Gonzalo Villagrán, Socius of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials (JCEP) visited the JCEP Tertianship programme in Bikfaya, Lebanon, from November 4th to November 9th. The visit served to officially welcome the Tertians and accompany the initial stage of their formation. Taking advantage of the Socius's academic background, Fr. Dany Younès, the Tertian Instructor, arranged with him a three-day workshop for the Tertians focused on Christian-Muslim dialogue as part of the schedule. Welcoming and Integration Gonzalo described the second visit to Lebanon as a "fascinating experience," noting the country's profound spirituality and hospitality. The Bikfaya tertianship community provides an excellent integration into the traditional Christian Lebanese village, offering visitors a unique perspective on local life. The Tertianship group is highly international, comprised of Jesuits from diverse countries and cultures, each bringing incredible apostolic experiences. Gonzalo found it particularly challenging, yet rewarding, to present the prepared workshops to such a "prepared and experienced" group of companions. Workshop on Dialogue The workshop consisted of three distinct sessions over three days, each divided into two parts. The topics covered the scope of Christian-Muslim relations and comparative theology: Day 1: Plurality in society and the method of comparative theology. Day 2: Christian-Muslim relations and the history of Christian-Muslim dialogue. Day 3: A presentation on Christian-Muslim comparative religious thought. Key foundational texts in modern Christian-Muslim dialogue were also read and discussed: the Church document Dialogue and Proclamation (1991), the Muslim initiative A Common Word between you and us (2006), and the Document on Human Fraternity (2019), signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. The most enriching part of the sessions was reported to be the "conversation in the Spirit." The enormous apostolic experience of each Jesuit proved invaluable in illuminating the ideas presented and suggesting new paths forward for dialogue. A Powerful Witness: The Excursion to Barqa The visit concluded with an excursion to Barqa, the village where Fr. Nicolas Kluiters SJ lived and was martyred in 1985. Witnessing his extremely poor living quarters next to the Church, examining his working documents, and hearing testimonies from local Christians who knew him was extremely moving. The group felt a palpable call "to live more radically our Jesuit lives, closer to the poor," and a renewed commitment to the work of Christian-Muslim dialogue. The Value of Formation at the Frontier Reflecting on the visit as he begins his mission as Socius of the JCEP, Gonzalo affirmed the immense value of the Tertianship program. He underscored its significance as the final stage of Jesuit formation, placing Jesuits from around the world in a "context of real frontier."

Three Tertianships have begun in provinces of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials in the month of September. The Tertianship or the Third Probation, or also sometimes called the "third year of the novitiate," is a special time in the life of a Jesuit. It follows ordination and several (or perhaps a dozen) years of pastoral practice. Its purpose is to renew the charism, deepen one's relationship with God, and gain practical knowledge of Ignatian spirituality. We will get to know more about the Tertianships that have just begun. Bikfaya - Lebanon - JCEP Tertianship Monday, September 29 we inaugurate for the fifth time the European Tertianship Programme, which bears the name of Nicolaus Kluiters. Last year the inauguration took place in Cairo due to security circumstances. Seven companions joined the community in Bikfaya, so we are now ten together with Salah, Rabih, and myself. Who are the Tertians? – Juan Carlos Pallardel Aparicio from Peru (PER), on a mission in Pakistan; – Changmo Cho from South Korea (KOR), on a mission in Turkey; – Joseph Nabil from Egypt (PRO); – Rayan Joel Lobo from India (KAR), who has just completed his doctorate in the Bible in Germany; – Mateusz Kowalcze from southern Poland (PME), who works with the police; – Vitaliy Osmolovskyy from Ukraine (PME), a judo champion; – Paweł Gołaszewski from northern Poland (PMA), a surgeon. In the coming weeks, the participants in the program will prepare for the Long Retreat (16 November – 16 December) by making a spiritual reading of their lives, accompanied by readings from the tradition of the Order that touch on vital aspects of our life, such as prayer, community life, the three vows, and spiritual discernment. After the retreat, the companions will be sent to different places for two months, then we will gather again to study our way of life in a systematic manner   Salamanca - Spain This past Monday, September 15, the Third Probation of the Spanish Province began in Salamanca —one of three held throughout the Spanish-speaking Universal Society. This is a special time in the life of every Jesuit, and as the Provincial Father recalled during the inaugural Mass, it is a "school of affection ," where we can return to our essence, thus culminating the journey of formation in the Society. On this occasion, the number of participants amounts to twelve, coming from Poland, India, Brazil, Argentina, United States , Chile, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Spain , accompanied by Father Luis María García Domínguez SJ as instructor and Adrián López SJ 'Yansi' as assistant.    Jastrzębia Góra - Poland On September 23, 2025, eight Jesuits began their Third Probation in Jastrzębia Góra with a solemn Holy Mass presided over by Father Provincial Zbigniew Leczkowski SJ. Andrii Syvak (worked in Lviv), Andriy Zelinskyy (worked in Kyiv), Jarosław Charchuła (from Krakow), Dominik Sroka (responsible for MAGIS groups in Stara Wieś), Jakub Śpiewak (catechist from Gliwice), Przemysław Gwadera (from Święta Lipka), Zbigniew Jałbrzykowski (from Toruń) and Mikael Schink, who worked in the parish of St. Eugenia in Stockholm.    

