pioneer jesuit pontiff motivates 450-year-old order

Fr Shirima Valeria (R) directs one of the Jesuits to clean the school truck. PHOTO BY JOHN OKOT

Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the first Jesuit to become Pope in the religious Order’s 450 years history.

Jesuit is a 20,000-strong Order, the second largest single men grouping in the world after the Sons of St Francis of Asisi or Franciscans. There are only 14 Jesuits working full-time in Uganda.

Who are the Jesuits
Fr Shirima Valerian is a Jesuit priest and the Order’s coordinator based at Ocer Campion Jesuit College in Gulu District. He says Jesuit is a single men Order within the Catholic Church founded in Venice, Italy, by Ignatius of Loyola and nine others in 1540.

Their main missionary work is to follow St Ignatius’s mission to serve the Catholic faith, promote justice and dialogue with different cultures across religions.

According to Fr Valerian, Jesuit intellectuals love participating in various projects such as building schools, hospitals and caring for the most vulnerable. They do community and vocational work, preferring to live as ordinary people within the local communities.

Enlisting as a Jesuit
The interest of most prospective Jesuits sparks from their encounter with serving Jesuits. “The Jesuit will introduce him to the vocational leader who is in charge of the Jesuit in a certain jurisdiction. He (Jesuit) will help the person through the spiritual journey which normally takes one year,” says Fr Valerian.

He adds: “This is like a probation time when the person who wants to become a Jesuit is able to realise for himself whether he wants to [continue or abandon the call].”

The period enables a prospective recruit to experience the Jesuit life through integration, living with Jesuit priests and their ways of life. Each Jesuit must be an accomplished professional; holder of an academic qualification.

The second stage is referred to as the Novitiate during which individuals intending to join the Order spend two years learning all forms of prayers, through meditations, as a way to purify one’s life and fit within the Jesuit society.

A Ugandan wishing to join the Order would likely enroll in Harare, Zimbabawe or Arusha, Tanzania, where they would train in Philosophy for four years, but not before making three eternal simple vows: chastity, poverty and obedience. The chastity vow is an act of love, letting go of everything, including sex.
While the vow of poverty relates to self-denial of material possession and self-rendering in perpetual service of God. The Obedience vow is about perpetual commitment to be available for any assignment by superiors.

The philosophy course taken is intended to make one a critical thinker and make wise decisions. After completion, the new Jesuit begins attending an annual retreat, the first lasting 30 days, for self-introspection and spiritual renewal.

The Regency stage takes two years, allowing for deeper integration into the apostolic community of the Jesuit.
Samuel Omondi, a Dean of Students at Ocer Campion Jesuit College and is now at Regency, says this is the stage where one has to assess his gifts, skills and talents for the interest of serving the church. “I am a teacher; I am now offering my services to the school. Others may engage in financial management, sports depending on what their interests are,” he said.

Service is voluntary and unpaid.
Fr Valerian says after the regency stage, one who intends to become a Jesuit will again go for theological formation for years at Hekima School of Theology in Kenya to study the scriptures, the church and gain a deeper understanding of the plans of God’s salvation through men.

One can only be ordained as a Jesuit priest after fulfilling the above requirements, with a possible additional training, after five years, in philosophy or theology.

The last step for one to become a fully-fledged Jesuit member of the society is a year-long Tertianship when a person dedicates to a period of prayer and spiritual direction.

At the of Tertianship, one makes a fourth special vow regarding absolute obedience to the Pope where you can be sent to serve God in any part of the world as he is now regarded a complete member of Jesuit order. After this qualification, one’s retreat reduces from a month to eight days.

Mr Perter Omondi, a Jesuit at the Regency stage, says having a Pope from their religious Order is the greatest particularly in Uganda where they intend to bring more young people to become Jesuits. “It is an honour to have the first Pope from the Jesuit society and to us as the Jesuits it means a lot. We are looking forward to seeing that he blesses our country through the blood of Christ”, he says

Godfrey Kaheru, a Senior Three student and also a member of the society of Jesus at Ocer Campion Memorial College, wants to become a Jesuit brother. To him, Ignatius of Loyola, the Order founder is a role model and Good Samaritan.

Aaron Rubangakene, another Senior Three student and an aspiring Jesuit priest, says he derives his inspiration from the fact that the Jesuits are a Jack of all trades, with vast vocational skills and knowledge.

Jesuits in Uganda
Jesuits first landed in Uganda in 1969 from Malta in Italy. Their presence was affected by the regime of Idi Amin Dada though a few priests and brothers of the Order remained in the country.

Notable members include Fr Paul Mallia who served in Uganda for 27 years until he moved to Khartoum in 1986. The other is Fr George German, 95, who spent two decades serving in different parts of the country.

In 1987, more Jesuits came from different countries to Uganda which led to the opening of Xavier House in Nsambya in 1989 from where they currently coordinate all of their ministry activities across the country. They are involved in spiritual renewal, promotion of justice and peace in various congregations. In the past, the Jesuits also taught at Makerere and Kyambogo universities. Many refugees have received support from the Jesuit through Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and they are now focusing on Adjumani district in West Nile and South Sudan where there are refugees facing hardship.

They also founded Uganda’s first treatment centre for alcoholics. Through Fr Gene Hattie and with the help of Comboni Fathers, the Jesuits have established a home for nearly 150 children known as Children and Life Mission in Namugongo (CALM), Kampala. In 1999, Fr Stephen Msele started UNDUGU movement with its headquarters in Nsambya, a Kampala suburb, which embraces all youth without religious or gender discrimination. Its motto is: all are children of God, underlining culture through music, drama, and income generating projects.

In 2007, the Justice Peace Centre was opened in Gulu in collaboration between Jesuits and other religious congregations