The warlord and his ruthless guerrilla group are responsible for a 26-year campaign of terror in Uganda that has been marked by child abductions and widespread killings. Last year, President Obama dispatched 100 U.S. troops — mostly Army Special Forces — to Central Africa to advise regional forces in their hunt for Kony.

The group running the Kony 2012 campaign is holding a nationwide event today – Friday, April 20 —  titled “Cover the Night,” where supporters are encouraged to spread the word of Kony 2012 around their local communities.

The Society of Jesus, the largest religious order of Roman Catholic priests and brothers in the world, has worked in Uganda for more than 40 years.  The Society’s Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has conducted peace-building workshops, run schools and economic development projects and ministered to refugees in Uganda. In 2005, the Jesuits of the Eastern Africa Province began planning for a secondary school in northern Uganda, the Ocer Campion Jesuit College in Gulu. The co-educational high school admitted its first students in early 2010 and is already having a tremendously positive impact in a region devastated by over 20 years of civil war. The school will grow to a capacity of 1,200 students and includes agricultural and vocational training as well as rigorous academic formation in the Jesuit tradition, religious formation and peace education.

In this podcast, Jesuit Father Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, the Jesuit provincial of Eastern Africa, speaks with National Jesuit News about the Jesuit’s work in Uganda, the progress that’s been made, the work that still needs to be done and how young people can get involved.

Jesuit Father Gregory Konz, Secretary for Higher Education, Finance and Advancement at the Jesuit Conference, recently offered reflections on the four weeks (or periods of time) in St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, and how each week can enhance our spiritual experience of Lent. Fr. Konz first made the Spiritual Exercises during two of the stages of his Jesuit formation: novitiate when a man first enters the Jesuits, and then years later after his ordination to the priesthood, during tertianship, the final stage of formation for a Jesuit.

The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) was founded in January 2009 as a binational effort to help support and provide assistance to deported migrants. Since its founding, KBI has served thousands of migrants by providing food, shelter, first aid and pastoral support.

Fr. Carroll recently spoke with National Jesuit News by phone from Nogales to discuss the work of KBI and about his own background as a Jesuit. You can listen to our podcast with Carroll via the player below.

In 2001, as Charlton visited people suffering from AIDS, he kept hearing a repeated concerns for the children of those suffering, primarily about the child’s ongoing education.

“There is free universal primary education in Kenya, but all secondary education, including at the government schools is for a cost, and a cost that would be far beyond the means of these people mired in poverty because of their illness, not able to hold jobs and that sort of thing. So in 2003 our school decided to sponsor 12 of their children for freshman year of high school,” said Father Charlton.

Working to help more children in the same situation, Charlton opened a school for 25 students in 2004. Through the support of many people from around the World, plus a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Government, they have been able to build a school that now accommodates 280 students.

Here, Fr. Klink ministers to the Lakota’s communities three schools and in its parishes. He’s held many responsibilities during his 26 years of native ministry on the Pine Ridge, including 18 years as the school’s president.

Today, staggering poverty and an unemployment rate that hovers around 80% leave the children of the Pine Ridge facing an uphill struggle as they learn and grown up on the reservation. But, Klink endeavors to make sure the two elementary schools and the high school that make up the school system on the Pine Ridge are a beacon of hope for the possibility of a bright future for the Lakota and their families.

Recently, Klink took the time to speak with National Jesuit News by phone from the Red Cloud School for our monthly podcast series. You can listen to our interview with him below:

He’s photographed Jesuits assisting Tsunami victims in India and Sri Lanka in 2005; refugees in Burundi, Rwanda and the Congo in 2007; and Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad along the Darfur border in 2008. Most recently, one of Doll’s photos was selected by 1001 Stories of Common Ground‘s Positive Change in Action competition showcasing pieces which highlight the positive changes in the Arab world.

Currently, Doll is a professor of photojournalism at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. where he holds the Charles and Mary Heider Endowed Jesuit Chair. Recently, he took time out from his busy schedule to speak with National Jesuit News by phone for our monthly podcast series. You can listen to the interview with Doll below:

Today, the Gregorian is part of a larger consortium consisting of three schools serving more than 3,800 students: The Pontifical Gregorian University, The Pontifical Biblical Institute and The Pontifical Oriental Institute for Eastern Christian Studies.

In the United States, the Gregorian University Foundation was established in 1972 to raise the needed funds for scholarships, academic chairs, libraries and capital improvements for the Pontifical Gregorian University Consortium.

In this month’s National Jesuit News podcast, we talk with the foundation’s vice president, Geoff Loftus, on what the Gregorian University provides to the Church and the legacy and impact of its scholars and students.

Fr. Kubicki’s involvement with the Apostleship of Prayer goes back to his high school days when he first encountered the monthly leaflets with the Holy Father’s intentions.

“I entered the Jesuits to be a high school teacher in an urban Jesuit high school, just like the one I went to. And, in those 40 years I’ve been a Jesuit, I’ve never done that…Am I disappointed? Not at all. The Lord’s plan was much better than my own. And now I’m on the radio throughout the country…and I look on that, and say, that’s all God’s grace that came to me through following that initial call, that vocation that was given to me when I was a high school student,” said Kubicki.

In this month’s podcast with National Jesuit News, Kubicki shared the goals of the Apostleship of Prayer, its service to the Church, and its growing outreach to young people.

The goal of the Apostleship of Prayer is to help people pray with for each other and for the needs of the Church through the intentions of the Pope. It also hopes to help people learn to live a Eucharistic life and to return the love God gives us by loving others.

To learn more about the Apostleship of Prayer, please visit their website.

Jesuit Brother Jim Boynton stands amid the remains of the Eglise Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Church) in Downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Jesuit Brother Jim Boynton was missioned in late 2009 to Haiti to serve refugees through the Jesuit-founded Foi et Joie (Faith and Joy) school system. When the devastating earthquake hit the small Caribbean island nation on January 12, 2010, Br. Boyton answered the call to lead an emergency medical response team in the weeks following in Port-au-Prince.  Today, Jesuits continue to provide support in the dire situation that is Haiti a year after the natural disaster struck and continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti during their time of need.

National Jesuit News spoke with Boynton about his experiences in Haiti during its monthly podcast series. You can listen to the interview with Boynton below:

Jesuit Brother Jim Boynton stands amid the remains of the Eglise Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Church) in Downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Jesuit Brother Jim Boynton was missioned in late 2009 to Haiti to serve refugees through the Jesuit-founded Foi et Joie (Faith and Joy) school system. When the devastating earthquake hit the small Caribbean island nation on January 12, 2010, Br. Boyton answered the call to lead an emergency medical response team in the weeks following in Port-au-Prince.  Today, Jesuits continue to provide support in the dire situation that is Haiti a year after the natural disaster struck and continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti during their time of need.

National Jesuit News spoke with Boynton about his experiences in Haiti during its monthly podcast series. You can listen to the interview with Boynton below: