As the cool breeze of July stirs across Nairobi, so too does a spiritual current within the Society of Jesus in Africa. The Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa (JHIA) is honored to co-host, in collaboration with the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM), the first-ever Symposium on Spiritual Exercises from an African Context, taking place from 6th to 10th July 2025 at Mwangaza Jesuit Spirituality Centre, Nairobi.
“The Spiritual Exercises” refers to both a book and a retreat experience. The book was written by St. Ignatius Loyola based on his own spiritual journey and is a collection of prayers, meditations, and notes meant to guide those making the retreat.
This groundbreaking event will gather seasoned Jesuits and lay collaborators, retreat directors, theologians, formation guides, and scholars, from all provinces across the African continent and select partners from Europe. It is an invitation to prayerful discernment, scholarly engagement, and courageous imagining of what it means to live and offer the Spiritual Exercises incarnated in the African experience.
Our questions are bold and necessary: How do the Exercises resonate within African cultures, languages, and symbols? Can they be translated not only linguistically but spiritually, to meet the hearts of African women, youth, families, and clergy? With panels on language, translation, African theology, digital modalities, and group retreats, the program is rich in both breadth and depth. The presence of keynote voices like A.E. Orobator SJ, José Garcia de Castro SJ, and James Hanvey SJ reminds us that this work is deeply rooted in global Ignatian discernment, but takes seriously the African soil in which it must now grow.
Among the many themes that will be discussed, the formation of African Jesuits through the Exercises, the growing appeal of online retreats, and the need to develop culturally rooted resources for retreat givers will emerge as crucial topics. Presenters will draw from decades of experience, including post-pandemic innovations, rural and urban ministry insights, and the enduring wisdom of African spirituality.
In that spirit, this month’s featured article on the Legio Maria Church in Kibera offers a compelling counterpoint. Born from a desire to integrate African culture into Christian worship, Legio Maria reflects the same questions at the heart of the symposium: how to preserve the integrity of inherited faith while giving it new flesh among African peoples. Their liturgies, leadership structures, and spiritual worldview challenge us to take seriously the ways in which African expressions of Christianity grow organically from lived experience.
The JHIA Editorial Team
