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By Joanna Kozakiewicz
Jean Gardy Joseph, SJ, grew up in Haiti, rooted in the love and faith of his family and community. In the early 2000s, the Church was much more than a place of worship: It was a vital space for formation and gathering.
Now a Jesuit, he is continuing his formation in Canada. “Jean Gardy gets along well with people. He has a naturally cheerful and sociable personality and connects easily with others,” says his colleague Hugo Ducharme, sponsorship coordinator and office manager at the Jesuit Refugee Service – Canada (JRS). Following the spirit of encounter that marked his childhood and guided by the discernment skills that he deepened during his formation, Jean Gardy strives every day to put his faith into action.
At a Crossroads
The call to priesthood came early for Jean Gardy, as he was educated by the Montfort Missionaries, who had a profound influence on him.
“Seeing them celebrate at the altar, I felt a simple but profound desire growing within me: to live like them, to give my life like them,” he explains. This desire gradually matured, marked by a surprising encounter with a religious sister who introduced him to the Jesuits.
He then began to read about the life of St. Ignatius and the Spiritual Exercises. “This discovery was both unsettling and overwhelming for me: something totally new, demanding, profound, but strangely familiar,” explains Jean Gardy. Although he felt that Ignatian spirituality suited him best, deciding to enter the Society of Jesus was not an easy choice.
“I found myself facing a real dilemma: choosing between the Montfort Missionaries who had educated me, the diocesan priests I knew well, and the Jesuits I knew almost nothing about.” Following his discernment, he finally entered the Jesuit novitiate in 2018.
A Concrete Call to Serve Refugees
After taking his first vows, Jean Gardy was sent to the Dominican Republic to study philosophy and the social sciences. During these years, as he encountered human and social realities on the ground, there emerged within him a growing desire to accompany refugees.
For almost two years now, he has been working at JRS. His role as a community worker is characterized by presence, support and relationship building. With a dedicated team of volunteers, he reaches out to refugees to offer them a space for listening, support and fellowship, especially during the first months after their arrival, a period often marked by fragility and isolation. This stage of his Jesuit formation was revealing: “It confirmed my conviction that my calling is inextricably linked to mission, service to the faith and the promotion of justice.”
“My calling is inextricably linked to mission, service to the faith and the promotion of justice.” – Jean Gardy Joseph, SJ
Mr. Ducharme also sees this on a daily basis: “The way Jean Gardy speaks during our meetings, the sensitive remarks he makes, all this reminds us that this is not just a job for him. He is motivated by something greater.”
Studying in Order to Better Accompany Others
According to the tradition of the Society of Jesus, a Jesuit is called to be thoroughly formed in order to respond with wisdom and discernment to the mission entrusted to him. From the novitiate onwards, he receives a comprehensive formation — human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral — that enables him to serve effectively. “This formation has helped me to keep my feet on the ground and become more aware,” says Jean Gardy.
His studies have also given him a broader and deeper understanding of the world and the human person. They have taught him to think critically, to engage with contemporary realities and to defend human dignity.
This formation has shaped not only his way of thinking but also his behaviour and reactions to different situations in life, taking into account time, place and people — a key principle in the Ignatian tradition. It has also taught him the true definition of human dignity. “In all circumstances, I must first see the person standing in front of me, before looking at their situation, status or history,” Jean Gardy shares.
He has thus learned to see each person as a brother or sister and not as a case to be managed. This perspective enables him to welcome the words, silences and tears but also the hopes that gradually emerge in the relationships he develops with refugees.
“From this perspective, accompanying someone does not mean doing things for them, but walking alongside them, respecting their pace and recognizing their capacity for resilience.”
With deep roots in the Church of Haiti and in Ignatian spirituality, Jean Gardy’s mission to refugees is not just a social commitment. “It is a place of encounter with the living Christ, present in the wounded but hopeful faces of those who walk the roads of exile.”
