GC35 In Their Own Words

Reflections on the Election -- Tom Smolich, SJ

posted by: Admin on Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The new General

Our new General, Adolfo Nicolás, is a great man and a great Jesuit…one of those rare Jesuits we’ve all met who is all we aspire to be.  I was privileged to work with him on the Coetus Praevius for GC 35 this past year.  Even before he was elected General, I told people, “If Adolfo said ‘Jump,’ I would say ‘How high?’”

He is the youngest 71 year old man I’ve ever met.  His ideas are creative, supple, questioning, intuitive.  He did an interview before GC 35 mentioning that we need to rethink our way of living religious life, adding “How come we elicit so much admiration and so little following?”  He walks fast—much faster- than I do.  But he’s not in a hurry.

He will lead us with courage and grace.  We are fortunate to have him as our new leader.

The Moment

When the count on the second ballot hit the magic number (probably half of us were tallying the results…I was looking over the shoulders of the two electors I was seated between) the Aula broke into loud and warm applause.  When the vote was concluded and the final numbers given, a sustained standing ovation guided him to the center floor to shake hands with Fr. Kolvenbach.  My eyes were tearing up, moved at the goodness of this man and the grace of God clearly present in the process, and in the Society of Jesus.

All the Electors followed by the Curia and Canisio community members, stood in line to embrace him.  Warm abrazos all around.  I promised him my support and prayers…he told me he was counting on me!  We all then went to the Borgia Chapel on the ground floor for prayer of thanksgiving, led for the first time by our new general.   

And what got us there…

The murmurationes process feels impossible to describe if you haven’t been through it.  Imagine conversations taking place over four days with constantly shifting pairs of Electors trying to find the will of God for the Society.  We were honest with one another…fiercely honest, one might say…about ourselves and our dispositions, about others’ strengths and limitations.  We could do this because they were some of the most important conversations of our Jesuit lives… because there was no ambition, no striving for position or advantage… because so many were praying us through, because we were praying--in liturgical language groups in the morning, individual prayer all day, and benediction in the evening.  (I don’t think I’d ever been to four benediction services in a week before this past one!)

The Electors are living in different Jesuit houses and retreat centers throughout Rome, which many felt would inhibit the process.  But the organizers of the murmurationes arranged for sandwiches, water and fruit in the Curia rec room at lunchtime for all of us…and it became a meeting place throughout the day. Don Doll’s slide show on the Creighton GC35 website captures the dynamic well.  

My own experience was a series of conversations with men I knew and men I didn’t, in English and Spanish, with candidates and with wise Electors, all of us trying to find God’s will for the Society.  Being the extrovert I am, I absorbed the process in every pore of my soul.   I will always treasure the integrity and honesty I heard in those many conversations.  I hope for a way to bring into my post-GC35 life the spiritual freedom I experienced in several moments of the murmurationes.

By the third day, the pace began to slow considerably.  Most of had enough information.  It was now time to talk with those we trusted, or those we considered as generabile.  By day four, it was time for silence.

A mini pilgrimage

Friday afternoon, I walked to the basilica of St. Paul fuori le Mura (outside the walls), about an hour’s walk from the Curia. On April 22, 1541, Ignatius and the first companions pronounced their solemn vows there.

It took me close to two hours to arrive…I wandered among the streets of Rome, heading in the right direction.  Not too far from the basilica was a small marble plaque noting the spot where it may be piously believed that Sts. Peter and Paul separated on their paths to martyrdom.

I was on a pilgrimage to find the will of God as Ignatius would always have us do.  But at least twice I was moved to tears by realizing that so many people were praying for us during these days…so I am grateful for your having done so.  

The Basilica is large, cold and not attractive.  But I believe I found a glimpse of God there, Ignatius and the companions interceding for me.  I found myself praying to the Christ whom I have asked to be placed with…the suffering Christ who is the touchstone for our world and its pain and hope.  Whoever we were to choose would have to be the one who could hear this Christ, place us with this Christ.  

The morning

This morning began with the Mass of the Holy Spirit with Frank Case (Secretary of the Society) as presider and homilist.  Frank’s words were brief and inspiring…reminding us of the evangelizing roots of the Society and of our mission to be creatively faithful and faithfully creative. Senior advisor to Fr. Kolvenbach Jacques Gellard’s exhortation at the beginning of our session complimented Frank’s words perfectly, reminding us to dispose ourselves to the will of God for the greatest good of the Society.  And I believe God’s will for us was to elect Adolfo Nicolás as General of the Society of Jesus.