AMDG
Dear OSJ Family,
The Society of Jesus throughout the world is filled withjoy and gratitude over the news that last Friday, October 14, 2016, a new Father General had beenchosen. Our new Superior General is the very Reverend Arturo Sosa Abascal, S.J. Fr. Sosa is a Jesuit from Venezuela and the 30th successor to our founder, St. Ignatius Loyola. Not unlike our first and non-European pope, Francis, Fr. Sosa is the first Latin American Superior General of the Jesuits. This speaks volumes, I believe, of our swiftly changing and emerging Church! Fr. Sosa, Delegate of the General for the International Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome, was elected by 212 Jesuit electors at the 36th General Congregation, the supreme governing body of the Society, at the Jesuit Curia, the Society’s headquarters in Rome. He succeeds Father Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, 80, who resigned last week after serving as Superior General since 2008.
Father General was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1948. He entered the Society in September 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1977. He holds a degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Venezuela, a degree in theology from the Jesuit’s Gregorian University in Rome and a doctorate in political science from the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He was provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Venezuela from 1996 to 2004. Fr. Sosa speaks Spanish, Italian and English and understands French. Prior to his appointment as provincial, he was in charge of the social justice works of the Jesuits in Venezuela, which includes our network of schools for the poor, Fe y Alegría. He was also head of the Centro Gumilla, the Jesuit-run social and action research center. Among his distinguished academic posts, he has served as a member of the founding board of the Catholic University in Caracas and rector of the Catholic University of Táchira. Fr. Sosa, only the 31st Superior General in the Society’s 476-year history, now leads the 16,740 Jesuits worldwide. This includes about 12,000 priests; 1,300 brothers; 2,700 scholastics; and 753 novices.
Let us pray for Fr Sosa as he seeks to boldly lead the Jesuits forward in our sacred mission, realized right here at OSJ! May God bless him, the Society of Jesus and our Catholic Church as we continue to serve our rapidly changing world!
With my esteem and prayers,
Fr. Phil Florio, SJ
