If you want to hear the phrase “a prayerful, humble and listening Church” spoken in four different languages, Fr Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator SJ is the man you seek. Source: Australian Jesuits.
Not only is it his own phrase, but as someone fluent in four languages, he can also say it and explain it to you in multiple tongues.
The Nigerian-born Jesuit is dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University in California. He grew up practising traditional African religion in Nigeria.
According to a profile on the university website, Fr Orobator’s journey to Christianity began “after visiting the local Jesuit parish as a teenager for Easter Vigil Mass”, following which he began to identify with Catholicism and, in particular, the Jesuit order.
He is prolific writer, with books such as Theology Brewed in an African Pot and Religion and Faith in Africa: Confessions of an Animis.
Synodality is a significant theme for Fr Orobator, who was a voting member at the Synod on Synodality in Rome last year.
Fr Orobator will visit Australia this month for a series of public forums in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, just days after the two-day Jesuit parishes’ workshop centred on synodality and leadership.
For a full schedule of Fr Orobator’s series of public forums in Australia, visit https://www.garrattpublishing.com.au/pdf/Orobator-in-Australia-2024.pdf.
FULL STORY
Why synodality resonates (Australian Jesuits)
