Jesuit Candidates

The picture features eight men who are applying for the Jesuit novitiate. Three of the men are from Malawi and have completed college and the other five are from Zambia. I had the privilege of giving these men a three-day retreat in preparation for their interviews for the Society.

Part of the retreat included presentations on St. Ignatius, Father Arrupe and Bishop Paul Lungu, SJ, who was one of the first Zambians ordained as a Jesuit and certainly the first consecrated as a Bishop. Paul served as the novice director before being asked to become a bishop. One of his novices, Emmanuel Mumba, SJ, gave the presentation. Paul was an amazing man and was killed in a traffic accident. He was known to NW Jesuits as he did his tertianship in Spokane. Emmanuel told stories and made him come alive, and I am certain that his life was an inspiration to the men.

The candidates remain at the novitiate for the following week and engage in novitiate life with the novices. They will have a few more presentations and will be interviewed by four Jesuits and the acting Provincial. I was impressed and I am quite certain that a number of these men will enter. The novitiate is a common novitiate with the Zimbabwe province, so a similar process will take place in Zimbabwe.