Greater Dignity of life for indigenous communities in Asia

Jesuits have been working with indigenous people since the 17th and 18th centuries when they set up the Jesuit “reductions”, a type of settlement for indigenous people, in Latin America. Our work with indigenous people continues today as we work with great numbers of ethnic groups, tribes and countries with traditional cultures, who are struggling to affirm their cultural identity by incorporating elements of modern and global culture. We do what we can to keep the relation between traditional cultures and modernity from becoming an imposition and try to make it a genuine intercultural dialogue. In Asia Pacific, Jesuits accompany and work with indigenous people in Australia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar and Taiwan.