survey, the scores that Sophia obtained were as follows:<br />(1) Feeling towards the university: 234<br />(2) Social Relationships ... ... .: 614<br />(3) Extracurricular Activities.. .: 506<br />(4) Academic Satisfaction ... .. .: 478<br /> Total Score:... .. .: 1832<br /><br />For comparison, here are the scores of second-ranked and third-ranked universities (in the same order):<br /> 2nd-ranked university: 290, 615, 455, 445, 1805<br /> 3rd-ranked university: 232, 595, 455, 491, 1773<br /><br />It is noteworthy that Sophia's impressive scores were mainly in "Academic Satisfaction" and "Extra-curricular Activities"--both hallmarks of a Jesuit University. Sophia usually demands much from students (rigorous attendance, lots of homework, etc.), and Sophia students are remarkably cooperative and committed to academic excellence. Many of Sophia's "Extracurricular Activities" are humanitarian activities, inspired by the traditional Christian concern to be socially responsible and to do something for the socially downtrodden. Worth mentioning are voluntary organizations such as <em>Meguko</em> that help the poor and <em>STP 'Summer Teaching Program' </em> that go out to teach skills to high-school students both in Japan and overseas.<br /><br />Of course, all such surveys must be taken with a pinch of salt, and I don't think there is any reason for Sophians to boast or be complacent. Probably most Sophians are themselves a bit surprised at the first rank, though the report is sure to be a moral boost to all Sophians, especially the students.<br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-22939647550008821772010-10-12T09:55:00.029+09:002011-03-10T01:25:42.878+09:00Jesuit Mystic William Johnston Passes Away<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TLPjz8X_XRI/AAAAAAAAAOc/Yzky4sXZdy8/s1600/WillJohnston.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TLPjz8X_XRI/AAAAAAAAAOc/Yzky4sXZdy8/s320/WillJohnston.jpg" border="0" alt="William Johnston, S.J."id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527011649233313042" /></a><br />This morning (Oct. 12, 2010) I received the news that Fr. William Johnston, S.J., author, translator, mystical theologian, and sought-after preacher, passed away at Loyola House, where he had been cared for. Bill, as we used to call him, had been sick for nearly two years, since the time he had a stroke, towards the end of the annual retreat he was making at the Kamishakujii Jesuit Residence. Luckily, someone found him and took him to a hospital, where he had an urgent operation and his life was saved. I wrote 'Luckily,' but perhaps he himself might have said, 'Unluckily,' for he loathed being bed-ridden and unable to speak. Although his life was spared, he could not speak for nearly two years--though some visitors felt he understood what was said and showed some signs of recognition.<br /><br /> Bill was much senior to me, and although we had met frequently, we never had close personal exchanges until the late 1990s, when a Toshiba Satellite brought us together. He had just returned from the United States, where someone had very strongly urged him to buy a computer and use it for writing. So he arrived in Tokyo, proudly owning a Toshiba laptop, and asked several people to help him. Almost everyone gave up, and then Bill came to me and said, "You are going to help me write my next book in a computer. Everything is set, for I got the computer with the help of an expert. All you have to do is to help me start." So I went to his room and examined the computer, and immediately realized why nobody was able to help him. <br /><br /> The computer was quite simply a 'lemon': (1) It was an old model, with a very small amount of RAM memory, and basically a DOS machine into which some old version of Windows had been installed. (2) It was a U.S. model, entirely in English. (3) It had no CD or DVD drive, either internal or external. (4) It had absolutely no application software. And (5) it had no printer. Bill couldn't even understand why nobody would teach him to write his next book in this wonderful 'new' machine. The problems, however, were nearly insurmountable: In Japan, especially in the 1990s, there was very little support for non-Japanese Computers, and so nobody, not even Toshiba, was willing to solve problems of a computer bought in USA. As the computer had no CD drive, there was no way to install any software programs, most of which were then available only on CD-ROMs. Moreover, in Japan only Japanese or bilingual software was available, but his computer won't take anything other than English! Most of the printers sold in Japan weren't suitable for an English PC either, and there were other problems related to cables, connectors, and so on. It took me nearly two weeks to make the 'lemon' somewhat useful as I managed to install a DOS version of Word Perfect 5.1 (English) and find a printer that could be connected to his Toshiba.<br /><br /> Then I started instructing Bill on how to use the PC, and he was one of the most diligent and humble students. Following my instructions, he always wrote down the basic steps I taught him and never tried to learn more than he could digest. He was neither curious nor eager to explore the Internet, and so he limited himself to using the computer only as a typewriter. Very soon, he started writing his first book on the laptop, and there were, as may be expected, many critical times when he practically lost whole chapters or didn't know where they went! My visits to his room were regular and frequent, and several times I brought back 'miraculously' (in his eyes!) some of the Chapters which he thought he had lost forever. Finally, the book was completed, and although I was away on sabbatical, he managed to have it printed and published with the help of others--under the title of "Arise, my Love...," the very first book he wrote using a computer!<br /><br /> Since our Satellite get-togethers, we began to meet more frequently especially over a cup of coffee around 9:30 AM. Frankly, I was more like a sounding board or devil's advocate than like a fan or disciple. We have discussed all sorts of topics about persons, state of the Church, state of Religious Life, theology, future of religions, sex, celibacy, sexual maturity of celibates, atheism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., etc., and frequently we were more in disagreement than in agreement. Of course, all our discussions usually ended up peacefully, and even when we parted in disagreement, we would meet again to continue the discussion, when he would say that he had changed his mind or that I was biased. Actually, he would sometimes say that I was ultra-conservative appearing as a liberal and at other times say that I was ultra-liberal appearing as a conservative. Overall, he enjoyed the challenges I put before him, and, actually, he wanted to be challenged, for challenges helped him develop his inchoate ideas. <br /><br /> Bill upset some people with his autobiography, "Mystical Journey: An Autobiography," which they found to be too frank and too revealing. He was quite excited when writing it, and would often say that it would be shocking to readers. I would often provoke him by saying, "Come on Bill, now at your age, you can be honest enough to write anything and everything! No need to be fuzzy or vague. Tell us clearly what you think and reveal yourself fully!" As a good Jesuit, he gave copies of the pre-published manuscript to other senior Jesuits for feedback, and occasionally modified it. Overall he was pleased with the reception he got for his autobiography, which urged him to start another autobiographical project. Meanwhile he had got a new desktop computer and was eagerly working on his new project. He used to tell me that his new book would be even more revealing and shocking to people, and that he would be sending parts of it to persons he could confide in. <br /><br /> It was at this stage that one of the promising Jesuits of Japan, Roger Downey, wound up in a Tokyo hospital, suffering excruciating pain due to his throat cancer. As the doctors, both in USA and in Japan, had given up on him, he was simply waiting for the inevitable, being tenderly cared for by the nurses but unable to speak or move freely. Johnston would regularly go to see him, and often tell others of the pain that Roger courageously suffered. The painful last days of Roger touched Johnston so deeply that he often prayed for Roger's early death and wished that his own life would not be prolonged artificially if ever he had to end up in bed like Roger. He often said that he wanted to die quietly and quickly, without being placed in a medical facility for too long. Paradoxically, soon after Roger's death a stroke paralyzed Johnston, and what he most disliked, he had to go through--perhaps in a mental state that was much less lucid than that of Roger.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TLVc7lGrRoI/AAAAAAAAAOk/H3Xx30FtV64/s1600/BillJohnston01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TLVc7lGrRoI/AAAAAAAAAOk/H3Xx30FtV64/s320/BillJohnston01.jpg" border="0" alt="Bill Johnston"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527426296309302914" /></a><br /> William Johnston was born on July 30, 1925, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His childhood memories were colored by the 'religious' wars then prevalent in Northern Ireland. His family later moved to Liverpool, and he entered the Society of Jesus on September 20, 1943. He arrived in Japan as a missionary in 1951, all set to convert the Japanese to Christianity. Gradually, however, he got interested in mysticism, Buddhism (especially Zen), and interreligious understanding. He was especially touched by the pioneering interreligious activities of Fr. Enomiya Lasalle, S.J., of whom he wrote: "I see Lassalle as a prophet of the twentieth century, ranking beside Thomas Merton and Bede Griffiths." After his theological studies in Kamishakujii, Japan, he was ordained a Priest on March 24, 1957.<br /><br /> In 1958, Fr. Johnston left by ship from Yokohama for Rome, where he tried to pursue his studies at the Gregorian for a short period of six months. Though his stay there was short, he underwent substantial changes in his character and outlook, thanks to the persons he met there. Recalling his experiences, he writes: "Those seven years [in Japan] had changed me completely; but my short stay in Rome would change me even more. It was nothing short of a revolution in my life." His next major stop was <em>Lumen Vitae</em>, the Catechetical Institute in Brussels, where he studied for another six months. It was here that he entrenched himself deeper into studies of mysticism and was exposed to various Asian and exotic mystic traditions, such as the TM (Transcendental Meditation) of the Indian Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. <br /><br /> After a brief detour in New York, Johnston returned in 1960 to Japan to teach at Sophia University. Having no higher academic degrees, he felt uncomfortable for some time, but then after browsing through a copy of <em>The Cloud of Unknowing</em>, he decided to write a doctoral thesis on that book which, he felt, mesmerized him. His doctoral thesis was successfully completed under the direction of Fr. Tony Evangelista, and was published with an introduction by the eminent Thomas Merton, under the title of <em>The Mysticism of "The Cloud of Unknowing."</em> Regarding the success of this book, Johnston himself says, "After forty years, it is still in print with Fordham University Press and some people have told me it is my best book. I don't agree. But they say it."<br /><br /> His next major project was the translation of Endo Shusaku's <em>Chinmoku</em> 'Silence,' which he did against much Jesuit opposition (because the novel dealt with a Jesuit apostate!). Although not a professional translator, Fr. Johnston did an excellent job of translating, and, thanks to his translation, many people around the world came to know who Endo Shusaku was. His translation was critically acclaimed and is still being sold. With rumors floating around that a Hollywood movie will be made of the novel <em>Silence</em>, one may expect Johnston's translation to be on the market for some more years. Endo and Johnston remained good friends, and Johnston officiated at the memorial Mass for Endo.