We’re Called to Live Synodality in “international, intercultural communities”: Rome-based Priest to Spiritans in Kenya

“That’s the reality of the Church, the internationality, the diversity, the mosaic,” he said, adding that Spiritans in Kenya are witnesses to this diversity of the Church, and that they are facilitating the “discovering of God present in a mosaic.”

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

While “no one doubts that the Spiritan mission in Kenya is alive and thriving,” Fr. Jeff said, what is needed “is to respond to the call to finding a way of working together to support each other and the Spiritan mission.”

The First Assistant of Fr. Alain Mayama, the first African Superior General of the 321-year-old Missionary Congregation thanked his multi-national confreres ministering in Kenya “for all that you have done to give witness to who we are as Spiritans.”

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

He recognized the reality of challenges in their mission in the East African nation, saying, “As a Congregation, we are very much a human institution.”

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“But, we believe and we know that the Holy Spirit is working. So, despite our humanity, despite misunderstandings, mistakes, and failures as we come together, right now, with the grace of God, great things are happening,” the Spiritan Priest, who had his first missionary apostolate in Haiti said.

He urged Spiritans in Kenya to go beyond their respective challenges, emphasizing the need to “go beyond nationality, to go beyond where we come from, to go beyond the languages we speak and the ideologies we may have, (and instead) to participate in the call that God has given to us as Spiritans.”

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

“That’s the challenge,” he went on to say, and explained, “It’s a new beginning; an opportunity to start afresh, to do things in a different way... a new way of coming together, a new way of living together, a new way of supporting one another.”

“What is that call about?” he posed, and responded with the illustration of Jesus Christ, to put new wines in new wineskins, where both the wine and the skin are preserved. “That means, create different ways of doing things,” Fr. Jeff emphasized in his April 9 address to over 40 Spiritans ministering in Kenya.

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

He also underscored the need for trust, support, and solidarity, “trusting each other, trusting the leadership ... that they are doing their best, making decisions for the best interest of the mission.”

Responding to the challenge of doing things in a “different way”, he further said, involves “being attentive to what the (Holy) Spirit is calling us to; to leave behind the old ways ... to create and find new ways of doing things.”

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A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

The response involves “walking together and working together, sharing your concerns, your burdens, and allowing the encounter with Jesus ... the spirit of synodality,” the Spiritan Priest further said, adding, “That’s what the Church is calling us to today, the spirit of synodality, listening to each other very carefully, supporting one another.”

He cautioned against competition that sees one type of Spiritan mission “greater than another.” In his considered view, each and particular ministry, including Parishes in the peripheries, urban and slum, education, “all go to create this wonderful mosaic of Spiritan mission.”

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

Fr. Jeff urged Spiritans ministering in Kenya to take up the challenge of the first Catholic U.S. President John F. Kennedy in his historical statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

“That’s the challenge the Spiritans need to take ...  engage the leadership with ways of supporting the Province ...  each of us has something to contribute to the mission,” the U.S.-born Spiritan Priest said.

He also underlined the need to harness the efforts being put in the mission of the Church, and the need “to live our Spiritan life authentically.”

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

“Support one another,” Fr. Jeff emphasized during his April 9 address.

On his part, the Provincial Superior of Spiritans in Kenya and South Sudan, Fr. Frederick Elima Wafula, highlighted the objectives of the Occasional Meeting.

The gathering provided the opportunity for Spiritan confreres to share experiences of their respective apostolates, the Provincial Leadership Team  (PLT) to continue “planning, evaluation and reporting on the implementation of chapter decisions,” and to “carry out the animation program as laid out by the General Council”, Fr. Wafula said.

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The Kenyan-born Spiritan Priest, who has been Provincial Superior in Kenya and South Sudan since March 1 following his appointment on February 9 said he had embraced the call by the Congregation during the 2021 Chapter in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, to do “something new”.

“On my part doing something new means doing it right, correct, following procedures and guidelines, creating synergy, and accepting to be corrected in order to have peace, harmony and unity,” said, adding that “the end purpose is to remain faithful to our Mission (evangelization of the poor) as a Congregation and to our charism.”

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

Fr. Wafula emphasized the need to foster collaborative ministry, saying, “As Spiritans, we have a mandate; as PLT, we have a mandate; as a confrere, you have a mandate ... This mandate is possible to accomplish only when we are Working and walking together, holding each other's arms, as part and parcel of our missionary journey.”

A section of Spiritans during their Occasional Meeting at St. Austin's Msongari Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese on 9 April 2024. Credit: ACI Africa

“If you are doing it alone, if I’m doing it alone, it ends nowhere. Create a space where without you, your initiatives can always continue,” he emphasized.

The Provincial Superior in Kenya and South Sudan welcomed new Spiritans commissioned to the Province, who hail from Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, and Angola.

Other Spiritans ministering in the Province of Kenya and South Sudan are natives of Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Vietnam, and Ireland.

ACI Africa’s Editor-in-Chief, Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla, is a member of the Spiritans.