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In our elder Jesuits communities

Following the footsteps of Jesuits who came face to face with the disease like St. Louis Gonzaga and Blessed John Beyzym, a group of ten Jesuits in formation have been during several weeks caring for their elderly companions in the infirmaries of the province of Spain located in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) and Villagarcía de Campos (Valladolid). The experience has been hard because a group of elder Jesuits have died and others have fallen ill, but both, the elders and the youngers, have told that this has been a strong experience of the Society of Jesus.

Several of them are health professionals, such as nurses or doctors. Others had to learn quickly the work of nursing assistants. Fr. Rafael Mateos,  the superior of the infirmary of Alcalá, acknowledged that he had experienced what Francisco Javier said from the far east: "Society of Jesus, company of love" and the absolute availability of the Jesuit. For him, the experience is "to live this Society of love, this union between older and younger Jesuits, who help each other, care for each other. For them as well as for us, this is a strong experience of the Society". For the superior of Villagarcía de Campos, Fr. Salvador Galán, their presence "has is a blessing of God. In addition to the excellent work they are doing with professionalism and total dedication, there is the moral support it has given to the Community and, above all, to the service personnel of the house. They are giving a testimony of what the Society is, a body". We asked several of them to reflect on this experience. Read their answers in this interview (in Spanish).

As deacons in the cemetery

Other Jesuits in formation have been involved in other social and pastoral work of the Society. Nubar Hamparzoumian SJ and Daniel Cuesta SJ have offered to take responsibility for the dead and to accompany the families with prayers in the cemetery of Madrid.

With this service they have seen the most painful side of the crisis, with all the suffering of the human losses that it leaves and the desolation that it causes, the impossibility to say goodbye to their loved ones. But theirs is also a hopeful testimony: because they appreciate the faith of so many people who know that death is not the end; because in them we appreciate the social value of a vocation, that of priests and deacons, who in moments when anguish and distress reign, carry out an irreplaceable mission. Access the interview (in Spanish).

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