OCEANIA/MICRONESIA - From a small island in Micronesia to colleges in the United States

Friday, 18 July 2014

Chuuk (Agenzia Fides) - The Yap Catholic High School (YCHS), located on a small island in Micronesia in the western Pacific, celebrated its first group of graduates. At the end of the seventeenth century, the Jesuits founded a mission in Micronesia which, at the end of the Second World War, was entrusted to the American Jesuits. Today, the Jesuits carry out various forms of apostolate on the islands of Pohnpei, Chuuk, Guam, Yap and Palau. The YCHS is the last of the projects initiated by the Jesuits. According to information sent to Fides Agency by the General Curia of the Jesuits, in 2011 the task of founding the school on the island of Yap had been entrusted to fathers Michael Corcoran S.J. and John Mulreany, S.J. In the space of five weeks, with the help of two volunteer teachers, the two Jesuits began the first classes with 35 students: freshmen and sophomores. This year, all the students of 2014 were accepted in college in the United States, many of them taking advantage of the generous support of a scholarship.
On the island of Chuuk priests and Jesuit scholastics, local people and volunteers are engaged in the YCHS and Xavier High School. The two institutes provide students with an enriching and spiritual education as well as practical resources such as a student center and Internet connection. "The people of Micronesia, and in particular students, are wonderfully rich in faith and capable of great results", remarked Father Ciancimino, Jesuit Provincial of the Province of New York, in whose jurisdiction depends Micronesia. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 18/07/2014)


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