PART IV

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PART IV THE DEFINING MOMENT - GC 32
FAITH AND JUSTICE TO THE WORLD A PROPHET OF
COMPASSION JUSTICE
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Towards 32nd General Congregation After being
General for 9 years Father Arrupe called the 32nd
General Congregationto face up to and deal with
the reaction and response of the Society to the
changes occurring in the modern secular world. It
lasted from December 2, 1974 to March 7, 1975.
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Fr. Vinnie O'Keefe was a great friend of
Arrupe's, and one of his top advisors. Fr.
O'Keefe says Arrupe was "a second Ignatius, a
refounder of the Society in the light of Vatican
II." The defining moment of Fr. Arrupe's
leadership of the Jesuits was probably the 32nd
General Congregation, which he called in 1975.
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237 Delegates from all over the world converged
at the Jesuit Curia, Rome, to participate in the
GC32. The Delegates belonged to 65 Provinces and
22 Vice-Provinces. It lasted 96 days. A
historic Congregation it was !
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Delegates of the GC32 with the Holy Father Paul
VI, in Rome. Fr. Tony De Mello from Bombay looks
on..
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Specifically, Arrupe lead the Jesuits through
their landmark 32nd General Congregation, held
from December 1974 to March 1975. He was
instrumental in promoting the famous fourth
decree, which defined the modern mission of the
Jesuits in terms of faith that does justice. In
the words of this decree, Our faith in Jesus
Christ and our mission to proclaim the Gospel
demand of us a commitment to promote justice and
enter into solidarity with the voiceless and the
powerless.
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O'Keefe says, Arrupe had a dream to bring
together all the great desires and talents of the
men of the Society under a single mission. He
says that dream was crystalized in the document
(decree 4), "Our Mission Today the Service of
Faith and the Promotion of Justice."
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This decree was so hotly debated that it was not
voted on until the very last day of the
Congregation, March 7, 1975 when It was accepted
by an overwhelming majority of delegates.
O'Keefe says, "It sent shivers through us," "It
was an electric, prophetic moment."
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The mix of religion and politics has always been
controversial so for the Jesuits to tie their
work so explicitly to the promotion of Justice
was a very bold statement. This focus on justice
was to cause great conflict within the order, the
church and also have remarkable consequences on
the outside world. To understand this we must
look at the context of the Reforms of Vatican II
and how they were applied to South and Central
America.
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The Church in South America was predominantly
faced with the poverty that many considered to be
caused by the perceived injustice of tiny
minorities of the population owning and
controlling vast amounts of the countries wealth
and resources. Controversially the theologians in
South America became more and more politically
involved, often adopting Marxist sociological
tools to analyse this inequality. The theology
that grew out of this was called Liberation
Theology. Many Jesuits in South and Central
America were at the forefront of this struggle
for justice, and were aware of the role the
church had had in the past of appearing to bless
and legitimize this inequality.
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Arrupe had special relationship with these men as
well. They were involved in Latin American
proposals that eventually produced his beloved
decree four from GC 32. On June 20, 1977 the
White Warriors Union death squad threatened to
kill each of the 47 Jesuits in El Salvador unless
they abandoned their work with the poor, and left
the country within a month. After consulting with
his men, Fr. Arrupe replied, "They may end up as
martyrs, but my priests are not going to leave
(El Salvador), because they are with the people."
Six Jesuits were subsequently murdered on
November 16, 1989 at the Jesuit University of
Central America as well as other Jesuits such as
Rutilio Grande, and later also the Archbishop
Oscar Romero.
12
First Jesuit Martyr in Central America Jesuits in
the forefront of the struggle for Justice had to
lay down their lives on behalf of the poor in El
Salvador.
13
Fr. Grande wrote..........
I am very much afraid that soon the Bible and
the gospel will not be able to enter at our
borders, because all its pages are subversive --
against sin, naturally. If Jesus of Nazareth
returned, coming down from Chalatenango to San
Salvador, I dare say he would not arrive, with
his preaching and actions, even to Apopa they
would arrest him for being a subversive and would
crucify him again."
