Pedro Arrupe SJ - Anniversary and opening of cause for canonisation

Pedro Arrupe SJ died ‪on this day in 1991. He was the first Basque since St Ignatius to be superior General of the Jesuits. He trained as a doctor before entering the Society and became a member of the Japanese Province. When the atomic bomb was dropped in August 1945 he was novice master at the community on the edge of Hiroshima and he organised for the care of many of the victims in the city. He became Provincial in Japan, and was elected General of the Jesuits in 1965. He was a inspirational leader and was widely respected as a ‘re-founder’ of the Society of Jesus in the light of Vatican II. He became a vocal advocate of peace and justice being an integral part of the preaching of the Good News in the modern world. Just before he was incapacitated by a stroke in 1981, he established the Jesuit Refugee Service, now at work today in more than 50 countries worldwide.

In the Hands of God 

More than ever I find myself in the hands of God.
This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth.
But now there is a difference;
the initiative is entirely with God.
It is indeed a profound spiritual experience
to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.

Pedro Arrupe composed the above prayer after he suffered a debilitating stroke, the effects of which he patiently endured for the final ten years of his life. 

Over at Ignatian Solidarity they have a page dedicated to Pedro Arrupe SJ with many links and resources.

You can read more about Arrupe HERE.

• Pedro Arrupe’s path to sainthood 
• Pedro Arrupe’s cause for canonization to open in Rome on Feb. 5
• Fr Arrupe: Cause for Canonization to open in February