<br /> <br /> Johnston's illustrious career includes numerous books on mysticism and mystical theology, such as <em>The Still Point: Reflections on Zen and Christian Mysticism </em>, <em>Silent Music</em>, <em>Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion</em>, <em>Mystical Theology: The Science of Love</em>, and <em>Christian Zen</em>. Even towards the end of his career, he was very much sought after for retreats and spiritual talks, and he would get occasional calls for interviews or video sessions. Until the stroke deprived him of free movements, one could see him spending hours meditating in quiet areas or reciting repetitive vocal prayers like the Jesus prayer or the Rosary. Among the Japanese he baptized is the current Archbishop of Tokyo, Rev. Okada, who will be present at Johnston's funeral.<br /> <br /> Johnston has been one of the few recognizable names associated with Sophia University and the Jesuits of Japan. I have heard his name mentioned in numerous countries--especially in the English-speaking ones--and I was always amazed at the admiration people had for him and at their curiosity to know about his character and spirituality. People seem to like his English style and intelligible approach to mysticism.<br /><br /> Towards the end of his life, I often called him jovially "The Prophet of Doom," because he was much worried about the contemporary problems affecting the Church and predicted that an entirely new Church and new forms of Religious life have to emerge if they are to continue. Though he might have been a Prophet of Doom, he was also a Prophet of Hope, for he never gave in to despair or frustration but always inspired Christian confidence in resurrection and renewal of all things that look gloomy. His commitment to the welfare of the Church was never in doubt although he equally stressed that all religions must strive to work together in peace. One of the very last pieces he wrote on mysticism and religious harmony, "Cosmic Energy," can be read at: <a href="http://willtells.blogspot.com/">http://willtells.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><strong>Funeral Arrangements:</strong><br /> <em>WAKE</em>: October 14 (Th), 2010, 19:30 PM at St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo (near Yotsuya Station on JR, Marunouchi, & Namboku lines)<br /> <em>FUNERAL MASS</em>: October 15 (F), 2010, 13:30 PM at St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo (near Yotsuya Station on JR, Marunouchi, & Namboku lines)<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TLVdlTRv2gI/AAAAAAAAAOs/OSZr4SRKkBg/s1600/Johnstn-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TLVdlTRv2gI/AAAAAAAAAOs/OSZr4SRKkBg/s320/Johnstn-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Bill Johnston at SJHouse"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527427013078407682" /></a><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-32973721272670269402010-05-30T22:24:00.018+09:002011-03-04T10:14:25.890+09:00Interreligious Vedanta in Japan<a href="http://brittonia.blogspot.com/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TAhdCiPoYKI/AAAAAAAAAN8/-mlFuGlymwA/s320/RamKrish_OpeningPrayer.jpg" border="0" alt="opening prayer"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478731244829696162" /></a><br />This afternoon (May 30, 2010), starting from 14:00, there were two significant events at Gotanda Seisen University: (1) "Golden Jubilee [of the Japan Vedanta Society (JVS)] Celebration Closing Ceremony" and (2) "Swami Vivekananda's 148th Birthday Celebration." Although I am not a member of the JVS, thanks to another professor, I received information about the celebration and was tempted by an invitation card. So although at Sophia University, there were Sophia Alumni Day celebrations, I opted to skip them and go to Gotanda. It took about 20 minutes from Yotsuya to Gotanda by train, via Yoyogi, and then about a 10-minute walk to the university. Surprisingly, there were a couple of Seisen student volunteers at Gotanda station and a few other spots, standing with a sign pointing to "Seisen University."<br /><br /> Thanks to the invitation, I was given a VIP tag and led into the hall before the 'ordinary' crowd and given a preferential seat in front. Very soon the hall was full (a few hundred guests) and the events began 15 minutes late... perhaps to remind all that the events are 'Indian' and will follow the "Indian timetable." :)<br /><br /><a href="http://brittonia.blogspot.com/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TAhdjVzFfXI/AAAAAAAAAOM/7RpVD2MIRhw/s320/Vivek_RamKrish.jpg" border="0" alt="Vivekananda-Ramakrishna-SaradaDevi"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478731808424426866" /></a><br /> The MC was a Japanese lady who spoke beautiful English and Japanese. There were altogether eight 'talks' or 'discourses', one each by the following: (1) Sr. Junko Shioya (Chair of the Seisen Managing Board), (2) Swami Medhasananda (President of JVS), (3) Swami Smaranandaji (Vice President, Ramakrishna Mission), (4)Rev. Takeo Okada (Catholic Archbishop of Tokyo), (5) His Eminence H.K.Singh (Ambassador of India), (6) Rev. Ryojun Sato (Buddhist Priest of Jodo Sect & Prof. Emeritus of Taisho University), (7) Prof. Yasuji Yamaguchi (Professor of Meiji University), and (8) Prof. Tsuyoshi Nara (Vice President of JVS). Fortunately, most spoke briefly. Prof. Sato spoke longest, and Prof. Yamaguchi perhaps second longest. Being academics, they were perhaps asked to give serious lectures. The non-academic VIPs were reasonably brief.<br /><br /> The non-academic VIPs gave the general soft salutations--with the usual words of thanks and pleasure at being invited, etc.--mingled with a personal note of how they got involved in Vedanta Society and how they happened to be there. The two Swamijis gave a short history of the Vedanta Society's founding in Japan 50 years ago, noting the role played by Vivekananda himself, who had been in Japan and impressed everyone with his eloquence and wisdom, as he had done at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. The Swamijis also referred to the Japanese and Indian contributions, especially the cooperation extended by the Indian Embassy and the several Ambassadors. The Ambassador spoke briefly wishing all the best to the Society and assuring support.<br /><br /><a href="http://brittonia.blogspot.com/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TAhdRzIGj0I/AAAAAAAAAOE/Hsf8vZkGx2Y/s320/BishopOkada01.jpg" border="0" alt="Archbishop Okada"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478731507059560258" /></a><br /> The Catholic Archbishop of Tokyo, Okada Takeo, was perhaps the most misfitting among the group (for he was neither an Indian nor a Japanese engaged in Vedanta research or acquainted with India, as every other speaker sitting on stage was), but the most forthright and simple. He confessed that he knew little about India or Hinduism and was reluctant to accept the invitation, but was told to say 'anything' he wanted to say, and so accepted the invitation. As he continued speaking, however, he came across as extremely honest, spontaneous, plain, unassuming, and impressive. He did refer to the general ignorance of the Japanese about India and Indian religious thoughts--except for the great Buddha and Buddhism. Few Japanese, he said, seem familiar with Hinduism, and it was interesting to read about Hinduism in novels like Endo Shusaku's <em>Deep River</em>. He recalled Mother Theresa and her example of universal love, and the image of India as a poor or suffering nation, although currently undergoing changes due to economic prosperity. The Archbishop also tied up Indian poverty with the current Japanese situation asking the audience if Japan is any better, especially morally, spiritually, and psychologically--even as the population is graying and children are rare. He referred to the nearly 30,000 suicides taking place in Japan every year, and asked what contributions the Religions in Japan make to alleviate such hopelessness among the population. Confessing his faith in Christ and recalling Christ's commandments to love others as oneself, he reiterated the obligations of all religions to work in harmony for the alleviation of human suffering, which, he reminded all, was also one of the major aims of the Buddha.<br /><br /> Rev. Ryojun Sato gave perhaps the most academic paper, on "Buddhist Sangha and its Idea of Co-living." He bagan humorously with the three Hindi words he learned while he was in India in the early 1960s: <em>pani</em> 'water', <em>kana</em> 'food', and <em>sona</em> 'sleep'. He said he could get along well in India with only these three words, but today the only word he would consider necessary for survival is ... <em>dharma</em>. (Dharma is one of those 'magnet' words of India that can attract to itself a variety of meanings such as 'duty', 'obligation', 'commitment', 'God's will', etc., etc., depending on the exponent.) Elaborating Dharma and Buddhism, Rev. Sato stressed the need to 'co-live' or live harmoniously with all beings (humans, animals, and plants), recalling the ecological connection we all have with everything around us.<br /><br /> Prof. Yasuji Yamaguchi, a philosopher by profession, spoke of his beginnings in Western Philosophy and how he remained unsatisfied and unfufiflled until he encountered Eastern ideas in Sri Aurobindo's works. Since Sri Aurobindo acknowledged Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Sri Vivekananda as his guides, Prof. Yamaguchi's talk was the most appropriate for the occasion. Prof. Yamaguchi referred to various works of Sri Aurobindo, citing key passages from Aurobindo's <em>Life Divine</em> and other writings.<br /> <br /><a href="http://brittonia.blogspot.com/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 95px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/TAhcpbFB1HI/AAAAAAAAAN0/1DhJNa1_uqs/s320/Santoor1s.jpg" border="0" alt="santoor"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478730813409449074" /></a><br /> After the talks, i.e., around 5:30, there were light refreshments--spicy bits of crackers, a samosa with curried potato, a sweet laddu ball, etc.--thanks to Mr Chandrani, a restaureteur in Tokyo. The audience was then entertained from 6:00 by Santoor Pundit Shivkumar Sharma and various other groups. Unfortunately I had to leave the great performance around 6:30 and so I could only hear the first performance of the Pundit. That was perhaps the first time I saw and heard Santoor, a small boxlike 'portable piano' with 100 strings! The performer uses two strikers (like chopsticks or unscrewed hands of thin scissors) to tap the strings and produce sounds of three octaves!<br /><br /> For the benefit of those unfamiliar with Vedanta, Ramakrishna, and Vivekananda: <br /><br /><em><strong>Vedanta</strong></em>: 'The end of Vedas', literally with reference to the last books of the Vedic Canon, namely, the Upanishads [coming after a series of books classified as Samhitas, Brahmanas, and the Aranyakas], and figuratively, as the definitive end and purpose of all the Vedas (the Hindu/Indian Sacred Scriptures). As the Vedas have no namable authors, the Vedanta too is authorless, but there are several major exponents, the most significant being the eminnet theologian-philosopher-mystic Sankara of 8th century. There are different versions and contradictory interpretations of Vedanta. Currently in the West, perhaps Deepak Chopra, the New Age and Hollywood Guru, is perhaps a well-known and popular exponent. <br /><br /><em><strong>Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886): </strong></em>An extrordinary Hindu sage, mystic, and teacher, who was not 'academically' learned, but whom great academics sought after to learn from. Although a Hindu, he was most notable for sponsoring religious harmony, interreligious dialog, and ecumenism, significantly much earlier than the Catholic Church (which began its journey of interreligious dialog only after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s). Many are the minds that have been influenced by this little man, who lived a simple life, seeking neither fame nor glory.