Superior General
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus
"In all well-organized communities or congregations there must be, besides the persons who take care of their particular goals, one or several whose proper duty is to attend to the universal good...there must be someone with responsibility for the entire body of the Society, a person whose duty is the good government, preservation, and growth of the whole body of the Society. This person is the superior general."--Const. [719]
(from the Consitutions of the Society of Jesus on the need of a Superior General)
Superior Generals of the Society of Jesus - includes images, dates of service, and if applicable, feast days.
Father Adolfo Nicolás
Father
General
30th Superior
General of the Society of Jesus (January 19, 2008 to present)
On January 19, 2008, Father
Adolfo Nicolás,
SJ, moderator of the East Asian Assistancy, was elected 30th Superior
General of the Society of Jesus. Adolfo Nicolás Pachón, 71 years old,
is the seventh General of the Society of Jesus of Spanish Nationality.
EARLY YEARS:
Born
on April 29, 1936, in Villamuriel de Cerrato (Palencia province),
Spain, about 4 miles from the capital city Palencia. Baptized in the
local parish.
He is the third of four brothers (Antonio, Félix,
Adolfo and José). His father Adolfo originated from the province of
Burgos and his mother Modesta hailed from the small town Villalaco in
the Palencia province.
His father, a military professional, was transferred to Barcelona when Adolfo was 4 years old. There Adolfo attended the Jaime Balmes Institute for
his 1st year of high school [a seven year program at that time in
Spain]. He did his 2nd and 3rd year at the Christian Brothers school in
Barcelona. In 1949 he transferred to what was then the Minor Seminary
of Saint Joseph that the Tarraconense Province (S.J.) had in the town
of Roquetas del Mar and he did his 4th year of high school there. A
fruit of his stay in that region, apart of the good friends he still
stays in touch with, was a good command of the Catalan language (he
actually won a Catalan language contest in his parish).
In 1950
his father was transferred to Madrid and Adolfo completed his remaining
three years of secondary education at the Jesuit’s Areneros high
school, graduating in 1953 with the highest distinction the school
granted, that of “príncipe”.
YOUTH:
On
September 15, 1953 he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Aranjuez in what
was then the Province of Toledo. His philosophy studies were done in
Alcala de Henares, obtaining in Ph.L. in 1960. He then left for Japan
for language studies.
In 1964-1968 he studied theology in Tokyo
and was ordained priest there on March 17, 1967. From 1968 to 1971 he
did his doctoral work at the Gregorian and wrote his doctoral
dissertation, Theology of Progress.
In 1971 he became Professor of Systematic Theology at Sophia University in Tokyo. From 1978 to 1984 he was director of the Pastoral Institute in Manila , Philippines. This Institute was formed after the Vatican II to work on aggiornamento
and has had wide influence in the theological renewal of all of Asia.
Asian bishops and novice directors received their formation there.
From
1991 to 1993 he was Rector of the house of Jesuit students in Tokyo. In
1993 he was made Provincial of Japan and in that capacity he attended
GC34 in 1995, where on the first ballot he was elected secretary of the
Congregation.
After those years in governance, he moved to a poor
parish of immigrants in Tokyo and lived there from 2000 to 2003. His
work was difficult, but he was able to help thousands of Filipino and
Asian immigrants, in the process gaining a first hand experience of
their suffering. In this way his love for the poor and oppressed became
his most important ministry.
In 2004 he was again called to
exercise governance ministry and he was named Moderator of the Jesuit
Conference of East Asia and Oceania. This means he was responsible for
the entire region of South Asia, from Myanmar (Burma) to East Timor,
including the newly formed China Province. During these years he was a
firm supporter of the Jesuit presence in Vietnam and other countries.
He was made a member of the Coetus Previus (preparatory commission) of GC35 and on January 19, 2008 he was elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
He speaks six languages: Spanish, Catalan, Japanese, English, French and Italian.
[translated from the web page of the Province of Castille]