Vatican inquiry into canonization of Father Arrupe, mentor to Pope Francis, begins next month

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 31, 2024 / 14:05 pm

An investigation into the potential sainthood of a former Jesuit leader and early mentor to Pope Francis will conclude its diocesan-level phase in mid-November, after which the Vatican can start considering the next steps toward his possible beatification. 

The diocesan tribunal will conclude its inquiry into the life, virtues, and holiness of Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ, with a ceremony on Nov. 14 at the Lateran Palace in Rome, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

Cardinal-elect Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, will preside over the ceremony. Members of the tribunal will be present.

The ceremony will take place on what would have been Arrupe’s 117th birthday.

Once the diocesan phase concludes, the tribunal’s findings can be considered by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. After reviewing the findings, the dicastery will investigate whether to declare Arrupe a “venerable” — a title the pope can award him if he is found to have lived a holy and virtuous life.

If Arrupe is declared a “venerable,” the next step would be beatification, which would grant him the title of “blessed.” This requires that at least one miracle be attributed to his intercession. For canonization as a “saint,” a second miracle must be confirmed.

Social justice

Servant of God Father Pedro Arrupe Gondra, SJ, was the 28th superior general of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, from 1965 until 1983. In the 1970s, he emphasized social justice as one of the main focal points of Jesuit apostolic work, a shift that was embraced by some and protested by others at the time.

Pope Francis, who was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1969, embraced the focus on social justice under Arrupe’s leadership. Arrupe was described as “something of a model for Pope Francis” by papal biographer Austen Ivereigh. 

Ivereigh said then-Father Bergoglio “had a very good and close relationship, and Bergoglio saw him as a spiritual father; he enormously admired him and was inspired by him.”

In 1973, Arrupe appointed Bergoglio as the Jesuit provincial of Argentina. Pope Francis has spoken about his admiration for Arrupe. Just last month, he told Jesuits in Singapore that they should be “always facing the challenges posed by society with a spirit of prayer following the model of Father Pedro Arrupe,” according to Vatican News.

Arrupe was born in the Basque County of Spain in 1907 and entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1927 after completing medical studies in Madrid. After his formation, the order sent him to Japan to work as a missionary. He became a novice master in 1942 while in Japan.

His missionary work in Japan coincided with the Second World War. When the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, Arrupe was living near the city. The weapon devastated the city, killing more than 100,000 people and injuring tens of thousands more. 

To assist the population, Arrupe helped transform the novitiate into a field hospital and used his medical training to help people who were wounded.

Arrupe became the superior general of the Society of Jesus in 1965 and oversaw the Jesuits during the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which concluded in December that same year.

At the Jesuits’ 1974–1975 32nd general congregation, he backed a series of decrees that reformed the Jesuits, one of which focused on the promotion of social justice and was titled “Our Mission Today: The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice.”

He founded the Jesuit Refugee Service in 1980, which continues to provide services to refugees.

Arrupe’s leadership was not without controversy. In 1973, Pope Paul VI warned Arrupe about experimentation in the Jesuits. In 1979, Pope John Paul II claimed the Jesuit leadership was “causing confusion among the Christian people and anxieties to the Church and also personally to the pope.”

The pope specifically criticized “secularizing tendencies” and “doctrinal unorthodoxy” within the Jesuits. Arrupe subsequently reprimanded some of the priests about whom John Paul II had concerns.

Arrupe suffered a heart attack in the summer of 1981 and ultimately stepped down from his role as superior general in 1983 after developing paralysis and loss of speech from the heart attack. He died in 1991.

The cause for Arrupe’s sainthood began in February 2019.