Dushan Croos SJ

What do I do?  There has been a thread of Social Apostolate running through my formation, and indeed, in what drew me particularly to the Society.  As a novice, I spent time working at Blakenhurst Remand prison, with the Catholic Chaplaincy, and three months in Sarajevo with the Jesuit Refugee Service, helping in the reconstruction of flats a year after the end of the war.  During my Philosophy studies, I visited Harmondsworth Immigration Detention Centre on a weekly basis with the London Detainee Support Group.  During what we call 'Regency', when I was teaching at St Aloysius' College, Glasgow, I was involved with the college Justice and Peace Group, encouraging students to help the teachers and children in St Teresa's Primary School, Possilpark, with the hope that students could help with literacy and numeracy.  With the students in view, I contributed to the reflection on setting up a drop-in centre for refugees at the East End of Glasgow.

During my Theology studies, I lived in Saint-Denis, one of the arrival points in France for many immigrant communities.  The city and the department have a reputation for being "difficult".  My Jesuit community was in a housing estate in three flats.