FATHER O'CONNELL HEADS EXPERIMENTAL
NEW PARISH IN AMMAN, JORDAN

The Rev. Dr. Kevin G. O'Connell, S. J.

The New England Jesuits have a long history of ministry in the Arab world. For many years they had primary responsibility for a high school (Baghdad College, founded in 1931) in Iraq, and in 1956 they opened Al-Hikma University there. In the late 1960s, the government of Iraq became increasingly anti-American, and this led to the expulsion of Al-Hikma's 28 Jesuits in November 1968 and of Baghdad College's 33 Jesuits nine months later. This was a tremendous loss to the Church, one that Father O'Connell felt keenly. He was ordained in 1969, and one of his classmates was an Iraqi Jesuit who was sent back to Baghdad in spring 1969 to serve as principal of Baghdad College in a last-ditch effort to preserve the institution from confiscation by the government. Unfortunately, the gesture did not succeed, and the Jesuit presence in Iraq was extinguished.

Some of the expelled Jesuits were able to continue their ministry in other Arab or Muslim countries, and several began to work in the French Jesuit missions in Beirut. It was from Beirut that one New England Jesuit, Fr. Joseph Ryan, began to turn his attention to the needs of the small Christian community in Jordan. After various consultations in the early 1980s, the Latin Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, whose diocesan jurisdiction includes Amman, officially invited the New Engand Jesuits to establish a center to train local parish leaders in techniques of religious education and to assist the diocese in other appropriate ways.

In 1995, the patriarch formally requested the New England Jesuit Provincial to assign an experienced Jesuit priest to serve the large and varied English-language community in Amman. In addition to American and other diplomats and business people, English-language Catholics include some 5,000 Filipinos and varying numbers of Sri Lankans and Indians and other third-world peoples imported as domestic help by local families. Up to then, several Arab pastors and the few foreign priests in residence from time to time had tried to provide minimal services for these foreigners, but no one had primary pastoral responsibility. English-language Masses were celebrated in several local parishes with varying degrees of regularity, but the departure of a particular English-speaking priest might mean the suspension of a Mass that people had come to depend on.

This was not a good situation, and the patriarch had decided that the diocese needed to take a more innovative approach. He proposed to establish a non-territorial "personal parish" for English-speaking Catholics. Membership in this parish would be by personal choice, and the pastor would not be limited to a single church building or area. Rather, he would provide services to parishioners in various local churches convenient to the neighborhoods in which they lived.

When the New England Provincial reflected on Jesuits available for this challenging new ministry, he recalled Father O'Connell's background in the Middle East, where he had spent various summers and one complete year in connection with his biblical studies and his administration of an excavation in Israel. During 1980-81, while on sabbatical at the Albright Institute in Arab East Jerusalem, Father O'Connell had studied colloquial Palestinian Arabic and can now converse in Arabic to at least a limited degree. After Father O'Connell accepted the new assignment, negotiations over the precise shape of the new ministry took some months. Originally scheduled to report in early January 1996, it was late March before he was finally able to set out. His appointment as pastor took effect on April 1, 1996.

Currently, there are two other New England Jesuits permanently assigned to the Amman Center, Fr. Thomas Fitzpatrick from Boston, who was a year ahead of Father O'Connell both in high school and in the Jesuit seminary, and Fr. Clarence Burby, a native of Baghdad who was a further year ahead of them in the seminary. It's the first time they have been together in ministry, but they have many shared experiences from their years of training to draw on. In addition, two Jordanian laymen serve on the Center staff.

Father O'Connell's new parish currently has four weekend Masses in different churches around the city. The noon Mass on Fridays is mainly for Filipinos and others whose Muslim employers only allow them Fridays off; typical attendance is around 200. On Saturdays there is an evening Mass at a church near the new American embassy. That's the Mass most popular with Americans and other Westerners, but it also draws a few Asians and some Jordanian Catholics with foreign spouses; typical attendance is 100-150. The Sunday 11:00 am Mass in a downtown church serves Filipinos and other Asians; typical attendance is 200-250. And the 6:00 pm Sunday Mass at a church not far from the Jesuit Center has a smaller and more varied congregation; typical attendance is 60-80. In addition, on workday mornings, members of the English-languish parish are welcome to attend the 8:30 AM Mass in English at the Jesuit Center.

During Holy Week of 1996, the English-languish parish had a single set of services in Amman, all at the parish church nearest the Jesuit Center. Father O'Connell was celebrant for Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil, while Father Fitzpatrick presided on Good Friday and sang the Exultet at the Vigil. The Filipino choir group from the Sunday morning liturgy provided music for all three days. About 120 people came on Holy Thursday, 200 on Friday, and 160 for the Easter Vigil.

In addition to regular weekly services, the new parish provides English-language baptisms, weddings, weekly religious education during the school year in one church, opportunities for counseling, and other pastoral support for its members. As the parish develops, Father O'Connell hopes to build a sense of unity among the diverse groups of parishioners and to provide outreach programs for those with special talents or resources to put them at the service of others both inside the parish and outside it.

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