“From His Fullness We Have All Received Grace Upon Grace”: Glorious Celebrations at Loyola House
By Fr. Odomaro Mubangizi, SJ
Just when we thought that the Double Jubilee celebrations were coming to a close, more was yet to happen. This was just to confirm the words of St. John the that “From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (Jn. 1:16). Saturday 29th August, 2026 was a unique celebration of our companions who were moving on to other “villages”. Stephen Nzyoki, SJ, who has been serving as Formation Assistant, is heading to Dar es Salaam as Head Master of Loyola High School, while Mukasa Binamungu, SJ, who has been serving as Socius to the Provincial, is destined for Mwanza as Parish Priest after his short Sabbatical at AFRICAMA. The other major celebration was that of Rev. Prof. Elias Opongo, SJ, on his appointment as VC of CUEA. The Loyolites were visibly excited and happy to have one of their own rise to such a high office in the AMECEA region. The evening was also an occasion to celebrate the arrival of Fr. Michael Sitati, SJ, since he was ordained a priest. His brothers graced the occasion, with rumours circulating that one of his brothers might be considering joining the Jesuits. Fr. Binamungu also had some guests who graced the event. This is not all—six novices who were also on their way to Sri Lanka, and so Loyola Community also took this opportunity to wish them the best in their next mission to the East.
The MC of the day, Eric Mwaniki, SJ, helped to animate the celebrations. Several speeches were given to appreciate the contribution of the men who had been very instrumental in the life of Loyola House and of the Provincial. Fr. Kizito Kiyimba, SJ, Provincial AOR, took turns appreciating the wonderful job each of the men had done in their respective offices. He appreciated Fr. Nzyoki for his great work as Formation Assistant, and Fr. Binamungu, for his immense support as his Socius. He singled out Fr. Binamungu’s great attention to details and meticulous planning of schedules. He then congratulated Rev. Prof. Opongo on his appointment as VC of CUEA and wished him success in his challenging new responsibility. On the six novices who were going to Sri Lanka, he mentioned that their cohort would all be from AOR. He advised them to use this rare occurrence, as an opportunity to grow in humility and appreciate the local culture, while avoiding any feeling of “majoritarianism.” The climax of the celebration was the cutting and sharing of a special cake for the celebration.
On Wednesday 2nd September, 2026 was the birthday of Fr. Didimus Shirima, SJ, nicknamed “the Fisherman”, because of his vocation promotion job. This was a rare celebration since most birthdays are celebrated on Saturdays. The main celebrant at the Wednesday Community mass was Fr. Dominic Mutunga (nick-named His Eminence), who requested Shirima to come forward for a blessing before concluding the mass. After singing happy birthday to him, the entire community extended their hands on Shirima for special blessings. A sumptuous dinner followed to celebrate Shirima’s life. Speaker after speaker praised his incredible work in vocation promotion. The novices who were to go to Sri Lanka had their flight rescheduled due to a strike by JKIA Airport employees. They were very happy to be part of this great celebration of the “fisherman’s” life. In his speech Fr. Shirima expressed deep gratitude for the support the community has given him in his work of vocation promotion and further thanked the Superior for giving him a rare opportunity to celebrate his birthday on a day set aside for him alone. A special cake was also shared to mark Fr. Shirima’s birthday.
To crown the abundant graces, on Tuesday 3rd September, 2026 Rev. Prof. Elias Omondi Opongo, SJ officially assumed office as the new Rector and Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Rev. Prof. Opongo took over the leadership of CUEA from the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Very Rev. Prof. Stephen Mbugua Ngari, after the handover process that was witnessed by among other, by Most Rev. Philip Anyolo (Archbishop of Nairobi and Pro-Chancellor of CUEA) along with members of the CUEA University Council and executive leadership. LAP wished Rev. Prof. Opongo success in his new mission.