The 2024-2025 Nicholas Kluiters European Tertianship program finished on June 8th. The details of the participants were mentioned in a previous article. Dany Younes, Tertian instructor shares with us his impressions of the program. This was indeed a very particular version of the Nicholas Kluiters European Tertianship Programme! The five Tertians were appointed to a house in Lebanon, but until the last session of tertianship, only one of them had resided in the house. Eziokwu, who is the Socius of his Provincial, came to Lebanon for the Long Retreat in January, because he could not join the others who had their retreat in February, in Egypt. Krystian had probably been to Bikfaya when he came to Lebanon with EJIF some years ago. But the other three Tertians were about to finish their tertianship without knowing the house where they were inscribed… if it weren’t for the proposal they did. Artur, Krystian, Matthew and Shigi proposed to hold the last session in Lebanon instead of Egypt. Later, Krystian would not come, and would end the tertianship by joining us online, like Eziokwu. The personnel of the house were thrilled to meet with the three Tertians. Especially Zella, my assistant. She is a certified tourist guide. She took the guys on different trips, to the Cedars of the North and the archeological sites of the East. The two weeks of closure were mostly oriented towards a review of the whole experience. The evaluation the tertians had with the President, Fr Dalibor, and later with me, showed that tertianship is really what tertians give to each other. The way we build the community allows us to heal, to grow and to find joy. On June 8, 2025, the fourth version of the Nicholas Kluiters Programme came to an end. Matthew went back to Nigeria, Artur to London, before going home to Poland and Shigi to his treasurer’s office in Nairobi. Eziokwu and Krystian were already at home. The Novitiate is finally over. May they flourish and find peace. May they serve the Lord until the last breath.

More than one of the five Tertians enrolled in the Nicholas Kluiters European Tertianship Programme had to hear that question from friendly companions. Thankfully, the common response was a big smile. Eziokwu, Artur, Shigi, Matthew and Krystian met in Cairo last September for the launching of the 2024-2025 class. They compose the fourth cohort of tertians to join this programme. As soon as we gathered in Cairo, the situation deteriorated in Lebanon very quickly. It was wise to run the programme in Egypt. We had one month. This is what the tourist visas allow. Of course, we could ask for an extension, but it wasn’t needed. Artur went to Dublin, then to Armenia where he worked with the Missionaries of Charity (MC). Shigi did his experiment with the MC in Sri Lanka. Krystian was in Athens, helping with the Polish Parish, and joined the MC as well. Matthew and Eziokwu went back to Nigeria, the former to work in the Kukah Center in Abuja, and the latter to resume his work as Socius. We had online classes twice a week. Now we gather again in Cairo. As I write these lines, Matthew is flying over the Sahara. We will start the Long Retreat on Sunday 9 February in the evening, together with the Novices of the PRO Province, in the Coptic Catholic Monastery of the Annunciation. We will finish on March 12. Eziokwu could not join us, because of inescapable commitments. He travelled to Lebanon in January to do his Long Retreat with me, before I left to Egypt. After the retreat, we will have some days of rest, then each will go to a new destination (unless otherwise decided with me) to proceed with the study of the Institute while making community with companions in different places. The plan is to meet again end of May, in Egypt, for the conclusion of this year’s programme. Events have dictated this course. But the generosity of the tertians has made that course very fruitful. It was not what I had chosen for them, but it was what God has chosen for us all. So, what kind of tertianship is that? One of the best kinds, I’m sure! Dany Younes Tertian instructor

