Jesuit superior announces intention to resign in 2016 after he turns 80
May 21,2014: Father Adolfo Nicolas, superior general of the Jesuits, announced his
intention to resign in late 2016 after he turns 80. "Reflecting on the coming years,
I have reached the personal conviction that I should take the needed steps toward
submitting my resignation to a general congregation," Father Nicolas said in a letter
dated May 20 and sent to Jesuits around the world. Father Nicolas, who was elected
in 2008, said he already has discussed the idea with Pope Francis -- a Jesuit -- with
officials at the Jesuit headquarters and with Jesuit provincials around the world.
"The result of the consultation is favorable toward the convening of a general congregation,"
he said. Like the pope, the superior general of the Jesuits is elected for life,
although the Jesuit constitutions include provisions for the superior general to resign.
Father Nicolas succeeded Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, who resigned at the age of
79. At the time, Father Kolvenbach said, "the Society of Jesus has the right to be
governed and animated by a Jesuit in full possession of his physical and spiritual
talents and not by a companion whose energies continue to diminish because of age."
When delegates to the general congregation accepted his resignation, Father Kolvenbach
thanked them "for so graciously firing me." Five days later, the delegates elected
Father Nicolas, a Spaniard who had been serving as moderator of the Jesuit Conference
of East Asia and Oceania. At the time, Father Nicolas told reporters it was unlikely
any Jesuit leader again would feel an absolute obligation to serve until death. The
Society of Jesus, the largest religious order of men in the Catholic Church, includes
about 17,000 priests and brothers. Source: CNS