By Arul Elango
New Delhi: The newly elected superior general of the Society of Jesus, who is also known as the Black Pope, has chosen India for his first official visit.
Father Abascal Arturo Sosa will be in India during February 18-28, 2017, according to the information from the headquarters of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, based in New Delhi.
This will be the first visit of Fr Sosa, who was elected the head of the Jesuits on October 14, during the 36th General Congregation, the highest decision making body of the society. He is the first Jesuit chief from Latin America, the same region of Pope Francis.
The Jesuit superior general sometimes carries the nickname of the Black Pope, after his simple black priest’s vestments, as contrasted to the white garb of the Pope.
Fr Sosa will be accompanied by three Rome-based assistants who look after the society’s works in South Asia.
Fr Sosa is scheduled to be in the Indian capital for just for two days and will spend the remaining days in the Jesuit province of Madhya Pradesh, Father George Pattery, who heads more than 4,000 Jesuits in South Asia, told Matters India on December 23.
The Madhya Pradesh province spreads over the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Father Pattery said after landing in New Delhi the general will go directly to the Delhi Jesuit provincial house at Raj Nivas Marg where he will attend a series of program with his men.
Fr. General will address the staff and students of Vidyajyoti (Light of Knowledge) the Jesuit theologate in the morning. During the day, he will meet Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of Faridabad, who had worked in Venezuela earlier as a Vatican diplomat.
He will also attend a program at Vidyajyoti where 23 Jesuits from South Asia will ordained as deacons on that day, said Father Michael Thanaraj rector of Vidyajyoti College of Theology.
Father General takes part in the entire ceremony according to the program list, issued by Jesuit Father Abranches William Keith, the executive assistant of the South Asia conference.
In the evening Father General address Delhi Jesuits and interact with them in the premise of Delhi Provincial House.
On February 19, Father Sosa will address the Jesuit staff and faculty members of Indian Social Institute, known for its social and training works.
Then, he will head for Jabalpur, a major town in Madhya Pradesh, to meet all Jesuit provincials of South Asia for their regular meeting. The conference meets twice in a year.
The general will be at the meeting until February 25.
The Jesuit Conference of South Asia, the largest unit in the society, comprises those working in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The conference has 18 provinces and two regions.
Father general visit will be “a moment of grace,” Father Kalyanus Minj, who heads the Jesuits in Madhya Pradesh, told Matters India.
Fr Sosa will address Madhya Pradesh Jesuits on February 25 at Jabalpur and then at Ambikapur, the following day. He will also bless a building of an apostolic school in Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh. The school for Jesuit candidates.
The general will then go to Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, on February 27. On the way, he will inaugurate another school building near Bilaspur, another town in the central Indian state.