By Matters India Reporter

Palayamkottai: Jesuit Father Savarimuthu Ignacimuthu has been identified as one of the top 1 percent scientists in biology.

The director of St Xavier’s College in Tamil Nadu’s Palayamkottai town earned the honor after scientists in the United States evaluated the Jesuit’s research publications.

A recent article by three professors of the Stanford University in the United States has analyzed the contributions of more than 100,000 scientists from all over the world in biology.

The article, titled ‘Updated Science-wide Author Databases of Standardized Citation Indicators,’ was authored by professors John P.A. Ioannidis, Kevin W. Boyack, and Jeroen Baas. It was published October 16 in the “Plos Biology,” a reputed journal.

The US professors used assessment parameters such as total number of papers published in journals indexed by Scopus, an abstract and citation database launched in 2004, total number of citations, h-index and hm-index.

The h-index is used to measure the impact of a scientist’s publications in terms of the citations received. It is defined as the highest number of papers of a researcher that have been cited h or more times.

The US professors have used sophisticated algorithms to simplify their findings and presented the data with clarity and depth. The authors have analyzed 113,961 scientists from all over the world and ranked Father Ignacimuthu 872.

The professors analyzed the Jesuit’s contributions during 1985-2019. He has been ranked below 1,000 for the past 20 years. His name is found under high achievers’ category in all the parameters used for the assessment. He is ranked 10th among Indian scientists.

The 71 year-old Jesuit scientist has published more than 800 research papers and 80 books; he has 12 Indian patents and two US patents. He has helped more than 100 students to get their doctoral degree.

One insect species is named after him: jacthrips ignacimuthui. One natural molecule is named after him: Ignaciomycin. He was instrumental in developing Xavier herbal hand sanitizer to protect against pathogens including Covid-19.

Father Ignacimuthu had earlier served as the vice chancellor of two universities in Tamil Nadu — Coimbatore-based Bharatiyar University and Chennai-based University of Madras.

He had earlier developed a natural herbal biopesticide Ponneem to control insect pests. He worked at Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, during 1993-2018. Since June 2018 he has been working at Xavier Research Foundation, St Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai.

The Jesuit scientist attributes all achievements to scientists and students who have worked with him in what he says is the “labor of love with God’s grace.”

Father Ignacimuthu says God has blessed him “abundantly” and he owes everything to the Society of Jesus, his congregation. “She has nurtured and helped me in all ways,” he told Matters India November 28.

He also recalled with gratitude his teachers, “who formed me from my very young age with intellectual curiosity. They have played a very big role, especially the professors during my university days.”

He further thanked his research staff and students “who have toiled with me for the last 35 years with dedication and hard work.”

Fr. Arturo Sosa to all the Jesuit schools

Two video messages, linked to each other, have just been released to all educational institutions linked to the Society of Jesus. They express thanks and encouragement.

In the first recording, the Delegate of Father General for Secondary and Pre-Secondary Education, Fr. José Alberto Mesa, presents Father General’s message. Stressing how much the current pandemic has tested the educational systems, he is happy to see how the schools of the Society have done everything possible to continue their mission of formation. He urges everyone to remain confident and hopeful, referring to the exhortations of Pope Francis, so as to make the COVID-19 pandemic an opportunity to serve, in the field of education, with what the Ignatian tradition bequeaths to us.

As for Father General, he observes, first of all, how, faced with the immense surprise caused by the unexpected coronavirus, the institutions of the Society have known how to adapt to the new reality and have sought to accompany the communities of students in the midst of the turmoil.

Above all, he is grateful to all those who have been able to live this necessary transformation with generosity, including parents and students. For him, what matters and what has been best achieved in many environments is to succeed in providing quality services while at the same time taking care of people’s well-being. The vocation of the Ignatian educator, he reminds us, is to accompany, encourage and motivate, even in difficult circumstances.

In publicly expressing his thanks to the members of the educational teams of each of the schools, he invokes the Lord’s blessing on them. He too refers to Pope Francis in hoping that, paradoxically, the current pandemic will create an opportunity to move towards a future full of hope that can contribute to the universal fraternity to which the Holy Father invites us.

Watch the message of Father General:

The Jesuit educators (JEA) from across India had a very fruitful session the various aspects of the NEP 2020. The highlight of yesterday’s meeting was to discuss the collated response from many Jesuit schools from across the country. Fr. Norbert made an elaborate presentation on the data that was sent to him. This section focused on teachers’ familiarity with NEP 2020, self-
assessment related to benchmarks of teaching-learning process, programs to address the gaps. The second half of the meeting was focused on the various deliberate omissions in NEP 2020. This section deals with areas we need to focus in our formal and informal curricular against the subtle agenda in the policy. The presentation was done by Fr. John Ravi.
These deliberate omissions include:

a. The “idea of India” and Indianness
b. Fundamental Rights
c. Constitutional Values (Secular, Socialist)
d. Social Discrimination (Caste) root cause of Economic disparities
e. Study Religious Traditions and Bhakti Movements
f. Mainstream Education for the Disadvantaged – Not non-formal, NIOS
g. Religious Diversity and Social Integration (Preamble Secular, Socialist)
h. Digital Divide – How do we reach out to the vulnerable groups
i. Vocational Education
j. Critical Thinking
k. Other suggestions

