Adolfo Nicolás

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Adolfo Nicolás (2008)

Adolfo Nicolás Pachón SJ (born April 29, 1936 in Villamuriel de Cerrato , Palencia Province , Spain ; † May 20, 2020 in Tokyo , Japan ) was a Spanish Jesuit and Roman Catholic theologian . From 2008 to 2016 he was the 30th General of the Jesuits .

Life

Adolfo Nicolás Pachón, third of four sons, grew up in the Spanish Civil War, his family had to move several times and change their place of residence. By the end of his school days he attended seven different schools.

In 1953 he entered the novitiate of the Jesuit order province of Toledo and studied philosophy at the Complutense University of Madrid in Alcalá . Since 1963 he lived in Japan, completed after two years of language teaching at Sophia University , a study theology and received on 17 March 1967 in Tokyo, the ordination . From 1968 to 1971 he completed a doctoral degree in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome . In 1971 he was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology at the in Yotsuya campus Sophia University in Tokyo Situated appointed . From 1978 to 1984 he was director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, founded by Josef Hofinger SJ . He was then a missionary in South Korea and from 1991 to 1993 rector of the study house for young Jesuits (scholasticism) in Japan.

He held several leadership positions in the Jesuit Order and was, among other things, Provincial of the Japanese Order Province (1993–1999) and President of the Jesuit Asia Pacific Conference , the regional Jesuit conference of East Asia and Oceania (2004–2008). Further activities took him to Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Micronesia, Myanmar and East Timor.

At the 35th General Congregation in Rome, he was elected General of the Society of Jesus , the world's largest Catholic male order with 19,200 members, after twelve days of closed consultation by 217 delegates . He entered the by Pope Benedict XVI. confirmed successor to Dutchman Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, who has been in office since 1983 . Nicolás was very pleased about the election of Pope Francis , who belongs to the Societas Jesu , and saw the election as a sign of hope. The main focus of his tenure as superior general was the restructuring of the order.

In May 2014 he announced in a letter to all Jesuits that he would resign for the end of 2016, which had already been discussed with Pope Francis. On October 3, 2016, at the beginning of the 36th General Congregation, Nicolás resigned from the office of Superior General and appointed James Grummer as Vicar General for the period until a successor was elected. Shortly after the election of Arturo Sosa as the new Superior General on October 14, 2016, Nicolás returned to the Philippines.

At the East Asian Pastoral Institute of the Ateneo de Manila University of the Jesuits, where he had already worked in the order before his leadership tasks, he was active as a spiritual guide.

Adolfo Nicolás, colloquially simply called "Nico", returned to his home province in 2018 for health reasons and most recently lived in a nursing home in Tokyo. He died in Tokyo in May 2020 as a result of a protracted illness.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Evers: Adolfo Nicolás SJ. In: forum-weltkirche.de. Retrieved May 20, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Former Superior General Adolfo Nicolás has died. In: jesuiten.org. May 20, 2020, accessed May 20, 2020 .
  3. ^ Britta Dörre: representatives of the order congratulate Francis. In: Zenit. March 15, 2013, accessed November 29, 2016 .
  4. ^ "The first session in the aula and Father Nicolás' resignation" , homepage of the 36th General Congregation of the Jesuits, October 3, 2016
  5. ^ Gerard O'Connell: New Jesuit Leader: The Top Priority for Jesuits is to Work for Reconciliation in the World. In: America Magazine. October 18, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016 .
  6. ^ Death of a Superior General: Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ (1936-2020). In: The Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. May 20, 2020, accessed May 20, 2020 .
  7. ^ Edward W. Schmidt SJ: Former Jesuit superior general Adolfo Nicolás has died in Tokyo. In: America Magazine. May 20, 2020, accessed May 20, 2020 .
predecessor Office successor
Peter Hans Kolvenbach Superior General of the Society of Jesus
2008–2016 		Arturo Sosa
personal data
SURNAME Nicolás, Adolfo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adolfo Nicolás Pachón
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish religious, superior general of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Villamuriel de Cerrato , Spain
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 2020
Place of death Tokyo , Japan