Ignatian Retreat Guides & Spiritual Guides Certificate 2026–2027

A two-year residential certificate forming skilled guides for the Spiritual Exercises and for ongoing spiritual accompaniment, rooted in Ignatian spirituality and the African context.

A Church Ministry

The ministry of the Spiritual Exercises has evolved over the centuries and is today a ministry of the whole Church, offered by both religious and laity. This certificate prepares committed Christians to accompany others with competence, prayerfulness and care.

Who can benefit?

The course is addressed to committed Christian men and women in East Africa:

• Women and men religious involved in formation work.
• Priests serving as formators or spiritual guides in seminaries.
• Priests engaged in pastoral work.
• Lay women and men called to this ministry.

Application procedures

• Submit the application form together with a one-page reflection on your faith journey.
• Applicants must have made at least one personally guided 8-day Ignatian retreat.
• Two letters of recommendation, forwarded to the Director of Mwangaza Jesuit Centre.
• An interview with the Centre’s director.

Modality & commitment

The course is residential, divided into four 4-day blocks per year over two years (eight training sessions in total) at Mwangaza Jesuit Centre.

• Attend all eight training sessions across the two years.
• Peer-group sharing, discussions, role plays and case studies.
• Help with the Eucharistic liturgies.
• Four written assignments.
• Two guided retreats supervised by a Mwangaza staff member.

Ignatian Retreat Guides — block syllabus

• Block 1: images of God; types of prayer; delivering content and self-awareness; listening skills; Annotations 1–20 of the Spiritual Exercises.
• Block 2: Ignatius’ autobiography; the consciousness examen; the personal faith journey; stages of spiritual growth; the dynamics of conversion; key meditations and contemplations.
• Block 3: Ignatian discernment; consolation and desolation; the three times for decision-making; four levels of awareness; types of retreats; the Scriptural basis for the Four Weeks; planning a retreat.
• Block 4: the interview with a retreatant and the role of the discerning guide; ethics; Annotations for guidance; rules for scruples; complex psychological situations; grief, healing, trauma and anger.

Spiritual Guides — block syllabus

• Reflectiveness, the awareness examen and prayer with Scripture; one’s faith story; images of God.
• Spiritual guidance and the qualities of the guide; supervision and writing a verbatim.
• Human and spiritual growth; sin and disorder; self-transcendence.
• Ignatian discernment of God’s will; discernment of spirits, interior movements and emotions.
• Areas of unfreedom — compulsions, addiction, resistances and defence mechanisms; dreams and journaling.
• Psychosexual development; growing in intimacy; listening with the “third ear”.
• Wholistic spirituality and the paschal mystery; Christian discipleship.

Assessment

Four written assignments, together with performance in the supervised guided retreats assessed by the supervisor and residential core staff. Spiritual Guides participants produce fourteen verbatims, one for each interview with a directee. Continuation in the course is not automatic.

Schedule

The blocks are scheduled as follows (sessions begin the evening of the first day and end the morning of the last):

Application closing date: Completed applications must reach us by February 15, 2026. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Residential Core Staff

• Sr. Beth Mugo, S.E., MAcs
• Fr. Terry Charlton, S.J., PhD
• Bishop Rodrigo Mejía, S.J., STD
• Fr. Graham Pugin, S.J., MTh
• Fr. Patrick Ng'ang'a, S.J., STL
• Fr. John Ferone, S.J., MTL
• Fr. Vitus Sedlmair, S.J., STL
• Fr. Thomas A.D. Ramadhani, S.J., Th.D

Other qualified resource personnel will be invited to facilitate specific sessions.