<br /><br /><strong><em>Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902):</em></strong> If Ramakrishna were Jesus, Vivekananda would be St. Paul, or if Ramakrishna were St. Ignatius, Vivekananda would be St. Francis Xavier. A brash atheist and rationalist when young, he was touched by Ramakrishna's sanctity and became his ardent missionary. He is most notable for his eloquent and articulate presentation of Hinduism at the First World Parliament of Religions in Chicago (1893), where he rebutted counterarguments and impressed many with his magnanimous and rational views. His International travels took him also to other countries like Japan, UK, etc. He founded the Ramakrishna Mission on May 1, 1897 (perhaps on the model of Catholic Religious Orders?) to keep Ramakrishna's messages alive. Although at times a sharp critic of the West and Christianity, he essentially followed the lead of Ramakrishna in exhorting people of all religions to live in harmony respecting each other.<br /><br /><strong><em>Ramakrishna Mission:</em></strong> While we read frequently of Hindus who hate or injure non-Hindus, most Hindus love peace with other religions, and Ramakrishna's contribution here has been significant. In India, the Ramakrishna Mission often celebrates Christmas inviting Catholic priests. In Japan, too, the Mission has among its members a Jesuit Priest and perhaps several nuns and lay Catholics.<br /><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-29704247485315784212010-05-07T15:18:00.015+09:002011-03-04T10:18:00.962+09:00Case of Christovao Ferreira, Hero of Endo Shusaku's "Silence," now Online<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/S-PMxP5xcpI/AAAAAAAAANs/3FAGYRjGXBs/s320/Mainhall.jpg" border="0" alt="Nagasaki 26 Martyrs Museum"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468439519012418194" /> <strong><div align="center"> Nagasaki Jesuit Museum of 26 Martyrs</div></strong><br />I remember reading the novel <em>Silence</em> of Endo Shusaku many years ago and being touched, like everybody else, perhaps, by the hard decision faced by the main character. The book, written in Japanese under the title of <em>Chinmoku</em>, was translated by the Jesuit Fr. William Johnston (who, by the way, was a friend of the late Endo Shusaku and is now unfortunately bed-ridden) and published first by Sophia University, in cooperation with Charles E. Tuttle Co., in 1969. As it gained popularity around the world, mainly among Christians, it was published by others and established itself as a great Christian classic.<br /><br /> <em>Silence</em> is essentially the story of a Jesuit priest of the 17th century by the name of Christovoa Ferreira, who, under torture, gave up his faith while even many of his Jesuit confreres, lay men, women, and children underwent torture and stood firm in their faith. In the novel, Ferreira encounters Rodrigues, another daring Jesuit who tries to set the wrong done by Ferreira right; the novel touches on the question of commitment, loyalty, fidelity, faith, etc. Ferreira, of course, was not the only one who gave up his faith, but the fact he was a Jesuit and acting as the 'Provincial' or local superior when he succombed made him a special person of interest. The novel, of course, takes literary liberties with the true events, and it is easy to get confused as to which parts are true and which are not--much like in the case of <em>Da Vinci Code</em>. <br /><br /> It is this confusion that Fr. Hubert Cieslik wanted to remove by writing a detailed account of the historical events that led to Ferreira's apostasy and the events that followed. Cieslik's account was published in 1973 in the Sophia University journal <em>Monumenta Nipponica</em>, and, to my knowledge, no free copy was available on the Web. Now, at last, a freely downloadable version of Cieslik's article is available for everyone to read, print, and 'enjoy'--if enjoying is possible while reading such an event.<br /><br /> The case of Ferreira and the seriousness with which people took Faith those days are sure to be startling to modern readers--especially at present, when so many scandals plague the Church and other Authorities. Some may even see a parallel between the priests of those days and the priests of these days... and the current social climate that makes 'apostasy' invisible or casual.<br /><br /><em>You can access Cieslik's article by clicking the picture below and selecting the appropriate (first, for some time at least!) entry.</em> <br /><br /><a href="http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/britto/xavier/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/S-O3k6cEuwI/AAAAAAAAANk/mIG4DeqrbIo/s320/Ferreira1stPage.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468416217348094722" /></a><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-69314822249143348062010-04-02T18:57:00.021+09:002011-03-04T10:19:06.998+09:00The Fading Face of Christianity...<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/S7XPoa-7VRI/AAAAAAAAAM0/um5wzkqte7Y/s1600/Sint-Nicolaaskerk_Amsterdam.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/S7XPoa-7VRI/AAAAAAAAAM0/um5wzkqte7Y/s320/Sint-Nicolaaskerk_Amsterdam.jpg" border="0" alt="Amsterdam St. Nicholas"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455494816974198034" /></a><br />[From Editor, 2010-04-02: <br />*<em>Due to the unconscionable activities of spammers, currently even genuine non-spam reactions to this blog won't be displayed immediately... Feel free, however, to post them, even stating your email address, for after filtering the spam I remove the writer's email address from the entry before posting them to the public so that you won't be spammed by these spamming bums.</em> <br />End 'From Editor']<br /><br />I often feel that if one wants to write a book about a non-native country, one should do so within a week or two after arrival. Why? Because after a couple of weeks, the wonder disappears and the strange or noteworthy things become 'normal'. It is as if one becomes blind to things after becoming familiar with them. So here I am, not to write a book, but just to note a few things after my recent 24-day trip to Benelux (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg].<br /><br />The occasion was primarily a couple of lectures I had to give at the University of Antwerp, but I also used the opportunity to 'observe Christianity in its natural habitat' and research about language use, especially English use, in these countries. Here I'd like to reflect mainly on religious issues.<br /><br /><a href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/S7XROvEa1rI/AAAAAAAAANM/bhJfDI0hjHk/s320/Church_Of_Our_Lady_Bruges.jpg" border="0" alt="Brugge Church"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455496574712600242" /></a><br />When I mentioned to several Europeans that one of my interests is to observe Christianity in its natural habitat--i.e., in countries which were once called "Christian", such as Europe, U.S.A., Canada, Australia, & South America--they all said very casually, "Well, Europe is no more Christian." When I spoke with a young couple, I began a generic sentence with, "Supposing you, as a Christian,..." and the man immediately cut me short to say, "Don't assume we are Christians!"<br /><br />Although missionaries from former 'Christian countries' still engage non-Christians in many 'non-Christian' countries around the world and work hard to convert the 'pagans,' it is a sad fact that even in their own countries their sermons and calls to conversion will go unheeded. I heard repeatedly from priests and the few practicing Christians that young people in Europe don't come any more even near the Church. Most Christians in Europe, a priest told me, are "Chretiens aux quatre roues" (Christians on four wheels). Apparently, they come to Church only on four wheels: when they are carried as babies in a baby-carriage, when they are brought to first communion in a decorated car, when they arrive to contract a marriage in a luxurious stretch limousine, and finally when they arrive as dead bodies in a hearse. Even the age of "Sunday Christians" has gone! Sundays are too frequent! <br /><br /><a href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/S7XPxiYQMlI/AAAAAAAAAM8/gWkNlFrI1MY/s320/Antwerp_-_by_Craig_Wyzik.jpg" border="0" alt="Antwerp"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455494973578293842" /></a><br />When I engaged in conversation with some young people, especially in the Catholicism-oozing Flemish city of Antwerp, they were all extremely gentle, caring, sincere, serious, and earnest. They only seemed to be turned off by Christianity or Christian discourse! After one of my lectures on Hinduism and Christianity, a participant, presumably engaged in educating the young in religion, commented: "Whenever we announce a meeting related to Christianity or Christian practices, hardly anyone signs up! But if we announce a meeting about Yoga, Zen, Mindfulness, or any such Asian spiritual matters, people sign up in large numbers!" She was not the only one commenting that way. Another Catholic priest said that whenever he offered anything Christian such as Ignatian Exercises or Catholic Moral Teachings, hardly anyone signed up; but if he taught Asian meditative techniques with a title such as "Mindfulness" or "Yoga"--each session lasting even 90 minutes or more--many people signed up. "They not only sign up, but also persevere, never missing a session!"<br /><br />Another thing that struck me was the large number of Moslems (as visibly identifiable from their garb, hair-style, hair veils, living quarters, restaurants, food stores, etc.) especially in the Netherlands and Belgium. Certain areas in Belgium had several Islamic blocks and numerous Islamic areas, as if designated for them. I also noticed mosques in several cities as I was traveling far and wide within Benelux by train. In fact, because of their exceptional appearance, Moslems and Afro-Europeans strike you more often than the White Europeans whom you tend to take for granted. Women with children--the children being either inside or outside the womb--and young adolescents too were mostly non-Whites.<br /><br />Europe is perhaps still Christian at least in architecture! There are numerous churches, Cathedrals, and monasteries still in existence though hardly any of them serving the purposes they were originally created for! They are now special theaters, or museums, or stages for entertainment.... Cathedrals serving modern needs! The Jesuit Catholic Church in Brugge (the very beautiful ancient city in Belgium) is a typical case in point. Unable to maintain it and unable to pass it on to other religious groups, the Jesuits seem to have sold it to an enterprise that apparently promised to use it for cultural purposes so that at least the vestige of religiosity may be preserved. However, in a short time, the buyers seem to have sold it to another entertainment company, and currently it is used as a theater that caters to those who want to experience entertainment as it was several centuries ago: with fire-spitters, fire-eaters, magicians, sexy dancers, etc., etc.<br /><br /><a href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/S7XQD9Su69I/AAAAAAAAANE/6QopAYpcxtk/s320/Brugge-Canal.jpg" border="0" alt="Brugge Canal"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455495290040544210" /></a><br />Clearly these are simply facts... What they signify is open to many interpretations. Is Christianity finished in Europe? What has caused the decline? Will anything resurrect Christianity in Europe? Will they have another St. Francis of Assissi or a St. Ignatius Loyola who diverted the course of history? Who in Europe pays attention to the doctrinal, moral, and ethical minutiae that priestly and religious persons dictate, sermonize, propound or write volumes about?