Fr. Pedro Arrupe Centenary

The celebration of the birth of the former Jesuit Superior General

Jesuits around the world are gathering on November 14 to commemorate the life of the much loved Father Pedro Arrupe whom many Jesuits consider to be the 'second founder' of the Society of Jesus." Fr Arrupe was elected Superior General of the Jesuits in 1965, just before the close of the Second Vatican Council. According to Fr John Dardis, provincial of Ireland, "he led the Jesuits through those years of turmoil, creativity and change with boldness, vision, equanimity and a deep personal love of Christ."

He had an impact not only among Jesuits but in the wider world; Time magazine featured him on its cover in 1973. Two years later, at a major meeting of his order, Fr Arrupe set out a new vision for Jesuits world-wide - the promotion of justice in the world as a central aspect of faith. When five Jesuits were martyred in three different countries in the ensuing years he reminded his order that "If we follow Christ, persecution will come… when we try to serve faith and promote justice".

Born in Bilbao in 1907, Pedro Arrupe became a Jesuit after some years of medical studies. He was working as a missionary in suburban Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped in August 1945, and he led the first rescue team into the devastated area. He used his medical skills to help the wounded and the dying, turning the Jesuit novitiate into a makeshift hospital.

In the late 1970s, after the fall of Saigon, he was so moved by the plight of the Vietnamese boat people that he founded the Jesuit Refugee Service, which now operates in over 50 countries providing education, advocacy, and other forms of emergency assistance to displaced people.

"Pedro Arrupe is a spiritual master in the line of John the Baptist….profoundly and passionately committed to Jesus Christ. Like John, he draws attention away from himself to Christ. He makes John's words his own: 'he must increase, I must decrease'. Just so, the point…..is not to draw attention to Pedro Arrupe. Rather it calls us to look where Don Pedro is pointing, to see the world and the church as he saw them and, in everything, to see Jesus and hear his call."
Peter Hans-Kolvenbach, S.J.
Superior General of the Society of Jesus