Jesuits mourn passing of
former Superior General
 |
| Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ |
Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, former Superior General of the Society
of Jesus, died on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan. He was Superior General from 2008
to 2016.
By Vatican News
The Jesuit Curia in Rome on Wednesday announced the death of
former Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Adolfo Nicolás SJ. He died
in Tokyo, Japan, on 20 May after being ill for a number of years. He was 84
years old.
“With sorrow, but at the same time full of gratitude, I wish
to inform you that today… the Lord called to Himself Father Adolfo Nicolás, our
former Superior General,” said Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, current Superior General,
in a message to the Jesuits.
Fr. Sosa remembers his predecessor as “a gift for the People
of God and… for the future… a light for those who desire to serve the same Lord
in the Society of Jesus.”
He describes Fr. Adolfo as “a wise, humble and free man;
totally and generously given to service; moved by those who suffer in the
world, but at the same time overflowing with hope drawn from his faith in the
Risen Lord.”
Biography
Fr. Nicolás was born on 29 April 1936 in Palencia, Spain to
Adolfo Nicolás Rico and Modesta Pachón. He spent most of his childhood in
Barcelona and nursed thoughts about having a career in education as a member of
a congregation of Brothers.
After being put in contact with the Jesuits by his brother,
he entered the Society of Jesus on 14 September 1953 and was ordained a priest
on 17 March 1967. During his philosophy studies, he responded to a call from
the then Superior General, Father Jansens, who invited Jesuits to volunteer for
missions abroad. Fr. Adolfo was sent to the mission of Japan.
After finishing his philosophy, Fr. Adolfo went to Japan
where he did his regency and completed his theology studies. He then completed
a Master’s degree in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in
Rome.
He served in various apostolic areas. Among others, he was a
professor of Systematic Theology, rector of Jesuit scholastics and provincial
of Japan. For ten years he lived in the Philippines, serving as the Director of
the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) and later as President of the Conference
of Provincials of East Asia and Oceania.
Fr. Adolfo Nicolás was elected the thirtieth superior
General of the Jesuits by the 35th General Congregation on 19
January 2008. Eight years later, on 3 October 2016, he offered his resignation
to the 36th General Congregation on grounds that his health no
longer allowed him to carry out his mission as he should.
Prayer by Fr. Adolfo Nicolás
“The best way to remember Father Adolfo Nicolás may be a
brief prayer written in his own hand after an eight-day retreat with his
General Council in 2011,” said Fr. Sosa. “It is an excellent synthesis of his
person and his spirituality.”
Lord Jesus,
What weaknesses did you see in us that made you decide to
call us, in spite of everything, to collaborate in your mission?
We give you thanks for having called us, and we beg you
not to forget your promise to be with us to the end of time.
Frequently we are invaded by the feeling of having worked
all night in vain, forgetting, perhaps, that you are with us.
We ask that you make yourself present in our lives and in
our work, today, tomorrow, and in the future yet to come.
Fill with your love these lives of ours, which we put at
your service.
Take from our hearts the egoism of thinking about what is
“ours,” what is “mine”, always excluding, lacking compassion and joy.
Enlighten our minds and our hearts, and do not forget to
make us smile when things do not go as we wished.
At the end of the day, of each one of our days, make us
feel more united with you and better able to perceive and discover around us
greater joy and greater hope.
We ask all this from our reality. We are weak and sinful
men, but we are your friends. Amen.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated in at the Church of Gesù
in Rome at a date to be determined.
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