<br /><br />When I asked similar questions to some locals, including Jesuit priests, many seemed hopeful and not at all desperate or alarmed. While even acknowledging the current gloomy situation, they all thought that it was only the swing of a pendulum in the non-Christian direction, and it will swing back in the Christian direction. One observant priest stated, "I think Christianity as we knew it is gone and won't come back in Europe. However, a new form of Christianity, much more meaningful to the modern humans, will emerge out of the current crisis."<br />[photo credits: Wikipedia]<br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-42246317640049667932009-11-18T00:48:00.013+09:002011-03-04T10:20:32.010+09:00Catholics Debate Atheists[From Editor, 2010-04-02: <br /> *Comments are filtered for Spam! Your legitimate comments will appear!<br /> **Sorry, the video clips of the debate are currently unavailable!<br />End from Editor]<br /><br />As is widely reported on the Net, Intelligence Squared had a debate on the topic: "The Catholic church is a force for good in the world." Speaking for the motion were Archbishop John Onaiyekan (of Nigeria) and Ann Widdecombe MP, a convert. Speaking against the motion were the ubiquitous Christopher Hitchens and the gay actor Stephen Fry. Before the debate, 678 were 'for' the motion; 1102 Against; 346 Don’t know. After the debate: those who were 'for' went down to 268. 'Against' went up to 1,876, and 'Don’t know' down to 34. The consensus of both Catholics and non-Catholics seems to be that Hitchens and Fry thoroughly outperformed the Catholic team.<br /><br />I watched the shorter, 40', version of the debate. It was a pity that the Catholic team put up an African Bishop, for whom English was a second language, and a woman whose voice was so squeaky that it took some time getting used to. The Catholic team addressed the issues reasonably well, but failed miserably as communicators or charmers of the audience, especially when pitted against the smooth-tongued media professionals Hitchens and Fry. Also they were no match for their opponents in shooting arrows or hurling mud, especially in rebuttals.<br /><br />People have their freedom to engage in whatever debates they like, but it looks to me that Catholics debating atheists like Hitchens engage in not only a futile but also a counterproductive enterprise. Even if they are matched in wit and oratorical skills, the atheists will be at an advantage. The atheists have nothing to lose, no position to defend, no history to identify with, and no responsibility to anyone except to themselves. Hitchens and the whole 'against God/Religion/Catholics' gang have only to be against something; they don't have to be for anything whatever except themselves. That gives them great freedom to attack without getting hit. It is like an invisible man punching a hapless boxer. So the Atheist can say, 'I don't approve of people forgiving one another,' 'I hate my enemies and my friends too,' 'I don't see what the problem is with x sleeping with y, regardless of the mutual relationship, as long as they are consenting adults,' 'Yes, I'll kill if I can get away with it,' and so on. He can attack every position his/her opponent takes as restricting his freedom or as out-of-sync dogmas. <br /><br /> Above all, a religious person comes with a baggage, a history, a heritage, which has proud as well as embarrassing elements. That is simply the fate of every one who places himself with a group, for all institutions, religious as well as secular, are made up of fallible humans. So he cannot but leave himself open to attack. The theist cannot return the attacks of an atheist in kind even if he wanted to, for an atheist has no history, has no group membership, has no commitment. Hitchens, for example, can totally distance himself from all the evils that the other atheists had done before him, for the 'atheists' don't have a Church or a history or a group identity. There is no way a theist, who comes with a group identity and heritage, can ever match wits with an atheist, who has no accountability to anyone except to himself! At least if a Hindu and a Jew or a Christian and Moslem debate, there may be some sort of equivalence of 'historical baggage'; whereas a 'loner' like the atheist can always come one up against a theist.<br /><br /> Another major problem with these debates is that they are simply exercises in 'impressing' people rather than in delivering truth or in searching for truth. Recent debates have become a form of entertainment, so we need entertainers rather than scholars to debate. Truth? That can be dispensed with in the context of the debate. Whatever the atheist says or the theist says, there is no way to verify immediately or even later on since they are neither footnoted nor referenced! Even if statements were footnoted, we would only have a case of X quoting Y, and Y quoting Z, without being able to ascertain whether X, Y, and Z know what they are talking about. As anyone who has gone through the books <em>Bad Science</em> or <em>Who Stole Feminism? </em>or <em>Scientific Blunders </em>or <em>How to Lie with Statistics</em> would agree, it is hard to take at face value the statistics and so-called scientific statements. Winning a debate requires entertainment appeal and quick wittedness rather than veracity or knowledge.<br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-41476926818312572742009-11-01T11:53:00.007+09:002011-03-04T10:22:40.917+09:00Kandhamal VideosHere are three video clips about the sad events that took place last year in Kandhamal, Orissa, India. Those unfamiliar with the events may explore this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_violence_in_Orissa">Wikipedia article</a> to know what happened. Basically, it was a case of extreme violence, one religious group, the majority, attacking another, minority, religious group. It is unthinkable that such events take place in 21st century India, a country that can rightfully boast of religious tolerance and magnificent mainstream Hinduism. Several Jesuits were involved in assisting the affected Christians.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0GWgmQWbiug&hl=ja&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0GWgmQWbiug&hl=ja&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><blockquote>According to All India Christian Council, the 2008 violence affected in 14 districts out of 30 and 300 Villages, 4,400 Houses burnt, 50,000 Homeless, 59 People killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 Priests/Pastors/Nuns injured, 18,000 Men, women, children injured, 2 women gang-raped including a nun, 151 Churches destroyed and 13 Schools and colleges damaged. The violence targeted Christians in 310 villages, with 4,104 homes torched. More than 18,000 were injured and 50,000 displaced and homes continued to burn in many villages. Another report said that around 11,000 people are still living in relief camps. Some of the tribals even fled away to border districts in neighbouring state Andhra Pradesh and took shelter in churches of those districts.<br /><br />Arrests<br />On October 14, Cuttack archbishop Raphael Cheenath moved the Supreme Court seeking Rs 3 crore as compensation to rebuild the demolished and vandalized churches in the communal riot-hit areas. He also sought Rs 5.5 lakh for the kin of those killed in the riots and compensation of Rs 60,000 to those whose houses were damaged or torched by miscreants. <em>[From Wikipedia]</em><br /></blockquote><br />Here are two more clips continuing the same video story:<br />Kandhamal Part 2<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jvozICj4Nw8&hl=ja&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jvozICj4Nw8&hl=ja&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Kandhamal Part 3<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_QOWyQKMwik&hl=ja&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_QOWyQKMwik&hl=ja&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-85963552863011501002009-10-07T13:16:00.013+09:002011-03-04T10:23:33.074+09:00Uwem Akpan: A Jesuit story teller<a href="http://brittonia.blogspot.com/"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389707957265038930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 215px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 291px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Uwem Akpan, S.J." src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SswW1Mvg_lI/AAAAAAAAAMk/uFiEcxPVhs8/s320/UwemAkpan_SJ_AuthorOfSayYoureOneOfThem.jpg" border="0" /></a> Heard of Uwem Akpan? Perhaps not, but soon you will, not only here from me, but also from the general media. He is one of the brilliant young English writers from Nigeria, having already won many awards for his writing. As he has published at least two stories and a column on “Faith and Doubt” in <em>The New Yorker</em>, he is well-known to literary buffs of contemporary fiction. Since mid-September, when Oprah Winfrey, the undisputed Queen of talk-shows, announced that she has selected his book <em>Say You're One of Them </em>as Oprah’s Book Club Selection, Americans and many English-speakers around the world have come to notice him. Oprah’s Book Club is said to be the largest in the world, and her selection is guaranteed to boost any book’s sale to millions.<br /><br />One of Uwem’s stories, “An Ex-Mas Feast,” was published in <em>The New Yorker </em>on June 13, 2005. "Ex-mas"-->"X-mas," as you can guess, is Christmas. After getting to know that Uwem was a Jesuit priest from Nigeria, I read it two days ago with great interest. The story is quite touching, and Uwem’s deliberate use of Africanisms interesting. The story, narrated by a young boy, is about his extremely poor family and his 12-year old elder sister, Maisha, who is the main money maker. How she earns her money, what she does with it, and how the whole family is affected by her form the meat of the story.<br /><br />Uwem was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in Nigeria, and was educated in Nigeria, United States, Kenya, Benin, and Tanzania. He is fluent in his own mother tongue Annang, English, and several other language varieties. He was set on becoming a Jesuit even as a high school student, and he is currently working as a Parish Priest in Africa, spending most of his time in pastoral duties and writing usually at night.<br /><br />In USA, he studied philosophy and English with the Jesuits at Creighton and Gonzaga universities. After studying theology for three years at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and receiving ordination to the priesthood in 2003, he pursued his English studies at the University of Michigan and received his MFA in creative writing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/sayyoureoneofthem/content/buy.asp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389708410225910962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 206px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Cover_Go to Official Site" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SswXPkJzZLI/AAAAAAAAAMs/_IriQq_w8ow/s320/SayYoureOneOfThemCover.