2003

In 2003, the Twelfth General Chapter was held in Nairobi, Kenya - a General Chapter being a time of community discernment and decision-making.  It was the first time such a gathering had been held in Africa. 

According to the Chapter newsletter, ‘A beautiful banner with the chapter logo was made for the final Chapter event by a woman from the Jesuit Refugee Service project called “Mikono”, the Kiswahili word for hands. This income-generating project strives to uplift the economic status of poor refugees living in Nairobi by assisting refugees talented in making handicrafts or any other activity involved in the use of their hands. The banner was sewn in multi-coloured materials on bark cloth, a very special fabric from Uganda.’

‘Karibuni’ is the Swahili word of welcome.

In her editorial for the Intercontinent edition of August 2003, Sister Eunice Cudzewicz wrote: ‘This InterContinent goes to press as we draw to a close many months of Chapter work across the Society and ready our hearts and souls for the final Chapter event. We have been stretched and have grown on our journey.  We have had moments of great insight and intensity, as well as some days of just plain hard work, as we continued on our sacred journey of trying to live in our daily lives the vision of healing and wholeness in solidarity with the whole community of life.’

Sister Eunice also quoted from the recently completed 'Documenting Health, Healing and Wholeness' mandate:

‘We realized that we are part of the total web of life that continues to yearn for what is right and just. This realization has opened avenues for us to network and collaborate with others who share this same yearning. Networking and collaboration can broaden the base of participation toward policy-making at all levels - local, national and international. This reflection comes from an understanding that our shared life in mission is a channel through which our creative energies can flow towards the restoration of God’s purpose for all -restoring right relationships with God, among ourselves, among communities and among nations.’

We continue today on the Sacred Journey in solidarity with the Community of Life.