20 years: the modest beginnings of an ambitious project

During the closing session of the 3-rd Jesuit alumni/ae world Congress, held in Versailles, in July, 1986, and following the various debates on the necessary commitment of the alumni and the intervention of Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Pierre Balazuc, President of the Congress, proposed, in the name of those in charge of the steering committee, the creation of an Alumni  Foundation  to support the works of the Society of Jesus and the alumni; the congress adopted this resolution and the Society accepted that it be named after Fr. Pedro Arrupe, former Superior General, who had often called for greater action on the part of the alumni.

In the spring of 1987, the Pedro Arrupe World Foundation was created, with Pierre Balazuc as president, Eric de Langsdorff and Laurent Grégoire as vice-presidents and François-Xavier Camenen as treasurer. Legally, for financial reasons, two associations were created: the one in Luxemburg, the other one in Paris. A little while later, to designate it, the term of Foundation was replaced by that of Association, because of new legislative texts limiting the field of foundations. In the 90s, the Pedro Arrupe World Association was recognized as the " social arm " of the Jesuit Alumni World Union (WUJA), both by the Congress and by those in charge of the Union; as such, those in charge of the Association, Eric de Langsdorff and Laurent Grégoire, have been regularly presenting the projects, the accounts and the activities completed  to the Worl Union Council and to its executives.

Between 1987 and 1990, the Association decided to start its action with the launch of a trilingual journal to present works to be supported and to obtain subscriptions; 3 issues were published. From 1991, it was decided to concentrate on the projects themselves, and to send, just to the donors, a letter informing them about the use of the collected funds. In 1997, at the world Congress of Sydney, the world Union decided on the creation of " Dollar Arrupe " or " Euro Arrupe " Campaigns (every former alumnus would give annually 1 dollar, or 1 euro, to sustain the Pedro Arrupe Association’s action) and on setting February 5 as "Arrupe Day ", (the anniversary of Fr. Pedro Arrupe’s death), the launching day each year for the Arrupe Dollar (or Euro Arrupe) Campaign.

From 1991 to late 2006, the Association collected 204,789 Euros (which represents about 250,000 USD); the donors are for 1/3 corporate entities (alumni associations, Jesuit schools and universities or communities), and for 2/3 individuals (Alumni and Jesuits).  The origin of the funds is for the most part European (95 %); In recent years, funds have come from Alumni associations from Australia and the United States. The costs of operating and managing the Association represent less than 5% of the funds collected since 1991.

During this same period, the Association supported 48 programs, for a total amount of 168,195 Euros (The current treasury amounts to 21,000 Euros).
These 48 programs are broken down as follows:

• 14 in Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast,  Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Chad, Zambia), 19 in Europe (Albania, Bosnia, France, Kosovo, Poland, Portugal, Rumania), 2 in the Middle East (Lebanon), 3 in America (Bolivia, Guatemala), 10 in Asia (Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka).
• 47 % of the funds were distributed in programs in Africa, 26 % in Europe, 23 % in Asia, 2 % in America and 2 % in the Middle East.   
• 56 % of the funds were allocated to humanitarian and socio-educational programs, 31 % to the human and spiritual training of young people, 10 % to help alumni from underdeveloped countries attend the World Congresses (one of the objectives of the Association), 3 % for other development projects.
• 73 % of the funds were allotted to Jesuit projects (of which 42 % for JRS and 31 % for  other projects) and 27 % for projects set up by alumni or their associations.  

Thus, during these past 20 years, we have seen develop with modesty but perseverance, the beginning of a collective Jesuit alumni concrete action, within the "social arm" of their World Union. We thank the donors for their generosity, for the realizations of every supported program, for the permanent support of the Society for this project.

"All which is not given is lost".

E. de Langsdorff - L. Grégoire / March 23, 2007