On April 18th Father General left the Ivory Coast and traveled to Ghana. After a visit in the capital, Accra, he went to Cape Coast for a meeting of the Conference of Major Superior of Africa and Madagascar (JESAM). Before leaving Abidjan, Fr. Nicolás planted a tree in the garden of the Theologate as a symbolic gesture, and quipped, “please, send me news about this tree in your ex-officio letters!”
Father General attended the JESAM meeting until its conclusion on Friday, April 24th. During the meeting many of the challenges the Society encounters in Africa were examined, as well as the functioning of the Assistancy’s common houses and interprovincial collaboration. The meeting afforded Father Nicolás the opportunity to meet the Provincials and Regional Superiors who attended.
The final days of his stay in Africa were devoted to Nigeria. He visited Benin City where the Society has a novitiate, spiritual center and St. Joseph Parish. He visited Abuja where Loyola Jesuit College is located and Lagos, where the Provincial and his assistants live; there we run a parish and a secondary school, both dedicated to St. Francis. When he landed in Lagos international airport Father General was escorted by the airport’s security services to a private Jet plane that was put at his disposal for all internal flights. Everywhere he was warmly greeted. In Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria, the Spanish ambassador, who had welcomed Fr. General at the airport, offered a dinner in his honor at his private residence. Many civil and religious authorities as well as numerous benefactors and friends of the Society attended.
A curious note: during this first visit to Africa Fr. Nicolás planted trees in four different places: a symbol, perhaps, of a more green and luxuriant future in Africa?
After his return to Rome, on May 2, Father General responded to two brief questions.
This was your first visit to Africa as General of the Society, and, if I am correct, your very first visit to Africa. What are your first impressions?
An overwhelming impression of very vital, very intelligent, very energetic, very kind, very joyful people… that do not receive the care and attention that they deserve. And that they are people who can still dream and hope for a better future. It has been a refreshing visit in many human and religious senses. I came back with much hope.
In the fifteen months since your election you have traveled to three continents. How is it possible to address the problems the Society of Jesus faces in these parts of the world?
In fact one may say that I have visited Four Continents, but only partially and, therefore, it would be too risky to try to generalize from what I have seen or heard. What is obvious to me is that, as St. Ignatius liked to repeat, the real discernment has to take place in each Continent; and it is imperative for us in Rome to keep in mind the enormous wealth and complexity of each different situation. A very deep dialogue with the men in the spot has to take place for a fair and meaningful governance of the Society.