Visit of Fr. General from Thursday 24th to Sunday 27th October. Upon arrival, p. Sosa met with the Slovenian Jesuits at St. Joseph in Ljubljana. He listened to the presentation of the province by Fr. provincial Ivan Bresciani, then introduced himself and answered the companions’ questions. The evening concluded in a friendly and Slovenian traditional manner, singing brindisi to the Society and other songs.

In the following days Fr. general visited the rest of the Ljubljana community at St. Jacob ,in Dravlje and those in Radlje ob Dravi (he also met the parish community at Holy Mass on Saturday 26 October) and Maribor. In brief but friendly, spiritually and work-oriented talks, he was received by the Archbishops of Ljubljana and Maribor (in the latter, Msgr. Alojz Cvikl SJ) and the Apostolic Nuncio for Slovenia and Kosovo, Msgr. Jean-Marie Speich. Along with the Slovene provincial, Fr. Sosa was accompanied by the assistant for the Southern Europe Assistany, Fr. Cipriano Diaz, and a spokesman for the Roman SJ Curia, Fr. Pierre Belanger. The latter was particularly interested in Slovenian Jesuits’ work with students and spouses (The Way of the Two of Us).

The highlight of the visit took place on Friday 25 October in the parish church of the Christ’s Incarnation in Ljubljana Dravlje, for a two-purpose meeting. “The purpose of the visit is first of all to express our gratitude for 50 years of independent activity. Compared to other Jesuit Provinces, we are small and young, but in the course of 50 years we have achieved a lot in Slovenia through our spiritual, pastoral, cultural and intellectual apostolates" wrote the Provincial fr. Ivan Bresciani. Referring to the present challenges of the province, he added: “Today we are aware that the structure of the Church is changing, especially in the Western world, because of the scarcity of religious vocations and other challenges that await us. The Society of Jesus is therefore organizing itself in new ways by forming unions among the Provinces.” In gratitude for our service to God, the Slovenian Jesuits, with friends and colleagues remembered the past (1969-2019) in meditation of Fr. Marjan Kokalj and celebrated a solemn Holy Mass under the leadership of Fr. Sosa.

The second purpose of the visit and the latter meeting in Dravlje was that Fr. General personally invited the Slovenian Jesuits and their associates to a synodality promoted by Pope Francis looking, reacting, listening and conversing. Before the Holy Mass Fr. Sosa outlined the four universal apostolic priorities for Jesuits and associates in 2019-2029.  We then talked about these priorities in small groups before asking for blessings at Mass to become part of our lives and work. Fr. Sosa summed up the meaning of this process, saying: “Discernment invites hope, because it sees what happens as an invitation to be unveiled, as a great opportunity to know how to better serve society and the church, while freeing us from the temptation to believe that problems are so complex that they become almost impossible to solve. The art of discernment is to learn to read the world looking for the last heartbeat, God's heartbeat" (cf. audio of the homily on discernment during the holy mass).