Sophia Magazine vol.4 / WINTER 2016

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“I can say this with confidence: Attention and ex-pectations have been placed on Sophia University not only by Japanese society, but also by the Catholic Church and Jesuit colleges and universities around the world,” observed Father Adolfo Nicolás S.J. when he visited Sophia University in 2008 as Superior Gen-eral of the Society of Jesus. Although he resigned that position at age 80 in October 2016, as he wished, his comment still applies not only to this university with which he has shared a vital connection for over half a century, but also to his contributions to the people of Japan, East Asia and Oceania. Born in Spain in 1936, Father Nicolás came to Japan as a young Jesuit missionary in 1960. After entering Sophia University in 1964, he was ordained to the priesthood before graduating with a degree in Theology in 1968. He later taught in the university’s Faculty of Theology for 30 years and took on other re-sponsibilities as the Jesuit Provincial of Japan and as President of the Jesuit Conference of Provincials for Eastern Asia and Oceania, before he was appointed 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus in 2008. As a European who has lived in Japan, East Asia and elsewhere, he perceives that “in the current era, humans are not respected as humans, but are treated as things,” so he urges people throughout the world to address the four challenges of poverty, the environ-ment, educational inequality, and the need to uphold human ethics.As a model of how to live for and with others, Father Nicolás extended pastoral care to poor immigrants and their families at the Catholic Tokyo International Center (CTIC) during the many years that he was also teaching at Sophia. Such experience, he suggests, is a first step on the path to learning directly from those in need. “The university is a place where you analyze, deepen, and reflect on your experiences not only as an individual but also as part of a community. All that you experience there should prepare you for the path to serve others,” he says. People grow through the pro-cess of experience, self-reflection, and action. That is the path that Saint Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus, prescribed in his The Spiritual Exercises. Moreover, it is the legacy that Father Nico-lás has helped Sophia to develop and sustain. EpisodeFATHER ADOLFO NICOLÁS 411. The Sophia University Centennial Anniver-sary Mass led by Fr. Adolfo Nicolás at the Church of the Gesù, the mother church of the Society of Jesus, in Rome 2. Fr. Adolfo Nicolás became 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus in 20082Father Adolfo Nicolás and Sophia University Pursue a Common MissionContributed by Tsutomu Sakuma, S.J.,Professor, Faculty of Theology29Catholic Heritage

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