Adolfo nicolas biography
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As Moderator, he was at the service of the Jesuits of several countries, including Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Micronesia, Myanmar, and East Timor.
In addition to his native Spanish, Nicolás spoke Catalan, English, Italian, French, and Japanese.
On the second ballot of the thirty-fifth General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, Nicolás was elected as the Order’s thirtieth Superior General on 19 January 2008, succeeding the Dutch Fr.
Peter Hans Kolvenbach. He then completed a Master’s degree in Sacred Theology at the Gregorian University (Rome), and was Professor of Systematic Theology at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
In 1978 and until 1984, he was appointed Director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. After years of service there, he returned to Japan and was rector of the scholasticate in Tokyo from 1991 to 1993.
It was then that he was chosen to be the Provincial of Japan, a position he held until 1999.
His election was immediately relayed to Pope Benedict XVI, who confirmed him in the post. However, the Superior General also added, "As with any theology, liberation theology needs years to mature. And that love changes everything."
«For everything – whether it is spirituality or social apostolate, whatever it might be – there is no shortcut.
He continued his theological studies in Tokyo where he was ordained a priest on March 17, 1967. Click here.
Adolfo Nicolas
Adolfo Nicolás was born in Villamuriel de Cerrato, Palencia, and entered the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits, in the novitiate of Aranjuez in 1953.
Because they see genuine humanity in the simple people, and yet they see that this genuine humanity is finding a depth of simplicity, of honesty, of goodness that does not come from our sources."
In the homily of the Mass celebrated after his election as Superior General, Nicolás emphasized service, based on the scriptural reading for that day, the words of St.
Ignatius of Loyola, and Benedict XVI's teaching on God is love. For us only God is our strength."
Nicolas also developed the following ideas: the message of the Jesuits is "a message of salvation" and the challenge of discerning the type of salvation that people today are waiting for.
After receiving a message from Pope Benedict asking the Society of Jesus to affirm its fidelity to the magisterium and the Holy See, the Congregation presided over by Nicolás responded, "The Society of Jesus was born within the Church, we live in the Church, we were approved by the Church and we serve the Church.
He stated: "The more we become as servants, the more pleased God is." Delving further into the scriptural passage and after relating an anecdote of experiences with the poor in Asia, he related poverty with having God as the only source of strength, pointing out that the Jesuit's strength is not in externals (power, media, etc.) nor in internal fortitude (research).
There is always a long way; real change and real insights come through a long process.»
Early years and vocation
Father Adolfo Nicolás was born on April 29, 1936 in Palencia, Spain.
Father Arrupe, like his eventual successor, was a Spanish missionary in Japan.
In 1978 and until 1984, he was appointed Director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He recounts the whole of his life and his journey in the Society of Jesus until the moment of his election. He began his theological studies for the priesthood at Sophia University in Tokyo in 1964, and was ordained to the priesthood on 17 March 1967.
From 1968 to 1971, he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from where he earned a doctorate in theology.
He continued his theological studies in Tokyo where he was ordained a priest on March 17, 1967. "The poor only have God in whom to find strength. It also is the guarantee that our mission will not be a 'small mission,' a project just of the Jesuits, but that our mission is the mission of the Church."
In a November 2008 interview with El Periodico, Nicolás described liberation theology as a "courageous and creative response to an unbearable situation of injustice in Latin America." These remarks were particularly controversial since some forms of liberation theology had been denounced by Pope John Paul II and by Pope Benedict XVI, when he was still Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.