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Some of the awards that Uwem has won are:<br /><blockquote>Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction<br />Nominated for the Guardian First Book Award<br />Nominated for the Caine Prize for African Writing<br />Nominated for the Story Prize<br />Nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award<br />Selected for Oprah's 2009 Book Club<br />Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, African Region </blockquote><br />As you can see from the video clip below, he is a very cheerful and easy-going person—clearly reaching for the stars (and the Divine) while solidly keeping his feet on the ground. As he himself says, he is not too fond of abstract theologizing but likes to communicate his core beliefs in an intelligible language. No wonder he follows in the footsteps of the great story tellers: the Buddha and Jesus. Uwem seems most concerned in his fiction to give voice to the children of Africa and thus let the world know of their day-to-day concerns. <br /><br />Here is an interesting interview with Uwem, which will make you laugh with him:<br /><br /><div align="center"> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://brittonia.blogspot.com"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RDgFT-F57PI&hl=ja&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><br />Here are some links for you to discover more about Uwem.<br /><br /> <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/06/13/050613fi_fiction1">Read Uwem’s "An Ex-Mas Feast" in <em>The New Yorker</em></a><br /> <a href="http://www.oprah.com/media/20090923-obc-oprah-video-blog">Watch Oprah Winfrey, the talk-show Queen, comment on "An Ex-Mas Feast," </a>the first story in Uwem Akpan's <em>Say You're One of Them</em>. "This little family not just broke my heart, but opened my heart."<br /> <a href="http://www.oprah.com/media/20090921_obc_oprah-say-youre-one-of-them-video">Watch Oprah explain why she chose Uwem's book.</a> <br /> <a href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/sayyoureoneofthem/content/buy.asp">Visit the official site to read more about Uwem and buy his great book of stories!</a><br /><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-76709105574336543962009-10-02T09:05:00.007+09:002011-03-04T10:24:26.214+09:00The Pope in Vatican ObservatoryHere's a short video clip of Pope Benedict XVI visiting the new premises of the Specola Vaticana, the Vatican Observatory, on September 16. See him welcomed by the Jesuit Superior General Fr. Adolfo Nicolas (former profesor at Sophia University), Jesuit Fr José Gabriel Funes, the Director of Vatican Observatory, and Jesuit Brother Guy J. Consolmagno (He is the one with a beard!). Fr. Funes and Br. Consolmagno are both highly qualified scientists. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CYgIxSdsM08&hl=ja&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CYgIxSdsM08&hl=ja&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /> Br. Consolmagno, S.J. was at Sophia last year, when he came to Japan to attend a conference on meteorites. After his B.A. & M.A. at MIT, he obtained a Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona. He did further research and taught at Harvard College Observatory and MIT, then worked as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya. He joined the Jesuits in 1989, preferring to be a 'Brother' (i.e., to be a member of the Society of Jesus without being ordained a 'Priest'). He has been at the Vatican Observatory almost since he began his Jesuit life. He is an author of several books--both scientific and religious--and he writes regularly for many journals and periodicals (including <em>The Tablet</em>). <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/brother_guy/PhotoAlbum11.html">See a short list of his books by clicking here.<br /></a> <br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/brother_guy/PhotoAlbum11.html"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 252px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SsVYp7XMk4I/AAAAAAAAAMc/7UGsRYYEfMA/s320/funnyguy.jpg" border="0" alt="Gonsolmagno, Photo from his site."id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387810006551532418" /></a><br /> Fr. Funes, S.J. is another scientist of note, having received his Master's degree in Astronomy from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina and a doctorate from the University of Padua in Italy. He has also a bachelor's degree in philosophy from University del Salvador in Argentina. He taught astrophysics at an American university before being appointed Director of the Vatican Observatory, in place of another Jesuit scientist Fr. George Coyne. Fr. Funes was in the news last year when he suggested that the existence of ETs cannot be ruled out. "Vatican astronomer cites possibility of extraterrestrial 'brothers'," wrote <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/world/europe/14iht-vat.4.12885393.html">The New York Times</a>, introducing Fr. Funes' remarks.<br /><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-45185828283850572052009-06-03T12:24:00.014+09:002011-03-04T10:25:35.809+09:00Lama Osel and Jiddu Krishnamurthy<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SiX99gMwgEI/AAAAAAAAAME/0PeYhCO9tvY/s1600-h/LamOselBr_S.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 167px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SiX99gMwgEI/AAAAAAAAAME/0PeYhCO9tvY/s320/LamOselBr_S.jpg" border="0" alt="Lama Osel Courtesy of FPMT"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342955766002253890" /></a><br />Just last Friday (May 29), I was talking with a group of women about the case of infants who are dramatically identified as the re-incarnations of some Buddhist Lamas and groomed to mature as adult Lamas. And today (June 1) I accidentally came across the heading “El niño lama se hace agnóstico” in the Spanish newspaper <em>El Mundo</em>. The Lama in question is Lama Tenzin Osel, who was chosen by Lama Zopa and the one and only Dalai Lama, as the reincarnation of the well-known Lama Thubten Yeshe. Lama Zopa is the direct disciple of Lama Yeshe, the founder of FPMT [Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition], who died in 1983, aged 49.<br /><br /> Lama Zopa temporarily succeeded Lama Yeshe and was on the look out for the reincarnated Lama Yeshe. He first set his eyes on the Spanish toddler Osel Hita Torres (born on 12 February 1985, in Granada, Spain) in the fall of 1985 and immediately recognized him to be the incarnation of Lama Yeshe, based on several dreams and signs. Osel’s mother Maria, a fervent disciple of Lama Yeshe, is supposed to have given birth to Osel painlessly, and Osel himself seems to have exuded excellent qualities highly suitable for a Lama. After being enthroned officially as the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe, the new Lama Osel, received the respect and obeisance of even senior Lamas although he himself was still a child.<br /><br /> Lama Osel’s formation seems to have been very strict and cloistered, but at the same time reasonably liberal as he was given opportunities to learn languages like English and Spanish and to engage in secular studies. What triggered a change in the young Lama is not clear, but according various news reports yesterday, the Lama has explicitly disowned his Lama-ness and confessed to having become an agnostic. <em>The Guardin </em>of May 31 says that “he bemoaned the misery of a youth deprived of television, football and girls.” Interestingly, the Lama had no exposure to movies other than the Eddie Murphy action thriller <em>The Golden Child</em>, which deals with an infant Lama trying to escape from ruthless villains. Lama Osel’s comment: "I never felt like that boy." <br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SiX8RB-2VOI/AAAAAAAAAL8/ODy-WmtLZgM/s1600-h/Osel_Lama2009_S.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 212px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SiX8RB-2VOI/AAAAAAAAAL8/ODy-WmtLZgM/s320/Osel_Lama2009_S.jpg" border="0" alt="OselToday_Courtesy FPMT"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342953902464980194" /></a><br /> Lama Osel’s case reminds one of the dramatic break that Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) made with the Theosophists in the late 1920s. Krishnamurti too, like Lama Osel, was discovered when he was still very young and was expected to become the undisputed spokesman for the Theosophical Society and a “World Teacher.” After a highly programmed education, however, Krishnamurti received the enlightenment of disillusionment, and eloquently uttered memorable sentences like the following:<br /><blockquote>I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or coerce people along a particular path. </blockquote> <br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SiX-YWHqsAI/AAAAAAAAAMM/eCIq5YmDXq0/s1600-h/Jiddu_Krishnamurti_01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SiX-YWHqsAI/AAAAAAAAAMM/eCIq5YmDXq0/s320/Jiddu_Krishnamurti_01.jpg" border="0" alt="Krishnamurti_Wikipedia"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342956227153014786" /></a><br /> Krishnamurti, as may be clear, confronted the Society that groomed him, not only because of disillusionment but also because of his sincere quest for Truth. After leaving the Theosophists, JK lived for many years as a much admired philosopher, spreading his message around the globe. In accordance with his own teachings, he ordained no disciples--though it won't be a surprise if many claim to be his disciples--and established no monasteries. "I do not want followers,” he had said. <br /><blockquote>The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth. I am not concerned whether you pay attention to what I say or not. I want to do a certain thing in the world and I am going to do it with unwavering concentration. I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: to set man free. I desire to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found religions, new sects, nor to establish new theories and new philosophies.</blockquote><br /> Not much is known—at least as of June 1—about Lama Osel’s formal reasons for snapping his ties with the Buddhist tradition that formed him. He is currently in Madrid studying mass media. According to reports, he seems rebellious and critical of the Buddhist circle that elevated him to a position of sanctity and authority: "They took me away from my family and stuck me in a medieval situation in which I suffered a great deal." Looking back on his monastic education, he has said, "It was like living a lie." <br /><br /> Until June 1, the FPMT site (http://www.fpmt.org) had many pages dedicated to Lama Osel, giving an account of his birth, selection, enthronement, education, and activities. On June 2, all the links to Lama Osel were inactive. <br /><br /> Although the stories of Krishnamurti (Hindu) and Osel/Torres (Buddhist) are different, they raise the same questions about human reliability, trustworthiness, freedom, and the meaning of Truth, Commitment, Permanence, etc. It may be insignificant if an individual changes his/her mind arbitrarily, say, with regard to which ice-cream s/he prefers. When the individual holds a position of authority, however, there are all sorts of implications. Supposing the Dalai Lama or the Pope were to assert tomorrow in public that they would give up their current status of teaching others and go humbly in search of Truth… Although no such dramatic events have occurred—as far as I know—history seems to have enough number of cases of authorities who have misused their power or have lived a double life, essentially conceding that they could not reconcile their life with their stated beliefs. There have been also cases of respectable theologians and less well-known religious leaders who have made an about-turn. The case of an Australian Jesuit Provincial who left the Jesuits and wrote a book on “searching for truth” comes to mind. So, perhaps, we are forced to reflect along with Pilate, Mahatma Gandhi, Herman Hesse, and others, “What is Truth?” <br /><br /><strong>Follow-up (June 5, 2009)</strong><br /> The FPMT site currently shows the pages related to the birth, selection, and activities of Lama Osel. Also, there is a page of explanation from Osel himself on his current status and state of mind (See <a href="http://www.fpmt.org/Teachers/Osel/">http://www.fpmt.org/Teachers/Osel/</a>). Although he says that "certain media find ways to sensationalize and exaggerate an unusual story," he doesn't point out any significant media errors. He seems to confirm that he is no more a Lama, but also asserts that he keeps his friendly ties with FPMT. In a few phrases, he does sound like J.Krishnamurti, of whom he must have surely heard during his long education in India: "Personally, my job is to find new ways in which to discover the true nature of our being." <br /><br />(References, in no specific order)<br />1) <a href="http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/05/30/espana/1243716606.html">El niño lama se hace agnóstico</a><br />2) <a href="http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/osel/birth.asp">The Birth, The Search, & The Enthronement of Lama Tenzin Osel Rinpoche</a><br />3) <a href="http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/48130,news,spanish-lama-tenzin-osel-rinpoche-renounces-his-reincarnation-hita-torres-buddhism">Rachel Helyer Donaldson, Reincarnated Lama goes off the rails.