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Introduction

In the Society, formation has always been made up of different phases which take place in different houses and usually in different countries. In this paper we will look at these different phases of formation in the different periods of our history. First of all, we will look at the “old system” of formation as it existed up to the mid-1960 and then on to formation as it exists today. In between the two systems there was the period of transition. Continue reading “Formation in the Society (PE nr. 1087 – 2018/01)”

It is now ten years that I am in formation: 6 years in Bukavu (DRC) and 4 years here in Jinja, Uganda.

When I look back on these 10 years, I realize that time is flying. Then I ask myself a question: as a Formator in these two formation houses, what has my experience been during these last 10 years? The answer is summed up by two words: joy and suffering. This is what I would like to Continue reading “The joy of formation, the suffering of a formator (PE nr. 1087 – 2018/01)”

It has become a hard task to become Missionary of Africa nowadays. In the past, one needed “only” six or seven years, two for Philosophy, one for the Spiritual Year, three or four for Theology and the job was done. Today the candidates have first to spend a year of preparation in a pre-first Phase centre. The main goal is to give to those young people a better grounding in the language that they will need for their studies. Most of our candidates hail from African countries which have suffered (and sometimes still suffer) from war, rebellions and various economic and political forms of turmoil. Education suffers everywhere and is still suffering from the neglect by the upper class. Thus, our prospective candidates have first to consolidate the foundations before they can start building. The first year also gives us the chance to know them better and to make a better discernment.

The real formation can then start with the First Phase. It often gathers candidates from neighbouring countries. They are confronted by full international living from the Second Phase onwards (Spiritual Year). During the Third Phase (or Stage), they are faced with the learning of a new language in a foreign country. Systematically, they are sent out of their native land in order to face the challenge of new customs and manners of thinking. Some of them are really shocked when they see the habits and culture of their country of appointment. How is it possible to mistreat the bodies of the dead so badly? Is it at all possible that the child belongs to his mother’s family and not to his father’s? The word “culture shock” is sometimes overused when the candidates speak simply of a diet different from what they were used to, but in some cases they do face a real shock. In order to complete this already long journey, three or four years of Theology remained. In all, we must now count a minimum of eleven years and some of these young men have already worked or spent a few years at university before joining us. It is rare for a candidate to be less than thirty years of age when he reaches ordination. Some might already be close to the mid-life crisis.

What are the main aspects of this training? It is a formation that addresses all the dimensions of a human person: the spiritual, of course, and the intellectual (very pronounced with all these years of higher education). It also includes the psycho-affective with the dimension of sexuality, and more practical aspects like driving license and gardening… Language learning and international community life are also important components of the formation received.

Our candidates are confronted by an important discernment : does God call me to become a disciple of Jesus and to be sent like him? Priesthood understood as a service to the Church can attract some young men. This does not mean that they have the desire to follow and imitate Jesus in the radicalism of his commitment to the service of people. Jesus was well aware of being sent by the Father. He left his Father’s house to go and live in Palestine. Our candidates are also called to leave their country of origin, their families and common landmarks to become “strangers” elsewhere. Jesus lived a radical obedience to his Father, a humility that refused titles and places of honour. His heart was filled with his Father’s love. In the service of his brothers and sisters, he never married. He chose to live simply in a country that did not know the luxury of big cities. His relations with his brothers and sisters were full of compassion and forgiveness, as Pope Francis keeps on reminding us. It is the commitment our candidates are facing. Attraction to the priesthood does not necessarily mean willingness to follow Jesus in his compassion, humility, service, and chastity…

“Lord, where do you want me to go?” That is the question our candidates have to answer and our training aims at giving them all they need in order to answer it properly. Not only do they receive tools like introduction to prayer, Spiritual Direction, retreats of eight and even thirty days, libraries but, in as far as possible, they are placed in the circumstances that will favour such a discernment. They have more than ten years to find the answer. Many realize they are not willing or not able to live such a commitment and return home. They might give great service to their local Church. Out of a hundred young men who start this journey of discernment of over ten years, between twenty and thirty reach the end and permanent commitment. This is hardly surprising because, between the desert, tropical forests, slums and poor suburbs, our life is not easy.

Where do our candidates come from? Ninety percent are Africans fulfilling the prophecy of our founder that Africa would be evangelized by the Africans themselves. The list of their countries of origin and the languages they speak is rather impressive. A few are not from Africa. There are some Poles, Filipinos, Indians, North or South Americans. Sometimes a youngster from the Western world finds us on the net and asks to join us. The first years of formation are usually spent in one’s own or a neighbouring country. The Spiritual Year takes place in Kasama in northern Zambia, in Arusha, west of Kilimanjaro and in Bobo, Burkina Faso. The period of apostolic training will take place somewhere between Algiers and Johannesburg. One or the other might even leave the African continent and have the chance to compare the slums of Nairobi and Kinshasa to those of Brazil. Theology is done in Africa except for candidates appointed to Jerusalem.

This is a brief description of the formation among the Missionaries of Africa. It is demanding but beautiful. It is not perfect but it is about the best we can give with the resources we have. It allows our young men to be confronted by themselves, to blossom, to grow, to deepen their relationship with Jesus and mostly to answer the question: “Lord what do you want me to do with my life?

