Late Jesuit knew people who are hurting need a hand, says successor

(November 11, 2008) Father Pedro Arrupe, Jesuit superior general from 1965 to 1983, was a man who recognized that people who are hurting need a helping hand more than they need beautiful words, said Jesuit Father Adolfo Nicolas, current superior general. Father Nicolas presided at a Nov. 9 Mass in Rome's Church of the Gesu to close a yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of Father Arrupe's birth and to open a photo exhibit dedicated to the work of Jesuit Refugee Service, which Father Arrupe founded in 1980. Today JRS employs more than 1,400 people -- Jesuits, other religious and laypeople -- in 57 countries, helping half a million refugees and forcibly displaced people. During his homily, Father Nicolas said: "We are now in a gigantic financial crisis. This is a time when we need people like Pedro Arrupe, who recognized that each person is a temple of the Holy Spirit and must be respected and assisted." Preaching in the famous baroque church, which houses the tombs of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Jesuits' founder, and Father Arrupe, Father Nicolas said the value of human beings, "the living stones of the church," is much greater than the value of a building.