A new JCAP network for protecting minors and vulnerable adults

Safety in Ministry is the newest apostolic network of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP). Conference President Fr Tony Moreno SJ announced the creation of the network with the appointment of Fr James Wenceslao Gascon SJ as Coordinator.

“While the JCAP units have different policies and programmes to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, there is a need to collaborate as one body and coordinate our efforts to promote a culture of safeguarding and integrity in ministry in our conference,” said Fr Moreno.

Fr Gascon is a Filipino Jesuit with an extensive experience in pastoral counseling and family ministry. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1991 and was ordained a priest 10 years later. In 2003, he was sent to Fordham University in New York where he earned a Master’s degree in Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Care. For three years, from 2005 to 2008, he did his internship at the Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute, New York City, obtaining a Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Upon his return to the Philippines, Fr Gascon worked as Senior Pastoral Psychotherapist at the Ruben M Tanseco Center for Family Ministries, where he also served as President for 11 years and Chairman of the Board of Trustees for two terms.

He is currently an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Counseling and Family Ministry at the Loyola School of Theology, and a staff-resource at the Catholic Safeguarding Institute of Emmaus Center. In May, he obtained his Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Care from the Theology and Ministry Program of the Ateneo de Manila University.

“Joining forces and working together is a big challenge for us given our current situation [with the pandemic], but we are not daunted in our desire to succeed in our mission of protecting children and vulnerable populations,” said Fr Gascon.

The Jesuit priest considers the safeguarding of children a “personal advocacy”.

“I have worked with many victims and have witnessed how their lives have been impacted by the experience, which could have been prevented,” he said. “My goal is to help assist each other in this common mission and, more importantly, to learn not only in our successes but even in our weaknesses.”

This article was originally published at JCAP website.