International News Briefs (of The Jesuits)
No future for closed cultures Father General Adolfo Nicolás addressed JRS volunteers in Italy earlier this month, calling for countries to be more open to refugees from around the world. On 12 June, Fr Nicolás visited the Astalli Centre, the headquarters of the Jesuit Refugee Services in the Italian Province. Speaking to more than 4,000 volunteers who accompany the Jesuits in the care of immigrants and refugees, Fr Nicolás spoke about his experiences of pastoral work among immigrants in Tokyo. He also spoke out against countries that fearfully close their frontiers to immigrants and people in search of asylum. ‘A culture that closes the door to another culture has no future', he said. Jesuits educating 1.4 million students The Society of Jesus is educating more than 1.4 million students globally, in universities, primary and secondary schools. Data from the Province Catalogues for 2007 has been released, providing a portrait of the scope of the Jesuits' educational activities in 69 countries. In total, 1,425,458 students are enrolled in Jesuit educational institutions. This number includes 645,634 students in 227 higher educational institutions; 629,379 students in 461 secondary educational institutions; and 95,672 students in 182 primary educational institutions. There are also 54,773 students in 69 technical and professional educational institutions. There are 3,765 Jesuits working as teachers and staff at these institutions, along with 128,426 others.