Director of Jesuit Missions in London, Paul Chitney, visiting the country and the works of the Jesuit Province of Zimbabwe expressed his joys at the numerous works being done by the Jesuits and others, especially for the poor and marginalized.

“I have visited St Paul’s Musami, St Peters’ Kubatana, Silveira House and Chishawasha. We are in the process of strategic planning and we are refocusing our work on the core mission of the Society of Jesus which is the service of faith through the promotion of justice,” he said.

He added: “We are very keen to focus on the poorest communities in Zimbabwe and we are very keen to play a developmental role accompanying the province, working alongside the province here as we have done for many years to help them in the different works they are doing around the country.”

Besides Zimbabwe, the Mission office is partnering many other countries in development work that include Zambia and South Africa. They are working with Jesuits “in South Sudan where there is an outbreak of violence and a huge number of refugees

He had appreciation for the work that the Church is doing in Zimbabwe. “I think the Church is doing fantastic and doing a very important job. I’m aware of the enormous regard which people holds with the Jesuits in Zimbabwe. And I think their work in education for example at St Paul’s Musami working with some of the poorest people who cannot afford to pay food for their children,” he said.

He added: “We were talking on how we could help the poorest children, talking about deaf children and it was made clear to me that the society has made an option for the poor and is working in many places with some of the poorest people in Zimbabwe.”

He was also amazed by the faith witnessed amongst Zimbabweans. “I was at Mass on Sunday with the Chaplain for the University of Zimbabwe, and the faith of those young people was impressive; the attention, the silence, the beautiful singing and the commitment to the work of the Chaplaincy.

“I also attended a Justice and Peace meeting where a number of students were present and I was hugely impressed with the quality of young people present, their thinking and their minds and a country that has young people with that level of intelligence, commitment and deep faith…”