</a><br />4) <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/31/dalai-lama-osel-hita-torres/print">Fuchs, Dale. Boy chosen by Dalai Lama turns back on Buddhist order.</a> <br />5) <a href="http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/">J. Krishnamurti Online</a><br />6) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti">J. Krishnamurti in Wikipedia</a><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-22329262811119405982009-05-19T23:49:00.010+09:002009-05-22T10:33:33.650+09:00Obama at Notre Dame<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/ShLTn2NBFQI/AAAAAAAAAL0/JZCY3o7o88M/s1600-h/ObamaAtND.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/ShLTn2NBFQI/AAAAAAAAAL0/JZCY3o7o88M/s320/ObamaAtND.JPG" border="0" alt="Obama at Notre Dame"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337561189905929474" /></a><br />Catholics around the world may have heard of the recent controversy surrounding the honorary degree given to the US President Obama by Notre Dame, a Catholic University like Sophia. The controversy concerned Obama's track record and position on abortion & stem cell research, which, some Catholics maintained, made him unfit to receive an honorary degree from a Catholic university. The critics didn't like him to deliver the key note address at the graduation ceremony either. Some Catholics, of course, didn't see any problem at all. Whatever group you may belong to, you may find Obama's speech at Notre Dame worth listening to. <br /><br /> This is one of his most religious speeches as he frequently refers to God, faith, and Catholics, acknowledging gracefully the good Catholic influences he has received, e.g., from the late Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago and the former Notre Dame President Fr. Ted Hesburgh. Without advocating any stand pro or con abortion, Obama calls on all opposing parties to strive for mutual understanding and accommodation in a civil manner. He supports his call for mutual accommodation by pointing out that it is an unavoidable option and that it is in fact a Christian mission. Note also his final 'May God bless the United States of America,' a phrase that some atheistic intellectuals want abolished.<br /> So here is the video: (CNN video, about 30 minutes).<br /><br /><script src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=int&vid=/video/politics/2009/05/17/sot.obama.notre.dame.notredame" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a></noscript><br />For a brief description of the controversy, see<br />(1) <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/14/politics/main5014711.shtml">CBS News: Inside The Obama Notre Dame Controversy</a><br />(2) <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/may-15-2009/obama-notre-dame-controversy/2963/">PBS: Obama Notre Dame Controversy</a><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-86367052784030132542009-04-22T00:56:00.012+09:002009-04-22T01:34:32.343+09:00Obama at Georgetown, and the hidden IHS<a href="http://leuropa.eu/ihs"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/Se3xn_26LoI/AAAAAAAAALs/RYIbcdVGs1s/s320/ObamaAtGU_noIHS.jpg" border="0" alt="The IHS log draped from view"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327179603708096130" /></a>Here's a topic for conversation, especially among Sophians, as Sophia University is a Jesuit (also Catholic!) University like Georgetown. Compare the picture above with the picture below... Do you see any difference in the background/setting?<br /><br /><a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/locations/index.cfm?Action=View&LocationID=87"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 210px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/Se3xcxIwkcI/AAAAAAAAALk/y_MTgmKAjWk/s320/GU_IHS.jpg" border="0" alt="The IHS Logo as it normally appears"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327179410777870786" /></a>When President Obama recently visited Georgetown University to give a lecture on the state of the economy, the university was told to cover the famous Jesuit logo <strong>IHS</strong> that is prominently displayed behind the podium in Gaston Hall. Many dignitaries give lectures and conduct workshops in this ancient hall, and the distinctive Georgetown University eagle and IHS logo with a Cross have been there for all to see. For whatever reason President Obama's Office had requested that the <strong>IHS</strong> logo be covered up and Georgetown University graciously complied.<br /><br />Perhaps there is nothing sinister or significant in all this; but several bloggers and media pundits have criticized Georgetown University for being unchristian and denying its Jesuit identity. Critics of Obama too have taken this as a sign that he is not a 'true' Christian. As a matter of fact, his lecture did contain indirect references to some New Testament passages, but the critics point out that he did not mention Jesus by name. <br /><br />As seems to be routine whenever a Catholic 'issue' comes up, some in the media immediately called up Thomas Reese, S.J., the former editor of the Jesuit magazine <em>America</em>, for his opinion about the case. His response to Julia Duin of <em>The Washington Times</em> was quite straightforward: "It is more for camera quality than anything else... They don't want distractions that would make the eye wander. I don't think this is motivated by theology, but by communications strategy."<br /><br />Perhaps Sophia University will have nothing to worry about when inviting dignitaries like President Obama, for it doesn't have any Jesuit logo, statue, or symbol to cover up! Although Sophia clearly asserts its Jesuit and Catholic identity in PR materials, the university itself is bereft of Christian icons and symbols. <br /><br />Leaving aside the Jesuit logo controversy, you can watch President Obama's full address at Georgetown University by clicking the picture below.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-R-17417"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 268px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/Se3tljrd5MI/AAAAAAAAALc/6Cr7xGK361c/s320/ObamaAtGU..JPG" border="0" alt="Click here to watch Obama's Lecture at Georgetown University"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327175163737662658" /></a><br />For more on the story, see<br />Baier, Bret. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,516906,00.html">Religious Symbols Covered Up When President Obama Spoke at a Catholic University. </a> Fox News.<br />Duin, Julia. <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2009/apr/15/obama-at-georgetown-the-mystery-of-the-missing-sig/">Obama at Georgetown: The mystery of the missing sign. [The Washington Times]</a><br />Eden, Dawn. <a href="http://dawneden.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html">UPDATED?Obama's messianic jargon hits 'rock' bottom ...<br />and G'town removes the Holy Name to accommodate The One.</a> [The Dawn Patrol] <br />Houston Chronicle, The. <a href="http://www.chron.com/channel/houstonbelief/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=kengurley&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3AkengurleyPost%3A64d9bb7e-8672-4d18-8bd6-5379ff21d7e8">Georgetown's Cover-Up</a><br /><br />[Thanks to a Washington correspondent for bringing this story to my attention.]<br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-44505068837068656162009-04-01T16:09:00.011+09:002009-04-02T22:54:18.880+09:00Harvard has ended Edward Green's Research Program<a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/travels/2009/index_camerun-angola_en.htm"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/SdN1pYDrW7I/AAAAAAAAALM/QHLECFIwwdE/s320/pope-in-plane.jpg" border="0" alt="Pope answering Questions"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319724938547649458" /></a><br />(Thanks to Dr. Green who has entered below in the "comments" section that the closure of his research program at Harvard was decided prior to his coming out in defence of the Pope. In other words, although Wikipedia and the Crawley article highlight the closure of the Research Program, the closure itself was not triggered or caused by his agreeing with the Pope. Added April 3)<br /><br />The latest news I read in the Pope-condoms controversy is that the illustrious figure who defended him has lost his position at Harvard. According to William Crawley of BBC, <br /><blockquote>Dr Edward Green, director of Harvard's HIV Prevention Research Project, who came to the defence of Pope Benedict during last week's international row over condoms in Africa, says Harvard University has ended his research program. </blockquote>The Crawley-Green interview in its entirety is very illuminating, and again raises the communication issue. Do people really listen to each other? Try to understand each other? Or simply read a few lines and take off into expressing their own views related to a single word or phrase--ignoring the context or what was actually said? We know that our attention span in listening is very limited; it surely seems our attention span in reading too is limited. But coherence demands some continuity with what is said/written. That coherence seems lacking in many discourses; or the coherence is held by a single word or phrase rather than by the content or theme. <br /><br />The case is very similar to an old man, who on hearing, "How are you feeling today?" says, "Oh, feeling is bad. People should stop feeling and start acting. These days too many people spend all their time on feeling and expressing feeling. The world demands action. You must concentrate on what you do. Do not waste your time on feeling. I have suffered for many years thinking about my feelings only to realize that they are empty..." etc., etc. Is this a coherent conversation? Is the old man communicating as a proper interlocutor? The question was one of concern about the old man; but he picks up the word "feeling" and rambles on about unrelated issues!<br /><br />Now in the case of Pope-condom news, precisely such a phenomenon is happening as if that is normal. The Pope says something in which the word "condoms" occurs, and immediately the media take him to task elaborating on all sorts of things that he said nothing about. And wise guys comment online like this one writing in the Washington Post: '[Y]ou [referring to Green] begin by writing that "the Pope was right" <em>when he said that condoms don't prevent aids and that they make its spread worse.</em>' The Pope absolutely said nothing of the sort, but this writer has somehow got that into his head from the single word "condoms" that the Pope used!<br /><br />Green, as a scientist, is a much more careful reader and he reacts to what the Pope actually said. Read, for example, this answer of his to Crawley:<br /><blockquote>Edward Green: What the Pope said was the distribution and marketing of condoms would not solve the problem of African Aids and that it might even exacerbate the problem. And I think it was that second comment that really set the critics off, really upset a lot of people. I can understand that, because I have worked in Aids prevention for a long time. In fact, I worked as a condom and contraceptive social marketer at the beginning of the pandemic--I was working in family planning. I am part of a group of researchers that have been looking for the behavioural antecedents to HIV prevalence decline in Africa. We now see HIV going down in about 8 or 9 countries in Africa and in every case we see a decrease in the proportion of men and women who report having more than one sex partner in the past year. So when the Pope said that the answer really lies in monogamy and martial faithfulness, that's exactly what we found empirically.