Father Sosa: Jesuits’ mission is fostering reconciliation with God, human beings, environment

August 16, 2017

The superior general of the Society of Jesus said that the Jesuits are called to work for reconciliation “on three levels: with God, with human beings, with the environment.”

In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Father Arturo Sosa said that Jesuits are working “to better understand the causes of injustice and contribute to developing alternative models to the system today that produces poverty, inequality, exclusion, and places at risk life on the planet.”

Commenting on the crisis in his native Venezuela, the Jesuit leader said that he is optimistic despite current problems. He observed that a July referendum, in which more than 7 million people voted, was “the most important civil manifestation in the entire history of Venezuela.” That referendum, organized by opposition leaders, produced an overwhelming majority against the effort by President Nicolas Maduro to change the nation’s constitution. Maduro subsequently held another referendum, which was boycotted by the opposition, and produced the opposite result.

His election last October as the world’s Jesuit leader, Father Sosa has traveled to visit with members of the Society in India, Peru, Spain, Germany, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Indonesia, and Cambodia; he is now planning a trip to Belgium.

 

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Further information:

• The Jesuit mission (L'Osservatore Romano)