Check this page monthly for stories about interesting people throughout the Maryland Province. If you want to suggest someone to be featured here, contact Kate Pipkin at kpipkin@mdsj.org.

Frank O'Connor, SJ

After spending two years in Nigeria, Frank O'Connor, SJ, knows that life on the African continent can be tough. That is not enough, however, to keep him from returning for five months this year. Nor will his upcoming 80th birthday keep him from traveling halfway across the world. From May through September 2004, Father O'Connor is leading retreats in Benin City, Nigeria. The Jesuit Retreat Center in Benin City is experiencing a shortage of people to lead retreats, and Father O'Connor was called on to lend his expertise to the situation. Before he left for Africa, Father O'Connor gave an interview to the Communications Office of the Maryland Province.

Q - Can you describe the work you will be doing in Nigeria?

A - I expect to be directing eight Ignatian retreats, each about six to eight days long, at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Benin City. The center is popular with lay people, religious and diocesan clergy. It is located on a large beautiful compound, which it shares with the Jesuit novitiate. The landscaping on the grounds of the center was created by Father Bob Hamm, SJ, a member of the staff. During a visit to the center a few years ago, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ, superior general of the Jesuits, described the grounds as the "garden of Eden."

Q - You have worked in Africa before. Can you describe what you were doing and where?

A - For two years (200-2002), I worked at the Jesuit novitiate in Benin City primarily as a teacher of theology, English writing and literature, and French for the Jesuit novices. I also taught theology to novices of the Sacred Heart Sisters, and African community, who came to the Jesuit novitiate for classes. In addition to teaching, I helped with retreats at the retreat center, including 30-day retreats for the Jesuit novices and others. I enjoyed the variety of teaching and the direction of retreats. During those years, I also worked in some ongoing spiritual direction for Nigerians. On weekends, I helped with the Eucharistic liturgies at mission stations that were part of St. Joseph Church, the Jesuit parish in Benin City.

Q - What do you see as some of the primary challenges facing many African countries today?

A - I am not an expert in African affairs nor perhaps an astute observer of all that is happening in Africa today, but I would suppose that the scourge of AIDS is the primary challenge for many African nations. It is reported that 30 million people in sub-Saharan Africa carry the AIDS virus. In South Africa alone, 600 people die every day from AIDS. There is speculation that this devastating sickness could wipe out entire nations in Africa if successful and if affordable remedies are not made widely available there soon.

Q - What has moved you to travel to Africa for an extended stay at this point in your life?

A - I am going to Nigeria at the invitation of Father Dominic Totaro, SJ, because additional help is needed with retreats. The recent construction of an addition to the retreat center's buildings is expected to attract larger numbers of retreatants and hence the need for additional directors of the retreats. When I left Africa in 2002, I never expected to see it again and was surprised - and happy - to receive Dom's invitation. I look forward to returning to Africa.

Q - As you reflect on your Jesuit work, both here and overseas, what advice would you give new Jesuits just starting out?

A - Having lived and worked with Jesuit novices in the Maryland and New York provinces at the Syracuse novitiate as well as in the Nigeria-Ghana region (now part of the new Africa Atlantic province), I am hopeful about the Society of Jesus in those places. It is fascinating to observe young Jesuits mature intellectually, spiritually and apostolically as they are engaged in the process of their formation. I communicate regularly by email with Nigerian and Ghanaian scholastics whom I taught as novices. They are now studying in the Congo and in Zimbabwe. They send me photographs of themselves and a number of them who took to writing poetry in the novitiate still send me samples of the poetry they continue to compose. I have met the families of some of these African scholastics so they send me news about their families in Nigeria and Ghana. It is wonderful to be in regular contact with these young, energetic, future leaders of the Society of Jesus in Africa. I am certain that I too, even though I am approaching 80 years old, continue to grow as a result of this contact.

The Society of Jesus in the countries of Nigeria and Ghana is relatively young with approximately 85 of the 100 Jesuits still in formation. Recent developments add to the excitement there. The excellent secondary school, Loyola Jesuit College in Abuja, attracts Christian and Islamic boys and girls to its impressive campus. The new Catholic University of Ghana has as its first president a Jesuit from Oregon, Father Michael Schultheis, SJ. Jesuit parishes in Lagos, Benin City, and Accra are filled with enthusiastic crowds every weekend. Their hope and optimism are almost tangible as they engage the future filled with confidence that God is truly at work among them.