</blockquote> Green interprets the Pope precisely as I had commented on my previous blog entry. <br /><br />Here is a segment that shows how Green finds himself misquoted or selectively quoted, leading to miscommunication:<br /><blockquote>William Crawley: The Lancet has described the Pope's comments, which you agree with, as a distortion of scientific evidence.<br /><br />Edward Green: That's because The Lancet is not thinking about the generalised epidemics of Africa. I hasten to add--and I have tried to do this in all of my interviews, although sometimes only part of my interviews are quoted--I point out that at national levels, we see condoms working in epidemics like those of Thailand and Cambodia. But in the generalised epidemics of Africa--well, there was a UN Aids study done in 2003 by Hearst and Chen, it was actually published in the peer-reviewed journal Studies in Family Planning in 2004, and they conclude that there is not a single country in Africa where HIV prevalence has come down primarily because of condoms.</blockquote>Here the importance of context becomes evident. The Pope's comment was about Africa, not about Thailand or Cambodia, a point that Green pays attention to. Reporters who ignore the context tend to exaggerate what the Pope said. What the Pope may have said about Thailand or Cambodia is unknown, but that is not relevant to evaluating his comment on the distribution of condoms in Africa! <br /><br />Regarding UNAids, which disagreed with Green, here is a segment:<br /><blockquote>William Crawley: We shouldn't trust the UNAids organisation on this?<br /><br />Edward Green: I would be very careful about trusting the UNAids organisation for anything scientific, anything having to do with, for example, statistics about Aids. They have had to back-pedal and retract a lot of their basic statistics. It may seem pretty shocking for somebody like me to disagree with UNAids, but the fact is that UNAids is changing its thinking on this matter. As a matter of fact, in a very few days, there is going to be joint statement released by our Harvard programme, the Southern Regional Office of UNAids, and the Southern Regional Office of the World Bank, saying that the primary intervention for Aids in Southern Africa should be to discourage multiple and concurrent partners and that condom promotion is a secondary backup strategy. </blockquote>The Crawley-Green interview is a must read in full. Crawley is very pointed and plays the devil's advocate to perfection. Thanks to his sharp questions, Green is able to articulate point by point why he defended the Pope's statement. Note especially Green's opinions on the Lancet and the UNAids, which came out strongly against him. Still, the disappointing point is that Crawley himself repeatedly talks as if the Pope had said, "Don't use condoms"! He is one of the many who still haven't got the significance of why the Pope spoke of "distribution" rather than "use." He should read the previous entry of this blog!<br /><br />I only hope that Green will continue in his relentless pursuit of truth and stand up for his convictions even if it were to go against the teachings of Church X or University Y. It is the media's irresponsible message that religion is against truth or science. As Gandhi ably put it, God is Truth. Sincere religions have nothing to be afraid of truth. But to spread alarm and panic without adequate evidence or by misinterpreting facts is irresponsible science. <br /><br />References:<br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2009/03/aids_expert_who_defended_the_p.html">BBC: William Crawley's interview of Edward Green</a><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702825.html">Washington Post prints Green's defense of the Pope.</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_C._Green">Edward Green in Wikipedia</a><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-64295244828045400172009-03-27T08:57:00.015+09:002009-04-01T23:24:37.513+09:00The Pope, Condom, and Discourse Analysis<a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/ScxkaVwf4PI/AAAAAAAAAK8/TKNCGBy2JQs/s320/cardinal_ratzinger_2542726.jpg" border="0" alt="The Cardinal Era"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317735663697649906" /></a><br />As one interested in language use and communication, I was pretty excited about the recent pronouncement of the Pope about condoms and the way newspapers, blogosphere, and even friends and acquaintances interpreted it. <br /><br />When I recently asked a friend about what he thought about the Pope's comment, he said, "Oh, very embarrassing! For a Pope to say in public to hundreds of thousands of Africans that they shouldn't use condoms..." <br /><br />I said, "But actually, he didn't make his comment in public to thousands of Africans! He was with some reporters on a flight, and while inside the plane, he tried to answer a few questions that the reporters posed. And that's how he happened to say what he said."<br /><br />"But still, it doesn't seem sensible to say that people shouldn't be using condoms!"<br /><br />"Well, maybe he personally thinks people shouldn't be using condoms... but in that response to a reporter he didn't exhort people not to use condoms... he was simply answering how he saw the problem of AIDS in Africa and what he thought was the solution."<br /><br />"But didn't he quite explicitly say that using condoms increases AIDS rather than decreasing it?"<br /><br />"No! The Pope was talking about condoms being widely <strong><em>distributed </em></strong> like ad leaflets, and said that mere distribution of condoms was not going to solve the AIDS problem, but might increase the problem! His comment was not about <strong>use</strong> but about <strong>distribution</strong>."<br /><br />"Oh, well, whatever he said, he was wrong!"<br /><br />Obviously, my friend is not the only one who got the impression or who made up in his mind after following the media reports that the Pope was blatantly preaching to the masses, "Don't use condoms! Using it will only increase cases of AIDS!" Readers and hearers got that impression since the media frequently omitted mentioning the context of the Pope's comment and the fact that the Pope was reacting to the distribution rather than to the use of condoms. <br /><br />What's baffling is that even major newspapers like the <em>Washington Post </em>misinterpret the comment just like my friend. The Post wrote:<br /><br /><blockquote>Pope Benedict XVI said, "You can't resolve [the AIDS epidemic] with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem." In a perfect world, people would abstain from having sex until they were married or would be monogamous in committed relationships. But the world isn't perfect -- and neither is Pope Benedict's pronouncement on the effectiveness of condoms in the battle against HIV/AIDS. The evidence says so. </blockquote><br />Now if we examine this paragraph, we see that the Post explicitly states that the Pope reacted to "the distribution of condoms" and that the pronoun "it" in "it increases the problem" refers to the distribution [singular], not to condoms [plural]. And yet, the Post continues, "In a perfect world, people would abstain from having sex until they were married or would be monogamous in committed relationships. But the world isn't perfect...," implying the Pope spoke about "use" rather than "distribution." <br /><br />What is the Post reacting to? That is the linguistic, rather the sociolinguistic, question. Whatever it is reacting to, it is definitely not to what the Pope said in this interview or to anything he has said previously, for according to reports this Pope has said so far little about condoms!<br /><br />Now the next paragraph in the Post goes:<br /><br /><blockquote>Are condoms foolproof protection against infection by HIV, which causes AIDS? No. Sometimes they break, and sometimes people put them on incorrectly. Still, doctors on the front lines of the fight against the AIDS epidemic established long ago that the use of condoms greatly diminishes the transmission of HIV, the cause of a disease that has no cure.</blockquote><br />Here the Post is trying to give the impression of being objective, by conceding that condoms are <strong>not </strong> foolproof since they are misued and break sometimes--addressing an issue which has nothing to do with what the Pope said. The Pope spoke of 'distribution,' but the Post completely ignores it and goes after what happens when condoms are 'used'. Improper use and breakage of condoms have nothing to do with the massive distribution of condoms, which is the target of the Pope's criticism. The Pope definitely doesn't state or imply that condoms are ineffective because they break or because people misuse them!<br /><br />What is paradoxical is that the Washington Post tries to be so very commonsensical and enlightened by insinuating that it is not so unrealistic as the Pope, while failing to realize that in fact, it is even more unrealistic than the Pope in assuming that the mere distribution of condoms leads to reduction in AIDS, when not even in Washington, D.C. such a causal correlation has been established. <br /><br />Moreover, as is well-known, condoms must be worn consistently and correctly in order to be effective; but "the world isn't perfect" as the Post wisely reminds us, and so the Post is as unrealistic as, if not even more unrealistic than, the Pope in presuming that most people wear the condom consistently and correctly and thus contribute to reducing HIV. "The evidence says so," says the Post confidently contradicting the Pope, but the evidence actually is against the Post! Surveys show that most people do not use the condom correctly or consistently--and hence the reduction of HIV due to condom use is negligible [See Dr. Green's interview below]!<br /><br />The distinction between "use" and "distribution" is not mere semantic nit-picking! In the given context of Africa, the "distribution" that the Pope criticized has been identified as a major problem by even secular researchers. No one disputes that <strong>under laboratory conditions </strong>condoms help reduce HIV; but the wisdom of spending millions of dollars on buying and distributing condoms as if they are the panacea for AIDS has been questioned by many researchers, the most notable being Edward Green of Harvard University. As an academic, the Pope must have read Green's writings and those of others like him, and that was what prompted him to criticize the distribution. Benedict, a life-long academic, is too smart to say that condoms must not be used because they break sometimes!<br /><br />Discourse-wise it seems obvious that the Post and many other newspapers like it are simply reacting to some stimulus that is not in the given discourse. There is clearly some misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or failure of communication. What triggered the failure can only be speculated. <br /><br />Perhaps they see the Pope--the representative of a religion that is known to discourage extramarital liaisons and the use of prophylactics in marital unions-- saying something about condoms for the first time, and immediately react to what he might have said or intended. They ignore the immediate context and the actual sentence, because they have nothing to say about it, and jump to a related topic about which they have much to say. <br /><br />It could be that they create a straw man in order to attack him and push their own pro-prophylactic values. As is obvious, it is the strawman, not the Pope, who said anything about the actual use of condoms.