Former Jesuit superior general dies in Tokyo

Tokyo, May 20, 2020: Father Adolfo Nicolás, the 30th superior general of the Society of Jesus, died on May 20 in Tokyo. He was 84.

Current Superior General Father Arturo Sosa mourned the death saying he was both sad and grateful.

In his statement from Rome, Father Sosa said, “Father Nicolas gave of himself throughout his life. It was a life marked by intense service, serene availability and a profound ability to live inculturation in Japan, where he went as a young Jesuit. It was a culture that he loved very much and in which he invested himself.”

Father Sosa went on to speak of Nicolás time as the superior general noting that it was a time “marked by his sense of humor, courage, humility and his close relationship with Pope Francis.”

He added that due to current travel restrictions, he was unable to travel to Japan for the funeral, “but I assure all his many friends there of my closeness, compassion, and condolences.”

The funeral of Father Nicolás will take place at 5 pm on May 23 May at St. Ignatius Church in Tokyo. The celebration will be broadcast live, in English, on the internet. A memorial Mass will be celebrated in Rome in the Church of the Gesù at a date to be determined. It will be available live on the Jesuit Curia in Rome’s YouTube channel.

Father Sosa hailed his predecessor as ?a wise, humble, and free man; totally and generously given to service; moved by those who suffer in the world, but at the same time overflowing with hope drawn from his faith in the Risen Lord; an excellent friend, who loved to laugh and to make others laugh; a man of the Gospel.”

And he concluded, “All those who worked with Father Nicolás at the General Curia greatly appreciated his presence during his term as General. He will be greatly missed throughout the Society as a wise, humble and dedicated Jesuit, a man of grace and wisdom, simple, unpretentious.”

Father Nicolas, simply known as “Nico” among his friends, headed the largest Catholic religious congregation for men during 2008-2016.

“Infectious humor, refreshing simplicity, clear insight and natural warmth… Ever so simple, yet carrying a profound wisdom,” wrote Father Mark Raper, a Myanmar Jesuit who succeeded Father Nicolás as president of then Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania, now the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP).

The current JCAP president Father Tony Moreno says Father Nicolás never tried to promote himself. “He was not self-referential. He detested clericalism in whatever form. He corrected people who referred to him as ‘Superior General Emeritus.’ He wanted to be known as he was without titles.”

Moreno recalls that even when disease slowed down Father Nicolas, his unmistakable humility showed forth. Once, at the Jesuit Health and Wellness Center in Manila, he told his attending physician (a fellow Jesuit): “You decide; I obey.” He was in his most vulnerable and most edifying.

Adolfo Nicolás Pachón was born in Villamuriel de Cerrato, Palencia, Spain on April 28, 1936, and entered the Jesuit novitiate of Aranjuez in 1953. He studied at the University of Alcalá, where he earned his licentiate in philosophy.

In an interview soon after being elected the superior general Father Nico recalled the time in Juniorate when the then general Father Jean-Baptiste Janssens wrote to the Society requesting for people to help in different parts of the world. Father Nico volunteered, saying, “You need people, I am ‘people’, so if I can be of help anywhere, I will go”.

Thus in 1960, Father Nico came to Japan where he studied theology at Sophia University in Tokyo. He was ordained a priest on March 17, 1967. From 1968 to 1971, he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from where he earned a doctorate in theology. Upon his return to Japan, he was made professor of systematic theology at Sophia University, teaching there for the next 30 years.

Father Nico was appointed director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines in 1978 – a post he held for six years. He then went on to serve as rector of the theologate in Tokyo before being appointed as the Jesuit provincial of Japan. Following his term of office as provincial, he remained in Japan, doing pastoral work among poor immigrants in Tokyo.

In 2004, Father Nico returned to the Philippines as president of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania. In 2008, he was voted elected superior general at the 35th General Congregation. While the position of Superior General – like that of the Pope – is a lifelong appointment, Father Nico resigned in 2016, at the age of 80, noting that the Society needed someone with more energy and health to lead it in an increasingly complex world.

During his term as the general, Father Nico insisted on the universality of the Jesuit vocation and mission, and the depth that must characterize Jesuit life. Speaking to Belgian Jesuits in 2010 about a “globalization of superficiality,” Father Nico said the Society of Jesus has to help the Church to go deep into reality. “How can we understand better what is happening so that we don’t come out saying platitudes, pious things that neither change people nor influence our way of life?”

After his resignation as superior general, Father Nico was missioned to the Arrupe International Residence and the East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila, where he stayed for a little over a year before finally returning to Japan, his home province, on August 6, 2018.

Sources: jcapsj.org and jesuit.ie