The Very Rev. Fr. Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, visited the St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church community on 13th October, 2026 as part of his visit to Ghana after his arrival in the country on 12th October.
Fr. Arturo Marcelino, a Venezuelan Jesuit, was elected the 31st Superior General on 14th October 2016, to lead the order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1540.
The St. Ignatius of Loyola church community welcomed him with a colourful cultural troupe featuring traditional dancing and drumming.
A discussion on Jesuit life and missionary work followed, where the Superior General responded to questions from parishioners about issues concerning the church and missionary life.
During the interaction, Fr. Marcelino encouraged parishioners to grow in the Ignatian spirituality amid challenges faced during everyday life.
He said, “If we develop really the Ignatian spirituality, we will grow along our life, we will grow in familiarity with God… and that familiarity with God is what enables us to find Him everywhere, in all things.”
He urged the elders in the church to listen attentively to the youth and share their experiences of friendship with Jesus.
He noted, “We need to move to them, get closer… because the insight in that preference is that the hope about the future is in the heart of the young people… We have experiences, not to make them repeat our experience, but we can share our experience. We can share our experience of God, especially. We have an experience of how to find God”
According to Fr. Marcelino, despite the challenges in our world today, Christians and the Catholic faith must remain the “good seeds” in God’s land and “contribute in the best form to make it possible.”
“God is working there. The good seed is there…We need to contribute. It’s not our land. It’s the land of God…We need to grow in faith, and in hope that it is going to happen.”
The discussions concluded with Holy Mass, during which the church community expressed their gratitude to the Superior General for his visit.
Fr. Arturo Marcelino was also gifted a beautifully crafted African shirt and a portrait of the map of Africa.
Very Rev. Fr. Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal, SJ, is accompanied by Fr. Jesús Miguel Zaglul Criado, SJ, Fr. General’s Assistant for Latin America and General Counsellor of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Chukwunyenum Afiawari, SJ, Director of Communications at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus and Fr. John Kobina Ghansah, SJ, Provincial Superior of the North-West Africa Province of the Society of Jesus.
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is expected to visit other Jesuit communities in Gomoa Buduatta, where the Jesuit community in Ghana hopes to situate a Jesuit high school, and Brafoyaw in Cape Coast before leaving the country.
By: Veronica Sena Amenya//Newswatchgh.com