14
Pedro Arrupe, the Jesuit Superior General, wrote
to Jesuits worldwide about the five Jesuits
martyred from October 1976 to March 1977
Who are the victims that God has chosen? The five
were men of average human gifts, leading obscure
lives, more or less unrecognized, dwelling in
small villages, and totally dedicated to the
daily service of the poor and suffering. These
were sons of the Society who never took part in
broad national controversies and who never made
headlines in the news media. Their style of life
was simple, austere, evangelical it was the life
that used them up slowly, day-by-day in the
service of "the little ones."
15
Jesuits..on the side of the Poor and the
oppressed in Nicaragua !
Father Fernando Cardenal, SJ came from a
Nicaraguan family of privilege and joined the
Jesuit order to help those in need. During his
Jesuit training, he lived among the poor for nine
months, and was deeply moved by the magnitude of
the poverty problem. He vowed then to liberate
the poor from their burden. I believe that an
authentic conversion to the Christianity of Jesus
passes through contact with the poor, he said.
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Fernando Cardenal associated himself with the
Sandinista Marxist revolutionary movement as it
took power in Nicaragua in 1979, and as it
battled US-backed contra guerillas for many years
thereafter. He was named as Education Minister in
the Sandinista regime, and in 1980 and 1981 led a
national literacy crusade of mostly young
volunteers who purportedly taught more than
400,000 adults to read in only five months.
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Tension with the Vatican! Father Cardenals
concerns and efforts were shared by many other
members of the Jesuit order. Two general
superiors and the Apostolic Delegate to Nicaragua
attempted to seek positive solutions and possible
exceptions within the current Church legislation
in favor of Father Cardenal. However, upon
learning of Romes decision, the Jesuit Superior
for Central America publicly announced that no
exception had been made. Fernando Cardenal then
declared his position of conscientious objection
and his decision to remain in the government.
18
..in the early morning darkness of November 16,
1989 army soldiers burst into the Jesuit
residence at the University of Central America
(UCA) in San Salvador and brutally killed six
Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her young
daughter.
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..was another of Arrupes successful initiatives
20
This is how JRS was born. The perilous
journeys to exile of the Vietnamese boat people
deeply moved Fr Pedro Arrupe. Fr Arrupe appealed
to some Jesuit Provincials for practical
assistance. The spontaneous and generous 'first
wave of action' provoked him to reflect on how
much more the Society could do, if its responses
to this and other contemporary crises of forced
human displacement, were planned and
co-ordinated. From that initial sentiment has
grown a world-wide service to forcibly displaced
people. On 14 November 1980, Fr Arrupe announced
the birth of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS).
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JRS was set up in 1980 by Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ, as
a spiritual and practical response to the plight
of refugees across the globe. And ever since this
work continues to remain a commitment of the
Society.
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Today JRS works in more than 50 countries around
the world.  Over 500 workers contribute to its
work, the majority working on a voluntary
basis.  These include about 100 Jesuits (priests,
brothers and scholastics), 85 religious from
other congregations and more than 300 lay people.
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Today, 25 years later, more than 450,000
individuals are direct beneficiaries of JRS
projects around the world.
24
Fr Arrupes term as general was not totally
trouble free. The Societys membership diminished
and there were certain tensions within the Order.
He however manifested as a man of God and a man
of the Church with extraordinary simplicity and
understanding. He was so highly esteemed by his
peers that for five consecutive terms he was
elected President of the Union of Superior
Generals in Rome.
25
A quick dinner with all his four sisters Isabel,
Maria, Catherine and Margaret
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A Day- that should never have been !!! On Aug 7,
1981 Father Arrupe landed at Fiumicino airport
Rome at 5.30 a.m. after a long trip in the Far
East He suddenly suffered a stroke as he stooped
to pick up his suit case ! That was destined to
be his last trip abroad !
