The 11th World Congress of Jesuit Alumni is being held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The concept of “inter-religious dialogue” takes on a very concrete meaning here: a congress hosted within a Jesuit university that has adopted the distinctly Hindu name “Sanata Dharma,” located in a predominantly Muslim country.
Before becoming the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia was deeply influenced by Buddhism (Srivijaya) and Hinduism (Majapahit) during the “classical” period (6th-16th centuries AD).
While Christians recently marked the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Father Jacques Hamel in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray by extremists, and as fanatics spread terror across Europe, Indonesia offers a counter-example of tolerance and plurality—a vision of an Islam that is not stuck in the Middle Ages.
In regions controlled by the Taliban, ISIS, or Boko Haram, the 9th-century Hindu temple of Prambanan would have been razed, and the monumental 9th-century Buddhist sanctuary of Borobudur would have been destroyed, much like the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan.
Returning to the Jesuit Alumni Congress, the focus remains on “translating the values of Ignatian pedagogy into concrete actions”: the “Magis,” always doing more for the greater good. Despite the virtue of these values, alumni recognize the difficulty and danger of speaking out against ignorance. This calls for humility and an acknowledgment of collective failure, particularly regarding education and general culture available to the public.
Yogyakarta, the host city for the World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA) from July 29 to August 2, 2026, is located on the island of Java, home to the “Java Man” discovered in 1891. The Austronesians, our ancestors from the eastern reaches of the Indian Ocean, were the first great navigators in history. In Madagascar, the western limit of this expansion, the Jesuit motto at Saint-Michel was “Miorim-paka, hanasoa olona”: anchored in your identity, you will better serve humanity.
On May 20, 1908, young Javanese aristocrats founded the Budi Utomo nationalist movement, aiming to combine Western science with traditional Javanese culture. This raises the question of “inculturation”—the adaptation of faith to local cultures. As we face existential questions today, we must ask: have we lived up to our calling?
Captured & Published at: 2026-07-31 05:38:35 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/07/rendez-vous-jesuite.html