society. “There are various fields of expertise including eco-nomics, politics, law, and science, all of which are important factors in society,” he notes. “I would suggest that the students at Sophia, regardless of their primary specialties, try to in-teract across disciplines in order to broaden their outlooks.”He also encouraged his students to get out of their religious houses and live outside. He was convinced that the experi-ence of living together with locals, eating what they eat, and working as they work would be the most useful resource when they became priests and tried to help people in need. Fr. Nicolás taught at Sophia until 1995, with a six-year ab-sence between 1978 and 1984 for his appointment as Direc-tor of the East Asian Pastoral Institute at Ateneo de Manila University Campus in the Philippines. After serving as the Jesuit Provincial of Japan for six years until 1999, he began working for the Catholic Tokyo Inter-national Center. Around this time, Fr. Nicolás lived for four years in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward with another Spanish priest, Fr. Isamu Ando. It was and still is an area where many tem-porary workers from overseas and immigrants live and work. “I met many foreigners there, especially Filipinos. Many of them were having a hard time adapting to Japanese society while they already had their hands full with various daily con-cerns,” he recollects. He and Fr. Ando tried to help them solve their problems in life, and better interact with their Japanese neighbors, through the power of the Eucharist. Fr. Nicolás served as President of the Jesuit Conference of Provincials for Eastern Asia and Oceania in the Philippines, a post to which he was appointed in 2004. Subsequently in 2008, he was elected the 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus in Rome. “I think that the role of the Superior General is to take initiative in bringing all humanity together based on friendship and acceptance of differences,” he observes. True to his words he has been respected for his impartial friendship toward everyone around him, including his stu-dents and juniors. When Fr. Mark Koo Chung-Mo, a profes-sor in Sophia’s Faculty of Theology and a former student of Fr. Nicolás, was visiting Rome in 2011, Fr. Nicolás surprised everybody who was staying with Fr. Koo by visiting him at his lodgings for a casual lunch. Nobody expected to see the Superior General simply knock on the door to call on an old friend. “I just wanted to say hi to Fr. Koo who had been one of the most promising students, and I didn’t mind a good walk,” he says smiling. After he left the position of Superior General in 2016, Fr. Nicolás chose to return to Japan. He presently lives in Loyola House, one of the residences for Jesuits of the Japan Prov-ince. There he has been spending his time resting and praying for the Church and the Society of Jesus while he also enjoys interacting with fellow residents. “The reason I came back here is quite simple. I wanted to restart the pursuit of the val-ues of life and friendship from where I left off when I moved from Japan last time,” he explains. “I had spent such a long time in Japan before becoming Superior General, and the Japanese are like family to me: I feel at home here. Society runs on comfortable human rela-tions built on common sense. People are not demanding, and they good-heartedly leave you alone most of the time, which makes me feel free.” “Fr. Nicolás was not only a student and professor at Sophia University, but a true friend and guide to us in the various posi-tions he held in his life,” gratefully acknowledged by Fr. Sali Au-gustine, the Managing Trustee of Sophia School Corporation.“I hope that Japan will continue to be a place where people respect the lives of others,” says Fr. Nicolás. He also wishes that both Sophia University and Japan’s younger generations will contribute to enhancing diligence, continuity, and bal-ance, the strengths of Japanese society. Special Thanks: Fr. Sali Augustine, S.J., Fr. Mark Koo Chung-Mo, S.J., Fr. Naomi Keg-awa, S.J., Fr. Masatsugu Shimokawa, S.J., and Takefumi Terada, Professor Emeritus of Sophia UniversityWith Pope Francis (2013)Servizio Fotograco - Vatican Media26Sophia People
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