The Spanish priest Adolfo Nicolás , who was superior general of the Jesuits between 2008 and 2016, has died in Japan at the age of 84, the Company reported on Wednesday .
Nicolás, who was the last priest of Spanish nationality to occupy the leading position in the Society of Jesus , was dragging a long fight against a degenerative disease, which did not prevent him from meeting with the also Jesuit Pope Francis on his visit to Japan last November.
Adolfo Nicolás was born in the province of Palencia ( Spain ) on April 29, 1936, entered the Society of Jesus in 1953 and was sent as a missionary to Japan when he was still a schoolboy.
In Japan, he dedicated himself to teaching and social work with immigrants, after which he lived in the Philippines for ten years, where he held various senior positions related to pastoral work.
He was elected Superior General of the Jesuits on January 19, 2008, a position from which he tried to renew the order based on the principles of universality of mission and depth of spirit, as he himself repeated.
The General Congregation of the Company accepted his resignation eight years later, on October 3, 2016, after which the current president of the order, the Venezuelan Arturo Sosa, was elected .
In a letter sent to all the priests of this order, Sosa himself defines Nicholas as a "wise, humble and free" man who served in a "total and generous" way.
"Excellent friend, of those who love laughter and make others laugh; a man of the Gospel . It is a blessing to have known him," says Sosa about Nicolás, whose illness made life difficult for him in the residence for old and sick Jesuits Loyola House , just outside of Tokyo.
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