The massive earthquake hit Port-au-Prince in Haiti on 13th January with the magnitude of 7.0. The Red Cross has estimated the death toll as 45,000 to 50,000 in that small country.Following information has come from Peter Bisson of the Jesuits of Canada: “… While information is spotty, as of the last communications from Montréal and Port-au-Prince all the Jesuits in Haiti are all accounted for except for Dérino Sainfariste, in Canapé Vert, who was not in the house at the time of the quakes. The novices who have just begun their long experiment in Port-au-Prince, Edmund Lo and Artur Suski, are fine, and are in communication with Erik Oland, the novice master.” The Archbishop Miot of Port-au-Prince has died and that the Cathedral has been destroyed. There are more reports of about 100 priests and seminarians of the Montfort Order having died when their retreat center collapsed. In addition to the devastating loss of religious workers, UN workers and peacekeepers have also had heavy losses and Parliament and the Presidental Palace have collapsed. There are heavy losses of life generally, certainly in the thousands or tens of thousands. The JRS is already established in Haiti and will be able to use our funds directly. JRS has also set up a facebook group which communicates what is going on in Haiti.

At this moment of massive tragedy in Haiti, We in South Asia assure our prayerful support to all people in Haiti particularly Jesuits and others in JRS.  We grieve with the distressed and mourn with the suffering people of Haiti.

Even after a year of violence, the plight of the victims of the genocide in Orissa still remains the same.  The stories of the suffering of the victims of Kandhamal Carnage need to be told.  The narratives by victims need to be heard.  There is a need to document the perceptions of the victims.  Orissa Citizens' Initiative, (OCI), a secular forum coordinated by the Jesuits working with the victims in Orissa, is doing the documentation of trauma narratives, and Narratives of Hope, viz., peoples' own efforts at conflict resolution and peace building.

With this objective in view, OCI, has produced a video documentary 'Kandhamal'.

This entire documentation is also available to view in three parts on youtube.

Anti-conversion legislations, euphemistically called Freedom of Religion laws, adopted by several Indian states have been the subject of much scrutiny. An analysis of the legislations reveals that the language used is often extraordinarily broad and vague, posing serious challenges to religious freedom as guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and enshrined in international human rights instruments. 

by South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, (EPW, Jan. 12, 2008)

On December 19, 2006, the state legislative assembly of Himachal Pradesh passed the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2006. The state government claimed it was intended to prevent religious “conversions” carried out by the use of force or inducement or by fraudulent means.¹ Passed into law on February 18, 2007, the act is modelled on existing anti-conversion laws in other Indian states. Its adoption is particularly ironic in view of the fact that the state government is led by the Congress Party, which has consistently sought to highlight its “secular” credentials. 

With the awakening of environmental awareness Jesuits have made significant contributions through courses in environment, programmes for environmental awareness, research in biopesticides, biodiversity, ethnobotany, conservation, bioremediation, biotechnology and bioenergy.

The Jesuit Social Service Centres have helped to draw attention to various environmental problems and suggested solutions to these problems.