EUROPE/ITALY - Fr Adolfo Nicolás elected Prepositor General of the Society of Jesus

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - Saturday 19 January the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus elected Fr Adolfo Nicolás, S.J., Prepositor General. He is the 29the successor of St Ignatius of Loyola. Born on 29 Aoril 1936 in Palencia, in Spain, on 15 September 1953 he entered the novitiate at Aranjuez in the Toletana Province (Spain). On 17 March 1967 in Tokyo (Japan) he was ordained a priest. After obtaining a Masters in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he ministered in Asia: Professor of systematic theology Sophia University, Tokyo (1971); Director of the Manila Pastoral Institute (1978-1984); Rector of Tokyo Scholasticate (1991-1993); Provincial Superior of the Jesuit Province of Japan (1993-1999); Moderator of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania (2004-2007). Besides Spanish, the new Prepositor general speaks, English, French, Italian and Japanese. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 21/1/2008; righe 10, parole 137)