The last segment of the meeting was given to share and discuss best practices that are being carried out regarding generating awareness and Networking with like-minded groups across the country. Fr. Anand, Fr. John Kennedy share their work in their respective provinces. Commendable work is being done in the Madurai and Chennai provinces with regards to networking and generating awareness for staff, students, parents and people of good will. The other Jesuits realized the need to network with all people willing to join hands with us to save our Democracy for the future generations. The Jesuit educators then resolved to come up with a statement very soon that would be the official voice of all catholic institutions across the country. Out going POSA, Fr. George Pattery SJ, and JEA Secretary were part of this 2 hours of Consultation on NEP 2020 and presented their views and suggestions too.

 By Ananad D Souza SJ (PCE, GOA)

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NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020

Members of a Hindu group are up in arms over a statue of a German Jesuit priest outside an Indian Catholic church, claiming that the missionary worked against local people and honoring him insults tribal sentiments.The tribal cell of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Feb. 13 petitioned police to remove the bust of Father John Baptist Hoffmann from the compound of Sarwada parish in Khunti district, about 55 kilometers from Ranchi, the state capital of Jharkhand state.

The petition called on police to remove the statue as it insults local tribal leaders like Birsa Munda, who fought foreigners for tribal rights, tribal cell leader Ram Kumar Pahan told media.

The group claims that in the 19th century Father Hoffmann and the British attacked the civilization and culture of tribals. Having his bust on tribal soil is unacceptable, Pahan said.

They have been protesting the statue intermittently since its installation in December but intensified their action in the second week of February as the country moves closer to a national election before May. Elections in the BJP-ruled state are due in December.

Church leaders say the BJP has deliberately made unfair claims against the missionary to create a controversy to divide tribal people, a major voting bloc in Jharkhand. Dividing tribal votes on religious lines could help the BJP garner non-Christian tribal votes, they say.

“The controversy is a ploy of the ruling BJP to divide tribal people,” said Father Masih Prakash Soy, secretary to Bishop Binay Kandulna of Khunti.

The BJP has “miserably failed to fulfil its promises and meet the aspirations of the people” and has “embarked on a divisive agenda” ahead of both state and national elections, the priest said.

Hindus are angry that a plaque near the statue claims that Father Hoffmann was the main architect of the 1908 Chotanagpur Tenancy Act that the British enacted to restrict the transfer of tribal land to non-tribal people. They claim Birsa Munda’s struggle led to the law.

Father Hoffmann (1857-1928) came to India as a Jesuit novice at the age of 20. As a priest, he worked mostly among the Munda tribal people in the present Jharkhand area and established several measures for their rights including a cooperative society and a bank.

Besides helping to enact laws to protect tribal people, he also contributed to their language and culture by providing a grammar book and a 15-volume encyclopedia on Munda culture and civilization, said Father Xavier Sorang, a Jesuit social worker based in state capital Ranchi.

Most tribal people understand the contributions of the missioner, said Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

The bishop said the protest comes from “a small group which is trying to disturb the peace. But people are not foolish … they know who had done what for whom.”

He said the Church should ignore such protests because the intention of these groups is to divide and break society for political gains.

Jharkhand’s tribal population, who form 26 percent of 33 million people in the state, is politically decisive, as are its one million Christians, almost all of them tribal people.

The Christian population is even stronger in Khunti district, where 25 percent of the 532,000 people are estimated to be Christians.

Source: UCAN

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday said he’s giving the Catholic church 13 new cardinals, including two churchmen who have worked to help migrants and several others who toil in poor countries or nations where Christians are a minority. Francis made the surprise announcement from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

Several of his picks come from developing countries, like Cuba, Congo and Guatemala. Two are based in predominantly Muslim countries: Morocco and Indonesia.

“Their provenance expresses the missionary vocation of the Church to continue to announce the merciful love of God to all men on Earth,” the pope said before reading aloud a list of their names.

Ten of the men are under 80 and eligible to vote in any conclave to elect a new pontiff.

The ceremony to formally give the churchmen the red cardinal hat will be held on Oct. 5 at the Vatican.

With Francis’ papacy heavily focused on the needs of those living on society’s margins, including migrants, he chose two men whose clerical careers reflect concerns about immigrations.

One of them is Bologna Archbishop Matteo Zuppi, an Italian who for some 30 years guided the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, whose doors literally have been opened to let the homeless sleep inside on cold winter nights. The basilica is the focal point for a Catholic charity, Sant’Egidio, which runs programs including language instruction for newly arrived migrants, and distributes hot meals and clothing to them.

The other is the Rev. Michael Czerny, a Jesuit like the pope, who is an official who was named in 2016 by Francis to help lead a Vatican office concerned with refugees and migrants. He is a native of what was then Czechoslovakia.

Among the Vatican officials chosen to be cardinals is Bishop Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, a Spaniard who is president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. His resume includes teaching Islamic studies in Khartoum, Sudan, Cairo, Egypt and then at the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies.