Back to “School” at the Institute!
This August, 2024, the Historical Institute received the visit of the first-year Scholastics of Hekima Jesuit Community. It was part of their orientation week. All had heard of it, but few could visualize the resources and work that go into it. As luck would have it, one expressed an interest in history. It’s our prayer that there will be more. Time will tell!
During the month of June, all the Institute’s staff were on home-leave: Jeff, Denis and Philip all went to the village and their families for a well-deserved rest. On their return, they joyfully welcomed a group of 4 novices from the Jesuit Province of East Africa. For two weeks, the young Companions completed their internship, just before taking their simple vows! We wish them all the best for the future in this Society, and hope that their interest in studying its Institute will continue to grow.
As for me, I had two sessions with the Tertians. One, online, with our Companions from Zinkwazi in South Africa, and another with those from Bukavu. Between presentations and spiritual conversations, we all grew as Companions in inner knowledge of the Society, and, as in the Spiritual Exercises, we learned to love it and desired to serve it more. Once the tertianship session was over, I was able to enjoy a time of spiritual renewal, in this beautiful retreat center of Amani, on the fresh peninsula of Lake Kivu. At least once a day, I would also sit by the lake to contemplate, in the distance, the Society of Jesus some 22 years ago.
Speaking of the novitiate, as you will see in this issue, while I was there, our venerated Father, Master André Bouillot, SJ, returned to the Father’s house, after a lifetime of service to the Society of Jesus in Africa, including two long stays at the Cyangugu novitiate as Master of Novices. In our community at the Centre Spirituel Amani in Bukavu, his former novices remembered this saintly man with great emotion and deep gratitude.
Emotions, undoubtedly more painful given his young age, also ran high when we learned of the death of Brother Michel Taptué, SJ. For those who knew him, he was simply “A Big Brother.” It was almost impossible to get bored around him, and any attempt to fall asleep was interrupted by his gruff voice and a pat on the back, shaking you to your feet. Behind this muscular body, behind this
force of nature, there was a very sensitive man, a mother’s heart combined with uniquely artistic talent. Michel knew how to lift up the poor who couldn’t take it anymore, to bring the proud “microbe” back to its rightful reality, its insignificance before the depth, height, breadth and immensity of God’s love. On July 16, illness took its toll on Big Brother. Like many Brothers in the history of the Society, Michel was also a builder, and architect whose works from Bafoussam to Yaoundé, from Kribi to Kigali, and N’Djamena, will be remembered for ages. May the Lord he loved receive him, like Bouillot, into his eternal joy!
In the meantime, the Institute’s discreet work continues, particularly in the field of research. A meeting of JCAM archivists has already been scheduled for September 10. We entrust this mission to your prayers, just as we continue to count on your multifaceted support.
Happy Feast Day of Saint Ignatius!
Jean Luc Enyegue, SJ
Director JHIA
