Hekima University College inaugurated its 42nd academic year on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at the Fadhili Center. Among the highlights of the solemn opening ceremony was the address delivered by Fr. José Minaku Lukoli, SJ, President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM), on behalf of Fr. Emmanuel Foro, SJ, Rector of the Hekima Jesuit Community.
Fr. Minaku’s reflection took as its starting point this year’s motto: “Dreaming Deep and Flying High.” For the JCAM President, that phrase embodies the strength of rootedness and the boldness of aspiration. “To dream deeply is to have one’s roots firmly planted in the soil; to fly high is to lift the spirit until it reaches the sky,” he said, citing both Psalm 92 (“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree”) and the African proverb, “The tree with strong roots does not fear the wind.”
Fragile societies, wounded humanity.
Yet Fr. Minaku contrasted this hopeful vision with two stark images of our time. “A great tree uprooted by a storm, symbolizing the collapse of an age-old societal structure; and a bird trapped in the sludge of a polluted oil spill, a powerful image of a mind caught in moral decay and spiritual decline.”
For him, the uprooted tree represents social and cultural chaos, as well as political and economic failure, while the soiled bird reflects humanity’s loss of moral clarity and spiritual elevation. “Let’s remember these two images,” he urged, for “the tree, like our institution, must have deep and strong roots. Likewise, the bird, like our mind, is made not to crawl in the mud but to soar into the sky.”
Rediscovering the soul in a technological age
Turning to contemporary challenges, the JCAM President noted the risks of an era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence and technical achievement. “What remains of our inner journey to the very core of our being, where the soul resides?” he asked. Citing the French writer François Cheng, he lamented the “gradual disappearance of the soul from our modern consciousness.” The result, he warned, is an impoverishment of inner life and a weakening of society’s moral foundations.
“By celebrating the dream, this year’s motto invites us to follow the path that restores the presence of the soul in our personal and collective lives, rekindling our connection with beauty, mystery, well-being, and God,” he said.
Fly high toward truth and freedom.
The second half of the motto, “flying high,” is not, Fr. Minaku emphasized, a simple metaphor. He cautioned against the trivialization of the phrase, insisting that it challenges Hekima’s community to rise above rampant relativism, lack of critical thinking, fragmentation, and the flattening effects of technology-driven culture.
“Faced with a flood of information, the modern person often feels fragmented: the unity of their being is broken; they see themselves as a disparate collection of loosely connected elements, a fragmented figure adorned with references that have no center,” he observed, quoting François Cheng.
Against this trend, he invited to embrace the “humble and patient search for truth” that reconstitutes human integrity and opens the soul to beauty, love, compassion, and the Absolute, God. “To recover the soul is to regain our dignity, humanity, well-being, and our ability to connect with the universe,” he affirmed.
Hekima, a school of depth
Closing his message, Fr. Minaku expressed gratitude and hope for the new academic year: “I am glad to journey with you through this resilient descent into the depths of the soul and in the joyful openness of the spirit toward truth.”
As Hekima University College embarks on its 42nd year, the JCAM President’s words offer both challenge and encouragement. The institution, he suggests, is called to be more than an academic institution. It must become a place where solid roots and bold flight come together: a school of truth, freedom, and journey into the depths of soul and conscience.
By Christian Kombe, SJ, Third Year JST
