Regional Day in Egypt from Feb. 2nd to 3rd, 2022

After the joyful moment of the Ordination to the priesthood of the new priest, Joseph Fawzi Sj, on the afternoon of Feb. 2^nd, Jesuits in Egypt launched their annual Regional Day hosted by the Jesuit community in Minya. The majority of the Jesuits in Egypt were present. the Regional Day started with the prayer prepared by Bassem Adel and the novices who also animated all our spiritual moments and the Mass. Then Fr. Mohsen Adel gave us some insights about the importance of expending the Jesuit mission in upper Egypt. He encouraged Jesuits in Egypt to open a new community in Assuit, indicating the advantages for this choice. Then Fr. Provincial gave us some news about the province. After this, we concluded the first half of this gathering with social time and supper in the restaurant of the Residence of Jesuit in Minya. 

The second half of this gathering continued the following day, Thursday Feb. 3rd. The subject for this day was the two important Jesuit movements in Egypt, MEJ and CLC.  After morning prayer, animaters of MEJ from Alexandria, Cairo, and Minya gave us some historical background of their activities. They presented some statistics about this movement; there are 5100 members, mostly children as well as some young people. The movement is present in 6 governorates in Egypt (Alexandria, Mansoura, Cairo, Minya, Assuit, Sohag). Moreover, they still receive requests to open MEJ in many other parishes. The MEJ team elaborated the challenges they face as the movement continues to expend. They created three different models: for school, for perishes and for collective groups, explaining the difference between each one of them. At the end of their discussion, we listened to a beautiful and moving testimony from Sarah Sami, the lay responsible of MEJ in Minya. She explained how this activity was a millstone in her life and led her to change from an introverted person to one who expresses herself easily and can accept the fact that others have different ideas.

After this testimony about MEJ, the second half of the morning was dedicated to the CLC movement in Egypt. Members from the head office of the movement stared by giving the historical background and some current statistics for their activities. There are 15 communities in Egypt, with 110 members, located mainly in three cities in Egypt: Cairo, Alexandria and Assuit. They explained how they were able to sustain the community life of their group and maintain communication during the lockdown due to the pandemic (Covid -19). The team of CLC shared with us some of the challenges that they are facing at present, such as: the movement is not attracting young people, lack of financial means and lastly, the need for more Jesuits as spiritual directors for CLC communities. 

We concluded the Regional Day with the Eucharist celebrated by Fr. Mario Boulos who, for some years past, has not been able to participate in this Regional Day, as he was abroad during his formation. 

Thanks to the Jesuit community in Mina for their generosity in hosting this delightful gathering. 

Mario Boulos SJ