This month we remember Pedro Arrupe, the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus who died on February 5, 1991 aged 83. An incredibly charismatic general, he spent the last 10 years of his life confined in the infirmary, patiently enduring the debilitating effects of a cerebral stroke.
At the 31st General Congregation in 1965, French Jesuit Maurice Giuliani exhorted the electors with these words: “We need a General with vision for the universal good in the world and able to cooperate in the redemption of that world.” The Congregation chose in Pedro Arrupe a General who matched that profile.
At the time the Society numbered 36,000 Jesuits in 90 countries, 20 percent of who were on mission outside their own countries. Arrupe himself had been many years in Japan where he was novice master and subsequently provincial. On August 6, 1945 he was living in Hiroshima. Although hardly 3 kilometres from the epicentre of the atomic bomb blast, his house was sheltered by a small hill and the winds took radioactive dust in another direction. His life and world view were profoundly affected by the experience.
Arrupe had served six years as Superior of the Japan Vice Province. Then, when Japan became a Province, he served almost six years as Provincial of the new province. He often joked that one of the first reports he received on taking office as General was the recommendation to get new leadership for the Japanese Province!
Addressing the 31st General Congregation, Pope Paul VI had given a mission to the Society to combat atheism. During one of the many interviews after his election, Arrupe was asked about his methodology in this mission. He gave an answer remarkably in line with the approach of our current Bishop of Rome when asked, “How will you fight atheism?”
“We won’t be fighting anyone or anything! Our tactic is not fighting but dialogue, mutual respect, learning to listen, trying to understand the obstacles that keep people from a knowledge of God. We must treat those who disagree with us with the same gentleness that the Japanese treat the cherry blossom.”
Another journalist asked: “And the young: they seem to be turning their backs on religion?” To this Arrupe responded with characteristic optimism: “Not really; the young are restless. They manifest this in many ways. They seem hostile to religion. But really they are not. They don’t like formality and exteriorization of their faith. They are sincere and dynamic.”
Pedro Arrupe himself reached a strong conviction that never left him, claims his closest collaborator in those years, Fr Vinny O’Keefe, “that religious faith, to be truly evangelical, had to be vigorous in promoting justice and in opposing injustice, oppression and social evils such as poverty, hunger and all forms of racial discrimination”. GC32 in 1975, under Arrupe’s leadership, took the clear option to serve a faith that does justice. One should not be surprised that an increasing number of Jesuits found themselves in front line and risky situations. Not a few lost their lives because of the options they took to accompany and defend the rights of refugees, landless farmers, and other vulnerable and marginalized people.
In 1977, Fr General Arrupe wrote a stirring letter on apostolic availability, calling on language reminiscent of Ignatius: “My purpose in writing this letter is to stir each one of us to the unconditional commitment of the authentic ‘contemplative in action’, ‘men ready to be sent’, entirely at the disposition of the divine will’, to undertake all the most difficult tasks in the most remote parts of the world’.” The letter is full of Ignatius’ phrases.
Speaking in Bangkok on August 6, 1981 for the last time as General (he suffered a cerebral stroke the next evening on the flight from Bangkok to Rome) to members of the Thai Region and members of the newly founded Jesuit Refugee Service – what he called in that talk his ‘swan song’, he said: “The Society has initiative and creativity. But sometimes the way it has used these meant choosing the easier option. I doubt the easy apostolate is the real apostolate.
That day in Bangkok was the anniversary of Hiroshima, so naturally he referred to that experience. Many times he had recalled the shock of the event, his role in tending the wounded, and more than that, the significance of the event, its impact on humanity. “The atomic (energy) is not the most terrible of energies; there are others more awesome. The break-up of the atom would not be something to be feared was it not at the service of a humanity impartial to hatred.”
In his 16 years as General, Don Pedro experienced great support and great opposition. His vision was inspirational. Yet he lived in dramatically changing times, and change hurts. Constantly he had to encourage people to reach for a higher vision, to understand deeply the events of our world and how God is active there. Though much loved and admired, he also experienced unrelenting opposition. He could not have sustained his trademark cheerfulness and constant message of hope were it not for a strong inner life. The prayer of Teilhard de Chardin was one that he returned to frequently:
“Lord, enclose me in the depth of your Heart. And when you have me there, burn me, purify me, set me afire, raise me up to the perfect satisfaction of your pleasure, into the most complete annihilation of myself.”
Mark Raper SJ
President, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific
February 5, 2014