Father General Arturo Sosa Visits North-West Africa Province in October 2026
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr Arturo Sosa, SJ, visits the North-West Africa Province (ANW) from 10 to 20 October 2026. The visit marks a significant moment of encounter, listening, and communion with Jesuits and their partners in mission across Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria.
The visit brings Fr Sosa into direct contact with the communities, ministries, and people who form part of the life and mission of the Society of Jesus in the Province. Over ten days, he travels across the three countries where the Province is present, visiting Jesuit communities and apostolic works and meeting with those who contribute to and benefit from the Society's mission.
The visit provides an opportunity for Fr Sosa to encounter Jesuits serving in different apostolic contexts, listen to their experiences and challenges, and encourage them in their service to the Church and to the people of West Africa. It also offers him the opportunity to see first-hand the various ways in which the Society of Jesus responds to the needs of the Church and society in the region.
A central feature of the visit is numerous encounters with people who are part of the Jesuit mission. Fr Sosa meets with Jesuits, lay collaborators, pastoral partners, students, teachers, parishioners, young people, and others served by the Province's ministries.
Among those he encounters are students and members of Jesuit school communities, parish communities, and people involved in the Province's various apostolic works. These encounters allow the Superior General not only to see the works of the Society but, more importantly, to listen to the experiences, hopes, and aspirations of those who participate in them.
Such encounters are an important part of the way the Society of Jesus understands its mission. They provide the Superior General with an opportunity to accompany Jesuits and collaborators, understand the realities of different contexts, and encourage the mission entrusted to the Society.
The ANW Province brings together Jesuit communities and apostolic works across five West African countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Ghana, and Nigeria. The Province's ministries include education, pastoral work, spirituality and formation, youth and vocation ministry, social and apostolic engagement, and service to people on the margins.
Fr Sosa's visit therefore offers a unique opportunity to encounter the breadth and diversity of the Jesuit mission in the region.
From classrooms and parish communities to formation houses and other apostolic settings, the visit highlights the many ways in which Jesuits and their collaborators seek to serve the Church and society according to the mission of the Society of Jesus.
For students in Jesuit schools, the visit is an opportunity to meet the person who serves as the universal superior of the Society of Jesus. For parishioners and pastoral communities, it is an occasion to experience their connection with the wider apostolic body of the Society. For lay collaborators and other partners, it is a moment to celebrate the shared mission that brings Jesuits and lay people together in service of the Church and society.
The visit carries particular significance for the North-West Africa Province because it comes more than fifteen years after the last visit of a Superior General to the Province. In 2009, the Very Rev. Fr Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, then Superior General of the Society of Jesus, visited the Province. His visit remains an important part of the Province's recent history.
The visit of Fr Arturo Sosa therefore marks another significant moment in the life of ANW, providing an opportunity to reflect on how the Province has grown and developed since then, while also discerning the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The visit comes at a time when the Society of Jesus continues to deepen its commitment to reconciliation and justice and to its mission of serving the Church at the frontiers of human and social realities. Fr Sosa has repeatedly emphasized the importance of discernment, collaboration, and openness to the realities in which Jesuits carry out their mission.
Beyond the official engagements and scheduled visits, the Superior General's presence in the Province is an opportunity to strengthen the bonds of communion that unite Jesuits and their collaborators across the world.
The Society of Jesus is an international apostolic body, and the visit of its Superior General makes visible the connection between the local mission of Jesuits in West Africa and the universal mission of the Society.
For the Jesuits of the North-West Africa Province, the visit is an opportunity to share their joys and challenges, reflect on their apostolic priorities, and receive encouragement for the mission ahead. For collaborators, students, parishioners, and the many people served through Jesuit ministries, it is an opportunity to encounter the wider Society through the presence of its Superior General.
As Fr Sosa makes his way through Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria, the Province looks forward to welcoming him and sharing with him the stories, people, and apostolic realities that make up the life of the North-West Africa Province.
Let us continue to pray for Father General as he joins Jesuits and Collaborators in the mission of the Society in ANW province.
For daily updates on the visit check the Jesuit Global website [HERE] OR the North-West Africa Province website [HERE]
