Pedro Arrupe:

I am quite happy to be called an optimist – He or she is a person who has the conviction that God knows, can do, and will do what is best for mankind.
He was born in Bilbao, in the Basque country of Spain, in 1907, to a devout catholic family. After completing his secondary studies, Arrupe began his medical training first in Valladolid, Spain, and later at the University of Madrid medical school. But after a visit to Lourdes, where he witnessed a spontaneous healing [a polio-stricken boy was able to walk after seeing a procession of the Blessed Sacrament], his life took a dramatic turn. Arrupe was permitted to be present at the medical verification of the healing, and he concluded that he had seen a miracle.
He later said of his experience in Lourdes, “It is impossible to tell you what my feelings and the state of my soul were at the moment, I had the impression of being near Jesus, and as I felt his all-powerful strength, the world around me began to seem extremely small. I was dazed with the memory which upset me more everyday: only the image of the Sacred Host raised in blessing and the paralyzed boy jumping up from his chair remained fixed in my memory and heart.”
Shortly afterward, Pedro Arrupe, age nineteen, gave up his medical career to enter the Jesuit novitiate in Loyola, Spain. He was ordained in 1936 and sent to Japan as a parish priest in Yamaguchi. He was suspected of espionage and was arrested and thrown into solitary confinement for thirty five days. “Many of the things I learned during this time: the science of silence, of solitude, of severe and austere poverty, of inner dialogue with the ‘guest of my soul.’ I believe this was the most instructive month of my entire life.”
In 1942, Fr. Arrupe was appointed novice director for the Japanese Jesuits. When the atomic bomb was dropped on the city on August 6, 1945, Arrupe and his novices cared for the sick and wounded, converting the novitiate into makeshift hospital.
In 1965, he was elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus. The time of Second Vatican Council and the beginning of a period of volcanic change in the church. Fr. General called to redouble their work with the poor and marginalized, and to promote the “faith that does justice.” This emphasis on justice as an essential component of the Gospel was what Arrupe would become most known for.
His writings and speeches focused not only on the promotion of justice and work with the poor but also on such varied topics as the renewal of religious life, ecumenism, inculturation, secularism and unbelief, evangelization and catechesis, the intellectual life, and the church’s need to reach out to youth.
“When it was over, a big devil whose hang-dog look made me almost afraid said, “Come to my place. I have something to give you.” I was undecided; I didn’t know whether to accept or not, but the priest who was with me said, “Accept, Father, they are good people.” I went to his place; his house was a hovel nearly on the point of collapsing. He had me sit down on a rickety old chair. From there I could see the sunset. The big man said to me, “look, sir how beautiful it is!” We sat in silence for several minutes. The sun disappeared. The man then said, “I don’t know how to than you for all you have done for us. I have nothing to give you, but I bought you would like to see this sunset. You liked it, didn’t you? Good evening.” And then he shook my hand.
Many indeed are the things I learned thanks to that Mass among the poor. What a contrast with the great gatherings of the powerful of this world.
In response to the world wide refugee crisis, 1980 Arrupe started the Jesuit Refugee Service [JRS].
Even among other religious orders, Arrupe was seen as an inspired and inspiring leader. As a result, he was elected to five consecutive three year terms as the president of the Union of Superiors General.
Arrupe was not popular in Vatican circles. His concern for social justice carried the whiff of socialism or worse, communism, Arrupe earned the displeasure of some in the Vatican. In 1981, at the age seventy four, Arrupe suffered an incapacitating stroke. Unable to continue as superior General, he turned over the governance of the society to Vincent O’Keefe. Pope John Paul II replaced Fr. O’Keefe with his own ‘delegate.’ “Overcome with grief when he learned of this extraordinary intervention into the governance of the society, Arrupe burst into tears.”
For the next 10 years Arrupe lay in a hospital bed, crippled by his stroke – partially paralyzed and increasingly unable to communicate.
Arrupe’s prayer, “ More than ever, I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life, from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.”
A journalist asked, “who is Jesus Christ for you?” Pedro replied, “For me, Jesus Christ is everything!”