New superior urges Jesuits to strengthen service to poor

Published: 2008-01-21

ROME (CNS) -- Spanish-born Father Adolfo Nicolas, the newly elected superior general of the Jesuits, called on the more than 19,000 members of his order to strengthen their service to the poor and those excluded from the benefits of economic globalization. Father Nicolas, who had been moderator of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania, was elected superior general of the Society of Jesus Jan. 19 and celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving Jan. 20 in Rome's Church of the Gesu. The new superior, who said his election was "a shock," began his homily by saying, "This is not a message for the world, but a simple reflection." "As Christians, as Jesuits, as people of God," he said, "we are called to serve. The more we serve, the more we please God." Father Nicolas emphasized the Jesuits' missionary focus and said there are "other nations, not geographical, but human, who ask our help: the poor, the marginalized and the excluded."

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