FR. ARTURO Sosa, S.J., the Superior General of the Jesuits is here in the Philippines. He is in Cagayan de Oro by the time this article is published. He was in Manila and Cebu the past days, visiting the various ministries of the Society of Jesus.
Not many may be interested in this news but I am giving his visit a space in this column. First, I find it helpful, as part of my advocacy to promote religious literacy, for people to be aware of some not so known facts and details about Catholicism. Second, I am of the belief that the message of the General is more important than his person.
“General” is the title given by the Jesuits to the head of their order. Basically, other religious orders use the same title for the head of their congregation. The Franciscans, for example, call the highest leader of their order Minister General while the Dominican’s call theirs Master General. Just as the pope is central in the governance and ministry of the Church, so too is the general in his order.
There is, in fact, a Union of Superior Generals in Rome that is under the Congregation for the Institute of Consecrated and for Societies of Apostolic Life of the Holy See. The Union is the association of the heads of the major religious orders of men in the Roman Catholic Church.
Many stories have been circulating about the Jesuits in general and its Superior General in particular. For example, the Jesuit General has been called the Black Pope. I am not a historian so I would not assume to know the official explanation of the title’s origin and evolution. I was told though that the title signified the seeming parallel (or rival) influence of the head of the order to that of the Pope. This of course may not be true.
Having worked in a Jesuit school for over ten years is such a privilege and grace. I have known the Society of Jesus as an order that worked in various ministries. They are at the forefront of Church. Truth to tell, they have been, sometimes, misinterpreted and labeled quite unfairly. Church history would even tell us that not everyone within the Church is happy with them. At one point they were suppressed by no less than the Pope (at that time it was Clement XIV). Still they have remained faithful in their service to God’s people.
During his visit in Cebu, he consecrated the Church of the Cor Iesu of SHS-Ateneo de Cebu. The Church is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In his homily, the General reminded the faithful: God chooses the weak and the powerless. The archetype no less is the Blessed Virgin, a very ordinary girl chosen to the Mother of God from what was practically an obscure place in the Roman Empire. Fr. Sosa reminds: “each of us no matter how small or insignificant is called by the Spirit to contribute to humanity. We may have different roles but are all called to do one and the same mission.” Addressing the lay collaborators of the Jesuits who were present in the Mass, the General said: “the mission is not the mission of the Jesuits, it is the mission of God. We are asked to build not just a new building, but a new community where we are all a family. This is a family where the poor who have been pushed to the fringes of society are welcomed. A community that will make God’s reign realized.”
The visit of Fr. General Arturo Sosa is a reminder that the General of the Jesuits, just like any Jesuit, is just a messenger. The message came from Jesus. The message is Jesus. He whose name signifies full ownership of the Society of Jesus and the Church.