Jean-Michel Laurent, M.Afr.
Former Secretary for Initial Formation

This first issue of the Petit Echo for 2018, the Jubilee Year of our foundation, is devoted to Initial Formation which is divided into four Phases. The First Phase is centred on philosophical studies and organised at Provincial level. This Phase enables candidates to discern their vocation better when faced with the demands of missionary life and it helps them to progress to a genuine human and spiritual maturity by giving them the elements of doctrinal formation (Cf. CL 117). The Second Phase is the Spiritual Year. “It aims at developing in the candidates a deeper attachment to the person of Christ” (Cf. CL 122) through reflection and prayer. It is commonly known as the Novitiate, but in reality it is not a novitiate in the canonical sense of the term as it is governed by the Society’s own Law (Cf. 123). The Third Phase is the period of Apostolic Training which the candidates do outside their Province of origin in order to allow themselves be confronted by the reality of missionary life in the African world and, since the Chapter of 2016, other places where our charism is needed. Finally, the Fourth Phase allows the candidates to deepen what they have learnt during the preceding Phases through theological and doctrinal reflection. Formation in these different Phases is only possible thanks to the work of our missionary and vocation promoters and the formation teams of the pre-First Phase centres who prepare the aspirants for Initial Formation. I would like to renew once again the gratitude of the General Council and the Society to them all.

What we call Initial Formation today began 150 years ago on the 18th October 1868 at the “Maison Rostan” on the heights of El Biar in Algeria. The novices were seven in number and they were accompanied by a Jesuit, Fr. Vincent who was in charge until May 1869. Joining him was a member of the Sulpician Order, Fr. Gillet, a professor of Theology, and an African layman, professor of Arabic trained by the Italian Comboni Missionaries. During the course of the years and with Algeria becoming independent, this Initial Formation programme developed progressively in Europe and North America.

Today, with the exception of the First Phase, which is under the authority of the Provincial Superiors and the Third Phase, all the other Phases are in Africa and come under the direct responsibility of the Superior General and his Council. The pages of this issue of the Petit Echo tell us how our Society has developed in this area of formation and it gives the word to Formators who express their joys and sorrows. In this Jubilee year, we express our thanks to the Lord who has given us an abundant harvest. We began the year (academic) with 508 candidates divided among 19 formation houses of which 11 are in the 1st Phase, 3 in the 2nd Phase and 5 in the 4th Phase as well as those stagiaires in the 3rd Phase living in communities. We are thankful for all these developments and we can determinedly look to the future with hope.

Our Society takes great care to propose a long holistic formation journey to candidates which responds as far as possible to the needs of the mission today and tomorrow.. It links together a formation that is human, spiritual, intellectual and training for an intercultural, international, community and apostolic life of a missionary character.

Formation is a key aspect of our mission. Our future as a missionary society depends on the way we invest today in training our young people. The 2016 Chapter reaffirmed that Initial Formation is a priority for our Society and is the concern of everybody and not just those for whom it is their primary mission. It drew our attention on the need to rethink our intellectual formation so that it might be more missionary and less clerical in outlook (CA 4.1.4b). It reminded us that the apostolic vision of our Founder, Cardinal Lavigerie, “Be apostles and nothing other than apostles” sums up our identity as missionaries. It is the foundation on which our formation programme is built and through which we prepare men for a total commitment to follow Christ at the service of the mission in the African world and there where our charism is sought. Thus, starting from this vision which inspires our missionary life, the Chapter, which was an important moment of returning to the basics while, at the same time, widening our vision, urges us to make our candidates aware of the values and demands of the Mission in order to be able to discern their missionary vocation, (cf.CA. 4.1.2a). As the Capitular Acts state, “When it comes to choosing places of apostolate, we should look first to Missionary of Africa priorities including apostolates with those on the periphery of society” (CA, 4.1.2d).

As the Society is composed of Priests and Brothers, the Chapter paid particular attention to the training of Brothers. It tasked the General Council to look again at their formation by launching a reflection at all levels of the Society and to organise a special forum of all the Brothers with the aim of clarifying the specificity of the Brother’s vocation and to make it more attractive in order to provide a better service to the mission. As a first step, a preparatory committee composed of some Brothers met in Rome from the 5th to the 8th December 2017. In addition, the Chapter insisted that, “the Brothers should receive a professional formation so as to be well prepared for the Mission” (CA, 4.1.4h).

The Chapter reaffirms the responsibility of the Society to form missionary disciples according to the heart of Jesus in view of a preferential love for the poor. In its 150 years of existence our Initial Formation programme has evolved a lot. From 18th October 1868 to the 19th September 1875, the responsibility for running our novitiate lay with the Jesuit Order. The novitiate was closed from the 31st August 1870 to 18th October 1871 because of the Franco-Prussian War which broke out on the 15th July 1870. The first Missionary of Africa to take charge of the novitiate was Fr. Charbonnier (+1888) from 19th September 1875 to September 1880. The first scholasticate opened at Maison Carée on the 18th October 1871 with four students under the direction of Fr. Ducat, a Jesuit. The first Missionary of Africa to be in charge was Fr.Léon Livinhac (+1922) from 19th September 1875 to the 8th March 1878. Certainly our Initial Formation has evolved positively but the objective remains the same: train missionaries following the vision of our Founder, missionaries who are full of the joy of the Gospel and always available for a prophetic mission of Encounter and Dialogue and a witness to the love of God in the African world or wherever people seek our charism.

Didier Sawadogo, M.Afr.
Assistant General