President's Communication
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
January 2010


Dear Brothers and Friends in the Lord,

Greetings to you and blessings for the new year. Our Jungmann Council met from January 2-6 at the Bethany Retreat Center in Lutz, Florida, near Tampa, to plan our next meeting which will take place there from June 21-26, 2010 (Please check their website: http://bethanycenterfl.org/­).

We are very happy with the facilities which are comfortable and very well suited to our needs. We are also very excited about our program which will include plenary presentations on the art of celebration, movement, music, media and the environment for worship. In addition we have planned time to discuss our ongoing topic: the formation of Jesuits for liturgy. We are hoping for a very good turnout and a very productive meeting with some clear and positive outcomes.

We also had the good fortune to visit the Tampa Jesuit High School community while we were there. We found the local Jesuits most accommodating and welcoming. It is our hope that they will join us, together with the New Orleans provincial, Fr. Mark Lewis, and the moderator of the US Jesuit conference, Fr. Tom Smolich, and Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg on our first evening.

I had a wonderful meeting with our Superior General, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, in Rome at the beginning of July. I was accompanied by our Eugenio Costa, who is now our liaison with the General. Fr. Nicolas was most encouraging and supportive of our work as I will communicate at our meeting. He also 'put his money where his mouth is' by giving our Jungmann Society a most generous grant of 10,000 Euros.

We have been very fortunate to receive the support of Fr. Nicolas as well as a grant of $25,000 from the U.S. Jesuit Conference. I am hoping that you will be active in soliciting funds for us as well. We have discussed three ideas. The first is that you ask permission from your superior to give a stipend (or some stipends) to our project, the second is that you reach out to donors who might be able to support us (a sample letter is included with this newsletter), and a third is that those of you who are members of communities or institutions that have some funds to give as alms, ask for a grant from them (perhaps $1000).

You will find other details for our meeting in a forthcoming newsletter. As always I am grateful for the wonderful work and advice of our Council: Pierre Faure, Paul Janowiak, Cristobal Orellana, J-Glenn Murray and especially our indefatigable secretary, Marc Reeves.

I very much look forward to seeing you in Tampa in June.

In our Lord,


John F. Baldovin, S.J.
President