Jesuits elect new Superior General

On Saturday Jan 19 the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) elected a new Superior General, the leader of their order.  The new Superior General is Father Adolfo Nicolás, a Spaniard who has lived most of his life in service to the people of Japan.

It was a rare step for a Superior General to resign as the the position carries a lifetime term.

Many people in the Jesuit community are suggesting that Nicolás may be more akin to the radical former Superior General Pedro Arrupe than his more conservative predecessor Peter Hans Kolvenbach.

Its super-hard to find a photo of the new leader and I may be completely wrong, but I believe the photo below is Fr. Adolfo.


Time Magazine reports "Will the new 'black pope' work?"

A Christmas prayer for peace

The Christmas season has always been my preferred time to refocus myself on my spirituality. Advent gives me the structure I need to start attending Mass regularly again – four Sundays in a row is a realistic goal for me. Time away from the stresses of life at Loyola (exams, moving, BOLOs…) has lended itself to me as time for quiet reflection. With my parents at work, I’ve got the house all to my self. We don’t get this much downtime often, so try taking advantage of it.

In that spirit, I’d like to share a prayer that LUCAP alum Carlos Navarro (’79) passed on to me today. Its written by Jesuit priest and peace activist John Dear, S.J. and was recently published in the National Catholic Reporter.

Here's an excerpt:

Thank you, God of peace, for announcing the coming of peace on earth and for coming among us to make peace. Thank you for siding with the homeless, the refugee, the marginalized, the immigrant, the outsider, the disenfranchised, the imprisoned, the enemy. Thank you for being good news for the poor and the oppressed.

Read the entire prayer.