Asia and Africa provide ‘a new élan for humanity: Fr. Nicolás S.J

August 07, 2012: Marking the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, in the Jesuits’ mother church, the Gesu in Rome, on 31^st July, Superior General Adolfo Nicolás spoke of the need for Europe to see the current crisis also as an opportunity. The leader of the largest male religious order in the Church also said the ‘old continent’ needs to look beyond its own small borders, to Asia and Africa, which can give us a new energy and help us understand what being part of the human family really means.

He told Vatican Radio on Monday:
“We are becoming more and more aware of what ecology means for the human family and much more of what the human family itself means . So, at the time of Ignatius, there went through a tremendous historical change, a cultural and society change, and they had put aside the old presuppositions which were limited to a small Europe, where they thought the differences were absolute or almost. But Europe is so small and now we know that Asia has cultures that are much more different than any European difference can be. Then we have Africa and we are only beginning to discover the wealth, the depth and the values of humanity that we find in Africa. So these are all signs of hope that we need to welcome, because they are going to enrich and give us anew the energy that seems to be lost in great parts of Europe. So we have a new élan, a new perspective, a new horizon for humanity and I think we have to welcome it.”

Regarding the present day European crisis, he said:
“A crisis is a new opportunity. In Chinese, Japanese, Korean the word for crisis is “Kiki”: the first “Ki” meaning “danger” and the second “ki” meaning “opportunity”. So in all these traditions it is very clear that it is through crisis that we grow, like any human being. I myself think that I have grown more in the most difficult times [of my life]. When everything goes smoothly, as we thought it would thirty years ago, there is little growth. But now, when things get difficult, we have an opportunity to really deepen what is most human, what is most real to each one of us” he added.