Synodality: Embracing Tension, Staying at the Table with Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ

Today's guest has an incredible amount of experience of the truly "catholic," global nature of the church. Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ, today serves as the dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University. This school is one of the two Jesuit “theologates” in the United States, which means it’s a place where Jesuits in formation from all over the world pursue theology studies alongside lay students.

Before arriving at JST last August, Fr. Orobator spent seven years as the president of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar, leading the Jesuits on the continent where the order is growing fastest. A theologian originally from Nigeria with a doctorate from the United Kingdom who specializes in ecclesiology, the study of the Church, he is the author of a number of books, including “Theology Brewed in an African Pot” and “The Pope and the Pandemic: Lessons in Leadership in a Time of Crisis.”

In the first few months of his tenure at the JST, Pope Francis invited Fr. Orobator to attend the Synod on Synodality in Rome, where he was a voting member. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked him about that experience, about synodality at work in the Church in Africa, and what his goals are for his leadership at JST. You’ll see from his thoughtfulness and deep faith on display in this conversation why Fr. Orobator has been tapped for big leadership roles within the Society of Jesus and beyond over and over again.

Learn more about Fr. Orobator: https://www.scu.edu/jst/about/faculty/orobator.html

AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

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