Father General Adolfo Nicolás announces intent to resign in 2016
27 May 2014

Father General Adolfo Nicolás announces intent to resign in 2016

by | posted in: JCAP News | 0

Father Adolfo Nicolás SJ, who has been Superior General of the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus) since 2008, has announced his intention to resign. Having recently reached the age of 78, Fr Nicolás says he has received the approval of his advisers and has informed Pope Francis that he intends to convoke a General Congregation for the latter part of 2016, during which he will formally submit his resignation and his successor will be elected.

Fr Lombardi on refugees: Pope Francis shows us the way
24 Apr 2014

Fr Lombardi on refugees: Pope Francis shows us the way

by | posted in: Migration | 0

Amongst those present for the publication of the 2014 Centro Astalli Annual report in Rome, was the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ.

The event took place as yet another rescue effort by the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean lent assistance to an overcrowded boat in difficulty carrying some 200 people, many of whom women and children. Amongst them, at least one person has reportedly died.

St Anchieta – a new Jesuit saint to inspire the Society
24 Apr 2014

St Anchieta – a new Jesuit saint to inspire the Society

by | posted in: Beyond JCAP | 0

Spanish Jesuit missionary Blessed José de Anchieta was declared a saint by Pope Francis on April 3. His canonisation was celebrated with joy in churches in Brazil, where he is known as the Apostle of Brazil. 

The new St Anchieta was a highly influential figure in Brazil’s history and one of the founders of the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.  In a Mass to celebrate St Anchieta, Cardinal Orani Tempesta, Metropolitan Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, said it was “impossible to write about the history of Brazil without mentioning the presence of Jose de Anchieta”.

Provincials to meet in Indonesia in 2015
28 Mar 2014

Provincials to meet in Indonesia in 2015

by | posted in: Interreligious Dialogue | 0

Fr General Adolfo Nicolás has called for a gathering of Provincials from around the world.  The meeting will be held from January 18 to 25, 2015 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which is the world’s most populous Islamic country.  The location provides a “unique opportunity to become aware of the challenges that interfaith dialogue presents to the Society in its service to the whole Church and to mankind,” said Fr Nicolás.  

Fr General on mission in Asia
27 Mar 2014

Fr General on mission in Asia

by | posted in: Education | 0

Fr General Adolfo Nicolás delivered the opening address at a recent Pontifical Gregorian University event held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Jesuit-run Sophia University in Tokyo.  A former student of Sophia in the 1960s and a former provincial of the Japanese Province, Fr Nicolás spoke on Sophia’s contribution to the mission of the Catholic Church in Asia.

Fr Nicolás urged Japanese Catholics to promote religious sensitivity in their country and not to lose hope because they represent a small minority of the country’s population.

With Pope Francis for St Peter Faber
31 Jan 2014

With Pope Francis for St Peter Faber

by | posted in: Spirituality | 0

Pope Francis celebrated Mass with his fellow Jesuits on January 3, in the mother church of the Society of Jesus, the church of the Gesù, in Rome.  The Mass marked the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and gave thanks for the enrollment of the first Jesuit to be ordained a priest, Fr Peter Faber SJ, in the list of the saints.  About 350 Jesuits were present.

In his homily, Pope Francis spoke of the particular way in which the Jesuit Order is marked – and desires to be signed – by the name of Jesus: “To march,” he said, “beneath the standard of His Cross”.

Peter Faber declared a saint
20 Dec 2013

Peter Faber declared a saint

by | posted in: Beyond JCAP, Spirituality | 0

More than 140 years after he was beatified, Peter Faber is now a saint.  The announcement was made on December 17, Pope Francis’ 77th birthday, and is something of a gift to his fellow Jesuits for whom Faber is a well-loved role model.

With Faber’s “equivalent canonization”, the pope extended his devotion to the universal Church and inscribed him in the catalogue of saints, bypassing the Vatican’s typical procedures for sainthood which include ascertaining two miracles to their intercession.

Learning from the past for the Society’s mission today
10 Dec 2013

Learning from the past for the Society’s mission today

by | posted in: Spirituality | 0

Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, recently invited every Jesuit, all our collaborators, every community, apostolic work, Region and Province of the Society to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Restoration of the Society in 2014 “with humble and sincere gratitude to the Lord, with a desire to learn from our history, and as an occasion for spiritual and apostolic renewal”.