Berkley Center

What has been interesting for me the past two months that I have in Amman is noticing the difference in the role of the Jesuits here compared to what I have become accustomed to at Georgetown.

The story of the Jesuit presence in Amman dates back to the 1930s. However, the location of the Jesuits was not in Amman; rather it was in Baghdad, Iraq. In 1931, Georgetown’s Fr. Edmund A. Walsh served as the first official Jesuit visitor to Baghdad, and ultimately a year later the Iraqi government approved his proposal of the construction of a Jesuit secondary school in Baghdad.

In 1932, Baghdad College (a secondary school) was established, marking the first official year of the Jesuits in Iraq. The Jesuit presence in Baghdad was largely successful, financially as well as in terms of staffing of Jesuits, because of the New England Jesuit Province.

In 1956, the Jesuit community in Baghdad expanded its role by founding and constructing Al-Hikma University. Despite the potential for the Jesuits in Baghdad, the arrival of the Baath Socialist Party to power in Iraq led to the forced expulsion of the Jesuits in Baghdad, the complete government takeover of both educational institutions, and it was essentially the last time the Jesuits would be permitted to have a formal mission in Baghdad.

As the Jesuits were expelled in 1968 and 1969, many moved to other Jesuit communities within the Middle East region, while others returned to America. As time progressed and world events, specifically in Iraq, occurred, the hope to return to Iraq has become doubtful. Nevertheless, an “unexpected and somewhat delayed fruit of the Jesuit mission in Baghdad is now growing in Amman, Jordan” (Fr. Kevin O’Connell, S.J.—former parish priest of Sacred Heart Parish in Amman).

In 1984, Fr. Joseph Ryan (who served at Al-Hikma Univeristy) was missioned to work with Palestinian refugees in Amman. After being in Amman, he became aware of the need to assist the small Jordanian Catholic and Christian community in Amman, in addition to the increasing expatriate community. After a year or so, Fr. Ryan’s proposal to create a Jesuit center in Amman was approved.

In 1996, Fr. Kevin O’Connell was appointed to establish the Sacred Heart Parish, a Jesuit parish in Amman, for the growing Catholic community of English-speaking expatriates. The non-territorial parish serves primarily Filipino Catholic domestic workers, nurses, and other workers, and a small population of similar Catholic guest workers from other Asian countries like Sri Lanka. In addition to the Catholic guest workers, the Sacred Heart Parish serves English-speaking professionals and business people from all over.

Recently, the Jesuit presence in Amman has become involved with Iraqi refugees. Through the establishment of the Jordan Project of Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), supplemental classes of English grammar, English conversation, and computer skills assist Iraqi youth who may have fallen behind in school or have not had exposure to these areas, as well as for Iraqi adults who fled Iraqi and are waiting and hoping to move to the West. These refugees are living in Amman for an indefinite amount of time, and due to their statuses they are unable to receive proper residency documentation, which is needed to work in Jordan.

When asked about the Society of Jesus, in most cases the first word to surface is education. The Jesuits are renowned for their passion and love of education (not to mention their commitment to forming well-rounded men and women for others), and thus it makes perfect sense why one would assume that if you were to visit a Jesuit community in another city or in another part of the world, secondary or higher education would be an inherent mission of that particular Jesuit community.

Having graduated from a Jesuit high school and now over half way finished at a Jesuit university, I am very much aware that Jesuits identify with the idea of education in a way that extends far beyond the classroom, far beyond secondary or higher education, and that reaches all walks of life, especially the poor and oppressed. However, I am still very much accustomed to the fact that the Jesuit communities that I have encountered for the most part have been involved heavily with the administration or educational instruction of secondary schools and universities.

My experience thus far in Jordan has been quite beautiful, as I have come to witness and experience the Society of Jesus in a different light. The word “accompaniment” encompasses much of what I have felt, heard, witnessed, and experienced. As a volunteer with JRS, I teach an English conversational course to Iraqi refugees each week. Over the course of several sessions, I noticed the role and power of accompaniment in the lives of the Iraqis that attend the class. Despite the focus on meeting practical needs, there is also a more “human, pedagogical, and spiritual” service that is being met (Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J.).

In other experiences, I have witnessed the desire of the Jesuit center and its Jesuits and employees to serve those who are voiceless and powerless, particularly the Filipino guest workers. After speaking with Fr. Paul Mankowski, S.J., who serves as the current parish priest of Sacred Heart Parish, I learned more about the lives of the Filipino women.

A vast majority of them work as maids and household servants, and their earnings are used to support their families back in the Philippines. It was especially sad and disturbing to hear about some of the instances where these women have been taken advantage of financially by false domestic workers’ agencies and individual people. The action of walking beside these women on their journeys, despite how heartbreaking and unfortunate they might be, highlights the importance and necessity of accompaniment, both in practical and human and spiritual terms.

At Saturday Mass the following week after meeting with Fr. Paul, I recall sitting in the pew, nearly in tears as the Filipino women, who serve each Mass as the musical accompaniment, began to sing and play their guitars. To be honest, I am very accustomed to the traditional music played at Mass and was struck by the contemporary nature of the music.

However, I sat in the pew realizing that this was not about music and whether we should be playing contemporary or traditional music. Rather, it was about how these women, who in some cases take the only time they have off from their jobs and participate in Mass, singing their hearts out and enjoying the fellowship of the parish community.

I came to the realization at this point that for these Filipino women, Mass is not a weekly obligation for them; rather it serves as a place of community and fellowship, and their presence every Saturday and Sunday evenings demonstrates to me the importance of their faith and the role that it plays in the individuals that they are and in how they lead their lives.

“To accompany” fits perfectly with the Jesuit mission in Amman (and throughout the world as well). Despite the lack of Jesuit secondary and higher education in Amman, the Jesuit center focuses its efforts on accompanying not only in a practical manner but also in a human and spiritual way.