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Xavier House: a microcosm of a growing African Church

When Fr. Tony Wach, SJ arrived in Kampala, Uganda 10 years ago, the Jesuit residence was just about filled. "Ten of the 11 rooms were filled with 2 Canadians, 2 Maltese, a Detroit Jesuit, and five Wisconsin men," Fr. Wach says. "Eventually the house will be African. But in the beginning there were no Africans here." Here is Xavier House, a simple structure that sits atop the Nsambya Hill area of Kampala, part of the Society of Jesus Eastern Africa Province. The province also includes the nations of Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Kenya, where the Wisconsin Province offers financial assistance and manpower to help train agrowing number of African priests and religious.

Great strides are being made toward building a strong, independent Church in the Eastern Africa Province and throughout Africa. This very spirit that is building the church is reflected in the history and activities of Xavier House, which has been home to Fr. Wach for more than a decade.

After its completion in 1989, Xavier House developed a very international flavor as it became home to Jesuits from Australia, India, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and America. "But still we had no Africans," says Fr. Wach, "except for young novices passing through on the way to the novitiate, or others who came to visit the vocation director" - one of several hats he wears.

From a full house of 11 Jesuits in residence, the number dropped to six in 1998 due to reassignments, illness, and the unexpected death of Fr. Bill Callahan, SJ, 56, a Wisconsin Province Jesuit who devoted many years of his life to missionary work in the U.S. and abroad.

An infusion of renewed energy began shortly after with the arrival of Br. Fred Mercy, SJ (Oregon Province), followed by Fr. Jim Egan, SJ (Wisconsin Province). That began to get things bustling again.

"Last year we had four new people join our community, and three were African," Fr. Wach says. "We added a fourth African this year." One of last year's arrivals was Fr. Stephen Msele, SJ, a Tanzanian Jesuit who responded to the massacres in neighboring Rwanda by founding Project Undugu, a sports and cultural movement established first in Tanzania in 1995. Undugu is Swahili for familyhood. The movement motto is: "The world is one and all people are my brothers and sisters."

Undugu activities are rooted in the belief that all men and women, just like Jesus Christ, are sons and daughters of God, the ever-living father and mother of all people. The Undugu way of proceeding includes promoting a spirit of universal familyhood in an effort to break down the walls of hatred that divide tribes, nations, religions - all the world's peoples. Toward that end, Undugu organizes and stages cultural festivals, sports competitions, workshops, seminars, training programs and income-generating projects to support its activities.

The neighborhood around Xavier House has come alive with Undugu youth (and even some adults) dancing, singing, playing sports, and even learning, praying, and working together!

While exciting to watch grow, Undugu also offers young African Jesuit scholastics an opportunity to work 400 young men, many of them from the poorer suburbs of that city. In Arusha, Tanzania, we visited and photographed our vibrant novitiate, where eight new novices had just arrived to begin their training as Jesuits. These were but two of many stops.

This past month I wrote Fr. Ed Mathie, my Provincial, asking to be reassigned to East Africa. In trying to explain why I long to go back, I draw on an analogy. When I am outside looking up under a pitch-black sky at the stars, I am in awe. First, there is a sense of size. I feel what a small part of this whole universe we all are. Yet we are here with our gifts, a part of this whole God-given enterprise. Then there is a sense of familiarity. I know the constellations, many star clusters, and some galaxies. I can name and have even photographed many of them. I feel drawn to behold them again and again.

Africa is somehow like that. Vast and diverse, with its many different languages and customs, it beckons. with an African priest in a start-up ministry that reflects an initiative that typifies the charism of Jesuit missionary and apostolic life.

As more scholastics come through the formation process, the Jesuits of Xavier House dream of one day, perhaps soon, expanding to other areas of Uganda and even starting a local institution such as a Jesuit school or parish in Kampala. With no Jesuit institution nearby, however, Xavier house has become a backbone of support for a variety of diocesan-based activities. Higher up the hill is a new alcohol treatment center to help priests and other religious cope with the pressures of serving a country afflicted by disease, poverty, and the decades-long aftereffects of oppression and civil war. Br. Mercy heads the project and receives support from Fr. Egan, whose primary responsibility is to St. Augustine's Institute, a renewal center for diocesan priests just across the dirt road outside Xavier House."They built it there because we're here and they were hoping we would get involved, " Fr. Wach says. Br. Mercy participates in programs at St. Augustine's, as does Fr. Wach and Fr. Msele. "Dovetailing with each other's projects like that helps build our sense of community," Fr. Wach adds.

That same sense of community helps root the African people in the Church and helps the Church continue to take root in the hearts of the many tribes and people in Africa's many countries. The future is bright and filled with energy.

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