<br /><br />Or it could be that they are not aware of the debate among African experts on the merits and demerits of distributing an excessive amount of condoms!<br /><br />If even classy newspapers misinterpret the Pope, one can imagine what goes on in blogosphere! I read a few blogs, and they are hilarious. They offer lots of fodder for miscommunication research. Most critical bloggers simply give AIDS statistics as if the stats alone are enough to prove their point that the Pope is wrong (a strategy adopted by the Post too!). They conveniently ignore the statistics related to condom distribution and the fact that the Pope has no dispute with statisticians. Most tend to criticize the Church's anti-prophylactic stand, but that's an entirely different issue unrelated to what the Pope said about the African situation. The condom use policy is not the one under discussion. Blogosphere also reveals that there is no shortage of 'wise' men and women who enjoy giving the Pope derogatory titles wholly based on their own ignorance and subjective interpretation!<br /><br />Setting the study of miscommunication aside, I shall leave the readers with this thought-provoking quotation from National Review Online:<br /><br /><blockquote>“The pope is correct,” [Edward C.] Green [Director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies] told National Review Online Wednesday [3/18], “or put it a better way, the best evidence we have supports the pope’s comments. He stresses that “condoms have been proven to not be effective at the ‘level of population.’” <br /><br />“There is,” Green adds, “a consistent association shown by our best studies, including the U.S.-funded ‘Demographic Health Surveys,’ between greater availability and use of condoms and higher (not lower) HIV-infection rates. This may be due in part to a phenomenon known as risk compensation, meaning that when one uses a risk-reduction ‘technology’ such as condoms, one often loses the benefit (reduction in risk) by ‘compensating’ or taking greater chances than one would take without the risk-reduction technology.”<br /><br />Green added: “I also noticed that the pope said ‘monogamy’ was the best single answer to African AIDS, rather than ‘abstinence.’ The best and latest empirical evidence indeed shows that reduction in multiple and concurrent sexual partners is the most important single behavior change associated with reduction in HIV-infection rates (the other major factor is male circumcision).” </blockquote> Readers who may like to pursue this topic will find the following URLs of interest. Any Internet search on the topic will bring up many more links. I invite the readers, if they can, to keep track of anyone who has paid attention, especially in their criticism, to the fact that the Pope spoke of 'distribution' and not 'use' of condoms. My guess is the count will be zero!<br /><br /><a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTNlNDc1MmMwNDM0OTEzMjQ4NDc0ZGUyOWYxNmEzN2E= ">NRO quoting Green on Pope</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.wisdomofwhores.com/2009/03/18/is-the-pope-a-catholic-hes-certainly-not-a-scientist/">Wisom of Whores: Is the Pope a Scientist?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/18/AR2009031803136.html">Washington Post: Condom Sense</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/525956/-/view/printVersion/-/8jl790z/-/index.html">UNAids and myth of condoms efficacy against Aids [Some behind the scene politics!]</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/Scxl-y7QS6I/AAAAAAAAALE/5I62rOg1bEc/s320/PopeGreeting1.jpg" border="0" alt="Pope Benedict XVI"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317737389514312610" /></a><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4679290714543133460.post-78745742715864098142009-03-18T00:14:00.012+09:002009-03-18T23:17:47.560+09:00Cosmic God and Templeton Prize 2009<a href="http://www.templeton.org"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L0ScBH_FRgE/Sb_B6u-6MCI/AAAAAAAAAK0/CxznDoznZyQ/s320/EspagnatTempletonSite.jpg" border="0" alt="Bernard d'Espagnat"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314179300108939298" /></a><br />There was no report of the Templeton Prize recipient in today's (3/17) newspapers in Japan. It may appear tomorrow... At any rate, I was drawn to the news about the award since the recipient, Bernard d'Espagnat, happens to be a top-class scientist, a Catholic by upbringing ("he was brought up a Roman Catholic but did not practice any religion and considered himself a spiritualist," according to Reuters), and a bold thinker who reflects on the limits of science. <br /><br /> My interest in the award was also provoked by a Science and Religion Symposium that I watched on the Internet. This International Symposium was attended by leading atheistic scientists like Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, & Sam Harris, and a few pro-religion members including a representative from the Templeton Foundation. Several atheistic scientists criticized the Templeton Foundation and accused it of bias. There was even a proposal from one of the atheists that the award must be given to Richard Dawkins for his 'great' contributions questioning the very need for religion. The Templeton representative gave a soothing reply denying bias; however, he was in a rush and departed soon after his short talk, leaving the crowd to boo him behind his back and to continue complaining about the Templeton Foundation. Overall it looked like the atheist crowd didn't see any point in trying to link religion/spirituality and science. They were all out to have religion mercilessly 'executed' or at least put away among nonsensical superstitions. <br /><br />In this context, it's interesting to see that the award this year (2009) was given to a practicing scientist and philosopher of science, especially since last year (2008) the Templeton Prize was awarded to a Catholic priest cosmologist, Prof. Michael Heller of Cracow, Poland.<br /><br />D'Espagnat, 87, is French and professor emeritus of theoretical physics at Paris-Sud university. He studied or collaborated with some of the greatest scientists of the last century, including Enrico Fermi, Niels Bohr, and John Bell. His special research interests are quantum physics and its implications to philosophy. He wins one million UK pounds in prize money. <br /><br />What does he say relating science and religion? Reuters gives the following summary:<br /><blockquote>Classical physics developed by Isaac Newton believes it can describe the world through laws of nature that it knows or will discover. But quantum physics shows that tiny particles defy this logic and can act in indeterminate ways.<br /><br />D'Espagnat says this points toward a reality beyond the reach of empirical science. The human intuitions in art, music and spirituality can bring us closer to this ultimate reality, but it is so mysterious we cannot know or even imagine it.<br /><br />"Mystery is not something negative that has to be eliminated," he said. "On the contrary, it is one of the constitutive elements of being."</blockquote><br />In a sense, what d'Espagnat says seems identical to what ancient religious philosophers like <em><strong>Sankara of India </strong></em> [8th century]or <em><strong>Thomas Aquinas of Italy</strong></em> [13th century] have said. That God defies science, human knowledge, and human grasp is an essential theme of most religious thinkers. That's what led Sankara to posit <em><strong>Nirguna Brahman </strong></em>[the Brahman/God-without-attributes, i.e., God of whom we humans can say little or only in the negative] and <em><strong>Saguna Brahman </strong></em>[the Brahman/God-of-attributes, i.e., God as we humans try to understand and formulate, using inadequate language]. The "mystery" is simply the inability of a finite being trying to grasp the infinite being, or analogically of a cup trying to hold all the water of the sea, or of a well-frog trying to grasp the wonders of the world outside the well.<br /><br />The following, also from Reuters, elaborates on d'Espagnat's thinking:<br /><blockquote>Some baffling discoveries of quantum physics led him to believe all creation has a wholeness and interrelatedness that many scientists miss by trying to break problems down into their component parts rather than understand them in larger contexts.<br /><br />One of these is entanglement, the way that paired subatomic particles remain linked even if they move far apart, so that experimenting with one automatically effects the other without any apparent communication between them.<br /><br />This view clashes with the materialist outlook widespread among scientists.<br /><br />"Materialists consider that we are explained entirely by combinations of small uninteresting things like atoms or quarks," said d'Espagnat, whose latest book in English -- "On Physics and Philosophy" -- was published in 2006.<br /><br />"I believe we ultimately come from a superior entity to which awe and respect is due and which we shouldn't try to approach by trying to conceptualize too much," he said. "It's more a question of feeling."<br /><br />Although they cannot be tested, the intuitions people have when they are moved by great art or by spiritual beliefs help them grasp a bit more of ultimate reality, d'Espagnat said.<br /><br />"When they hear very good music, people who like classical music have the impression they get at some reality that way. Why not?" he asked.</blockquote> <br />It looks to me that d'Espagnat's observations are very traditional and compatible with the views of religious thinkers. What's significant is perhaps that he, as a scientist, espouses and buttresses them with science-speak, encouraging the average believer who may be overawed by scientists who pooh-pooh religion, God, and faith.<br /><br />Amanda Gefter, writing in the <em>New Scientist</em>, quotes the following lines of d'Espagnat as representative of the science-religion bond that he espoused and that drew the attention of Templeton Foundation: <br /><blockquote>There must exist, beyond mere appearances … a 'veiled reality' that science does not describe but only glimpses uncertainly. In turn, contrary to those who claim that matter is the only reality, the possibility that other means, including spirituality, may also provide a window on ultimate reality cannot be ruled out, even by cogent scientific arguments.</blockquote><br />Gefter points out that d'Espagnat calls the "veiled reality" a <em><strong>Being or Independent Reality or even "a great, hypercosmic God"</strong></em>. <br /><br />Although Gefter believes "that drawing any spiritual conclusions from quantum mechanics is an unfounded leap in logic," she seems satisfied that the Templeton Foundation is not biased since d'Espagnat's views don't add much weight to any institutional religions. <br /><br />It seems that d'Espagnat's views, like most philsophical views, are subject to numerous qualifications, modifications, refinements, and interpretations. It may be an error to take him as an advocate of institutional religions. However, religions are ultimately pointers to God--not an end in themselves--and in this broad view believers of all religions may find something inspirational in d'Espagnat... as they will also in Sankara and Thomas.<br /><br /><strong>Here are the references for further reading</strong><br /><br />*Gefter, Amanda. "<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16769-concept-of-hypercosmic-god-wins-templeton-prize.html">Concept of 'hypercosmic God' wins Templeton Prize.</a>" <br /><br />*<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5918050.ece">Times Online</a><br /><br />*<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE52F2GC20090316?sp=true">Reuters Report</a><br /><br />*<a href="http://www.templeton.org/">The Templeton Foundation</a><br /><hr>Sophianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986264854538099173noreply@blogger.com0