Australian appointed head of Jesuit Conference of East Asia, Oceania

Published: 2008-03-06

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Father Mark Raper, provincial of the Society of Jesus in Australia and Catholic Religious Australia president, has been appointed president of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania. Father Raper will succeed Father Adolfo Nicolas, the recently elected superior general of the Jesuits, in the job based in Manila, Philippines. Father Raper said his new mission corresponds to the mission of the Australian province, which already has significant personnel commitments in Asia. He said as Jesuit conference president in East Asia and Oceania his leadership would focus on the "many common projects which need to be consolidated for the medium and long term." He said, "We need one another's support in order to achieve our common mission. By working together well, quite a lot of people can be considerably helped. The openness demonstrated in our province by Jesuit and lay members to collaboration with one another across our ministries, and increasingly across Asia and the Pacific, gives me greater confidence in undertaking this new mission."

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