The JCEP Tertianship, normally based in Bikfaya, Lebanon, began this year in Egypt. Due to the security situation in Lebanon, the programme is adapted both in terms of location and format. Five participants - from Poland, Nigeria and Tanzania - began their "School of the Heart" on 16 September 2024 at the Collège de la Sainte Famille in Cairo, under the direction of Dany Younes SJ. The first face-to-face session will last a month. The second will be the 30-day retreat in February and the concluding one in June. We hope that the latter two will take place in Lebanon as planned, if the situation in that country allows it. In the meantime, the Tertians will have their apostolic experiments and online meetings and workshops in different countries.  Meet the Tertians  I'm called Eziokwubundu Amadi. You may call me Eziokwu if you have no patience to pronounce the long name. I'm a Nigerian. Since my priestly ordination in 2020, I have worked mostly in the Jesuit novitiate as the Assistant Novice Master. Currently, I'm serving as the Socius of the Jesuit province of Africa North-West (ANW).       My name is Krystian Mółka SJ, I am from South Polish Province (PME). I joined the Society of Jesus in 2007, and for the last four years I was a vocation promoter.         My name is Artur Wyzina (PMA) from Poland. I was ordained in 2013. I studied in Krakow, Warsaw and Rome. For the last eight years I have worked at the Jesuit School Complex in Gdynia.        My name is Evarist Shigi. I am from the Eastern Africa Province (AOR). I joined the Society in 2006 and have been serving in the province treasure office for the past few years.        My name is Matthew Ma. I joined the North West Africa Province of the Society of Jesus in 2001. I am Nigerian and have just graduated from Saint Louis University in Missouri, USA.    

György Hiba spent eight months in Lebanon as the last stop of his formation as a Jesuit. In the meantime, he also visited Armenia and Georgia. He spoke about his experiences at the evening held on June 12 in Budapest. György Hiba SJ spent his third probation - the school of the heart - in Lebanon from September 2023 to May of this year, which is called Tertianship. He dedicated this period to Nicolas Kluiters. The Dutch Jesuit - who came to Lebanon in the 1970s - was kidnapped and killed by Muslim extremists in 1985. Tertianship takes place at the end of the Jesuit formation, through which Jesuits must grow into the apostolic body of the Society. In other words, the focus of this period is apostolate, but at least as important is reconciliation, which helps to get from one person to another. During the tertianship, the spiritual training takes place under the guidance of a tertianship master. At such times, Jesuits are thrown out of his usual patterns and confronts himself: he prepares for his Jesuit vocation in a foreign environment, with previously unknown companions. György SJ Hiba participated in the probation with thirteen fellow Jesuits from different countries. As he said, they quickly got over the differences due to their nationality. They helped and supported each other. During the tertianship, problems that seemed to have been resolved resurfaced. György Hiba then spoke a few words about Lebanon. In the Lebanese flag, white is a symbol of peace, while red is a reminder of the blood of the martyrs. In the middle of the flag is the cedar, of which we can see a lot in the country, some specimens can live up to a thousand years. There is no social welfare system in the country. György Hiba met Elias in Beirut, who with his companion visits the elderly, rich and poor alike. One day he also accompanied Elias, blessing the extremely open and kind people. The windows of an elderly aunt's apartment were broken in the 2020 explosion, causing serious wounds, the consequences of which she is still suffering. Beirut, which used to be a bustling, rich city, has no tourists these days. György Hiba visited the Jesuit monastery here and in Bikfaiya. Lebanon's popular saint Saint Charbel, whose tomb was also visited in Annaya. György Hiba told us that the pilgrims came and went during the Mass, some of them put the altar cross on their heads. After the terrorist attack on Israel, Lebanon was also targeted because the airport is under the control of Hezbollah. This is also why György Hiba had to go to Armenia with the Missionaries of Charity (Sisters of Mother Teresa). Finally, after a detour in Rome - where he helped the local sisters - he managed to get to Armenia, closer to Spitak. The sisters came here after a severe earthquake, they wanted to help physically and mentally injured people. Recently, refugees from Karabakh came to the small houses built here. György Hiba held religious classes and catechesis here, even for children. Later, he also served in Yerevan, where the sisters work with orphans who were abandoned by their parents because they were born with a disability. Together with volunteers, the nurses care for them: they give them love and human dignity. György Hiba said: the experience of this period was that the distinction (to know what comes from God and what does not ) - which is perhaps already clear to the soul - must also appear in thinking. The Jesuit priest also reached Georgia. A handful of Catholic minorities live there, and the attitude of Russian-influenced Orthodoxy is not ecumenical, to put it mildly. At the end of the Tertianship, already back in Lebanon, he had to think about everything he had experienced, he had to reflect on his Jesuit status. György Hiba emphasized that he realized that he should not dwell on the tasks of the coming period, but should recognize what brings him closer to Jesus Christ. In one of the presented images, we see a statue of the Virgin Mary sitting calmly. "Here we encounter a rarely depicted scene: Mary is waiting for her Son. We, Christians, must realize that it is waiting for us too." György Hiba also emphasized that all our thoughts should start from the cross of Christ, as we see in the Armenian depictions. On these, the cross is more like a tree, from whose branches sprout the buds of spiritual life.    Photos: Merényi Zita Baranyai Béla/Magyar Kurír