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Fr. Arrupe with a group of refugees in Rome in
1982, shortly after he suffered the stroke
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It will be quite wrong to see only smiles and
sunshine in Arrupes life. Fr. Arrupe had his
own stations of the cross and he carried his
cross willingly and obediently till the
end. After he became disabled by the stroke of
Aug 1981, Father Arrupe named Fr.Vincent OKeefe
as Vicar General of the Society to carry on the
administration. But the Holy Father intervened
and appointed his own delegates Frs.Paolo Dezza
and Joseph Pittau to lead the SJ provisionally.
That came as the hardest blow to Fr.Arrupe and to
the whole Society. Fr. Arrupe was found weeping
after he was handed the Popes letter to that
effect.
29
Father Arrupes farewell statement to the
Delegates of the 33rd GC as he was unable to
speak In these eighteen years, my one ideal
was to serve the Lord and his churchI thank the
Lord for the great progress I have witnessed in
the Society. Obviously there would be defects
too- my own, to begin with- but it remains a fact
that there was great progress, in personal
conversion, in the apostolate, in concern for the
poor, for refugees. And special mention must be
made of the attitudes of loyalty and filial
obedience shown toward the church and the Holy
Father, particularly in these last years. For all
of this, thanks be to God.
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Former General Fr. Arrupe congratulates his
successor Rev. Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach !
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Passing on the Mantle and the Mission
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The Past and the Present Perfects !!
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The Two Model Shepherds and Servant- Leaders of
our times !
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Pope John Paul II visited Fr. Arrupe several
times to enquire about his health in the Curia
infirmary Rome
This visit was on Jan 27, 1991. Just a few days
before Father Arrupes death !
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John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I
John Paul II
Fr. Arrupe had personally known these Popes !
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Mother Teresa dropped in at the Jesuit Curia in
Rome to meet Fr.Arrupe to thank him for the help
she had been receiving from the Jesuits !
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Late Bro.Roger, the Founder of the Taize
Movement, calling on Arrupe to enquire about his
health !
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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 a
profound spiritual experience to know and feel
myself so totally in God's hands. -- Pedro
Arrupe SJ,
39
Our Beloved Father Arrupe surrendered his spirit
to God, on 5 February 1991, at 7.45 p.m. in the
Jesuit Curia, Rome.
His body was laid out in state for three days in
the chapel of the General Curia, where thousands
of people from all walks of life came to pray and
pay their last respects to this great soul !
40
Fr.Arrupes funeral was held in the Gesu on 9
February 1991 and was attended by crowds inside
and in the piazza outside the church. Also in the
attendance were 10 cardinals, 20 bishops, the
Prime Minister of Italy, and other religious and
civil dignitaries.
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The Jesuit Cardinal M. Martini, other cardinals,
Our General Fr. Kolvenbach and the General Major
of the Dominicans and the Italian Prime Minister
at the funeral Mass in the Church of Gesu, the
Mother Church of the Jesuits in Rome.
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Here lies a man so human he had a heart larger
than the world in which he lived. One can not
help but love him. Jon Sobrino, the Jesuit
theologian.
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The Medallion over the tomb of Fr. Arrupe at
Gesu, Rome, the Mother Church of the Jesuits
1907- 1991
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Nothing is more practical than finding GOD That
is falling in LOVE in a quiet, absolute and
final way. What you are in love with, What
seizes your imagination will affect
everything. It will decide what will get you up
in the morning, What you will do with your
evenings, How you spend your weekends, What you
read, Who you know, What breaks your heart, And
what amazes you With joy and gratitude. So fall
in love, Stay in love. And it will decide
everything. Pedro Arrupe, SJ
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May His Life Continue to inspire Us and Lead Us
On in Our Life and Mission !
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END OF PART - IV
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Thank You
Prepared by Veluswamy Jeyaraj, SJ
Dhyan Ashram - Kolkata