From the Rector
A Word from the General
From Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ to Fr Peter Hans Kolvenbach SJ and our own Fr Ross Jones SJ , the call to commitment is clear .
A school in the Ignatian tradition will be marked out by commitment to values which sometimes the world may not find popular ...
It was twenty years ago this July that the World Union of Jesuit Alumni held its international congress here at Saint Ignatius ’ College , Riverview . It was the first time such a gathering had been held outside Europe . Fr General at the time , Peter Hans Kolvenbach SJ , joined us for the occasion .
Until recent times , there were many national and regional groups of Jesuit alumni , but here was a concerted effort to bring them all together and to take up the challenge that was put before a group of alumni in Spain in the mid-seventies by then Fr General Pedro Arrupe SJ . Arrupe never shied away from stating what he expected in the character of a graduate of one of our schools . Alumni were to do more than simply reminisce and enjoy annual dinners . It was here he launched the maxim “ to be men for others ”.
Fr Kolvenbach encouraged our alumni to commit to that exhortation , to ensure that it was not simply a fine phrase to impress our audiences and adorn our brochures . He challenged the alumni with a number of “ specific areas of concern ”:
In practical terms , the Jesuit vision calls for a commitment to work for peace where vested interests are fomenting unrest in order to sell armaments . The Jesuit vision calls for a commitment to honesty in situations where corruption flourishes , to preservation of the environment where opposing forces stand for ever greater consumerism , to respect for peoples of different beliefs where radical forces are for suppressing minority opinions and rights . The Jesuit vision calls for a commitment to the preservation of indigenous peoples against cultural forces that consider themselves superior , to equal treatment for both sexes in a world where women are often given second-class treatment and are even destroyed before birth . The Jesuit vision calls for a commitment to an equal standard of education for all in situations where the majority are given poor education or no educational at all , to the family in an atmosphere where more and more families are breaking up , to a just economic policy that benefits all sections of society and not only certain better off sectors , to mass media that portray values of honesty , compassion and understanding rather than values of consumerism , hedonism and biased judgements .
Clearly , Commitment ( one of the 4Cs that characterise Ignatian education ) was central to Fr General ' s message . Twenty years on , and without ‘ blowing our trumpet ’ excessively , I think the extended Riverview family will be encouraged to see how far we have moved in that time . Our commitment to the environment has seen Saint Ignatius ’ College become one of the leading lights among schools across the whole spectrum : from student
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