A Mission Undecided: The Jesuit Presence in South Africa (1875–2021)
, a new book by Fr. David Harold Barry, SJ, was reviewed by Sean van Staden, SJ, during the 2025 Hekima Research Week. The talk examined themes of identity, faith, and tenacity while providing historical context and personal reflection on the Jesuit mission in South Africa.
Speaking to participants gathered in the Hekima Auditorium on 24 October, Sean opened with a simple but striking admission: “I accompanied the author on his journey.” As a South African Jesuit himself, he had traveled alongside Fr. Barry across the country—visiting old mission sites, parishes, and archives—to uncover traces of a story that, in his words, “made my own vocation possible.”
As a sequel to his previous book A Mission Divided, which concentrated on Jesuit work in Zimbabwe, Irish Jesuit Fr. Barry, who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe for more than 50 years, wrote A Mission Undecided. With a focus on the south, the new book explores the 150-year Jesuit presence in South Africa, which ironically was never meant to last. Sean clarified that the Jesuits came to South Africa in 1875 with the intention of using it as a springboard to the “interior” mission territories, which are now Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. He said, “South Africa was the Zambezi Mission’s Cinderella.” “Necessary, but never the main focus.”
Nevertheless, through parishes, formation houses, and educational institutions like Grahamstown’s St. Aidan’s College, which produced a number of bishops and priests before closing owing to financial difficulties, the Jesuits left a lasting legacy. “We were great pastors, but bad administrators,” Sean said wryly.
The Jesuits’ ambiguous journey through shifting times is chronicled in Barry’s book. The Jesuits in South Africa had to consider their true mission as apartheid spread and missions north of the Limpopo became self-sufficient. From pastoral ministries in colleges, hospitals, and prisons to rural missions like Elandskop and the Fons Vitae program, which assisted religious sisters in post-Vatican II renewal, these inquiries sparked a variety of innovative endeavors. With the founding of the Jesuit Institute South Africa in 2007, these scattered endeavors came together in the early 2000s to serve a more specific goal. The Institute, which Barry described as “the first distinctly Jesuit work in South Africa,” was envisioned as a place for social justice, spirituality, and discernment.
Sean’s review brought to light the Jesuits’ hardships as well as their tenacity. He made the point that comprehending the Jesuit narrative in South Africa still heavily relies on questions of race and inclusivity. Only two Black South African Jesuits are still active today, despite numerous vocations over the years. “We cannot overlook the question of thirty years without a consistent Black vocation,” he stated. Nevertheless, he called the Jesuits’ perseverance “a quiet miracle.” Their spiritual influence persisted even after missions failed and institutions closed. Even if the buildings are gone, he said, “perhaps our impact is still there.”
Additionally, he observed a significant shift in Jesuit life from solitary, individualized ministries to team-based, community-based service. With a smile, he remarked, “The old saying that South African Jesuits cannot live together or work together no longer applies.”
Sean concluded by describing Barry’s A Mission Undecided as “something in between a novel and a scholarly history.” He claimed that the book “reads like a personal meditation on mission and identity.” Its content is still poignant and educational, despite a few editing errors. Participants in the review expressed gratitude for the Jesuits’ unwavering commitment to discernment. Sean came to the conclusion that it serves as a reminder that being faithful is about staying steadfast in our search rather than possessing all the answers.
In addition to its historical breadth, his presentation was notable for its sincere contemplation of what it means to be a Jesuit—and, in fact, what it means to remain faithful in the face of uncertainty.
The book can be purchased directly from the JHIA website
By Geoffrey Obatsa,
Admin Assistant – JHIA
Editorial – November 2025 | Download the November 2025 JHIA Newsletter (PDF)
