Frontiers: Where a New Province May Be Led By Cheryl Wittenauer
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s an attorney who represented asylum seekers, undocumented minors and other immigrants, Fr. Thomas Greene served where many may not wish to go. The 50-year-old Louisiana native worked with people who crossed borders to enter the U.S., but their problems and predicaments challenged him to enter the frontiers in his own heart, to find the limits of his compassion and generosity. “They brought me to the frontiers, to these heights of consolation with their lives and particularly in their gratitude, when you are able to get them some type of 28 Jesuit
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Fall 2013
relief, whether that’s legal relief or some type of food or shelter,” Greene said. Greene, the Jesuit Conference secretary for social and international ministries and a Missouri Province consultant, was one of a handful of Jesuits asked about their sense of the “frontier,” especially as the planned merger of the Missouri and New Orleans provinces in 2014 will create a new identity and opportunities. The word, “frontier” has gotten a lot of traction since Pope Benedict XVI described it as a “geographical and spiritual place where others do not reach or find it difficult to reach.” The Jesuits’ General Congregation in 2008 said Jesuits are sent to build bridges and open up passes between those who live on either side of the frontier, and to be “bridges in a fragmented world.” Greene said his understanding of “frontier” continues to evolve, but it ranges from staying relevant in