By James Hanvey, SJ

Jan 11-15: Father General’s Extended Council meeting is focused on the theme of religious poverty. The Curia Communications Office has offered you three articles on the topic “Ignatius and Poverty”, by Fr. James Hanvey, Secretary for the Service of Faith, at the General Curia.

See the other articles on this link {Jesuits Global}

Jesuit Priest Paul Béré, was among ten biblical scholars appointed on January 13, 2021, new members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission by Pope Francis. Father Paul Béré, is a Jesuit biblical scholar from Burkina Faso, and a permanent teacher at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. On September 30, 2019, he emerged winner of the Ratzinger Prize awarded by the Benedict XVI - Joseph Ratzinger Foundation, in the Vatican, making him the first African theologian to win the Ratzinger Prize which rewards the work of theologians and specialists in related disciplines.

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

With the second wave of Covid-19 expected to peak in Africa in January or February, the prospect of a vaccination program is still not on the horizon.

2020 will long be remembered in the annals of history because of the Covid-19 pandemic. As that year drew to a close, the Covid-19 vaccine made its debut in several countries. The question we need to ask, however, is whether the disease will wane as quickly as it spread if this vaccine is not made available to everyone. Will countries who have the “bargaining power” to obtain the vaccine quickly be adversely affected should poorer countries not have equal access to the vaccine?

By Tawanda Karombo

Catholic organizations are stepping up efforts to assist migrants returning to Africa as southern African countries – including Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Malawi — relax COVID-19 restrictions and open up land borders.

In some countries, strict lockdowns worsened hunger and joblessness, threatening asylum seekers and citizens returning from abroad with starvation.

By Joshua Pwalia, AJI 

The Arrupe Jesuit Institute (AJI), the Ghana-based social justice centre of the Jesuit North-west Africa Province, recently birthed a new initiative called the “Sarpong Theological Lecture” in Accra. This is a biennial lecture that honours the intellectual legacy of the emeritus archbishop of Kumasi, Most Rev. Peter Kwasi Sarpong by exploring issues and trends in African Christianity with boldness, originality, depth, understanding and acuity; an acrostic that spells one of the middle names of the honouree, Bodua Kumankoma.

By Tawanda Karombo | American Magazine

Jesuits in Africa are calling on the Catholic Church to press for better repayment terms on debt across the region after Zambia defaulted on a $42.5 million Eurobond coupon in November. The default sparked fears of a regional economic crisis and ripple effects on already struggling Zambians because of increased taxation and curtailed spending on social services, even as health needs increase because of the coronavirus.

Fr General has appointed Fr Leonard Chiti as the first Provincial of the Southern Africa Province, with effect from 25th March 2021. This new Province will be made up of the former Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM), the former Region of South Africa (SAF), now including Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia, and Lesotho and the former Province of Zimbabwe- Mozambique (ZIM).

The Eastern Africa Province (AOR) on the feast day of Saint Francis Xavier held a vibrant ceremony to mark the change of leadership in the Province and also to incorporate one of their companions to the Society of Jesus by professing his final vows. The ceremony coincided with the Feast Day of Saint Francis Xavier one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, and whose history in the Society is equally embedded in the continent of Africa, as in 1542, the Saint, spend a few days in Malindi (current day, in Kenya). The ceremony was streamed live from the Mwangaza Jesuit Spiritual Centre, in Nairobi, Kenya, on the Loyola Center for Media and Communications YouTube channel. 

This year, 2020, the African Union (AU) set for its theme, “Silencing the Guns by the year 2020” as a culmination of the efforts the Union has been making over the years to end wars on the African Continent. In this week’s video, Peace and Security expert, Dr. Wamuyu Teresia Wachira, IBVM, and a Loreto Sister based in Nairobi discusses the problem of the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).

By Ismael Matambura SJ, AJAN Director for Jesuits Global

The World AIDS Day is an important day that helps all of us to reflect on the devastation this disease has caused the humanity since its emergence. According to the UNAIDS, over 75.7 million people have been infected with the virus since 1981, with over 32 million losing their lives to AIDS related illnesses. It is a day to remember those infected and affected by the disease world over, and to reflect on the efforts we are all making, and what more we can do to stop the disease. It remains a major killer, despite numerous gains made thus so far.