“You don’t do that!” That is what Arturo Sosa, S.J., the superior general of the Society of Jesus, would say to President Donald J. Trump about his mass deportation of undocumented migrants if he had the opportunity to meet him.
Father Sosa said this in response to a question from America at a meeting with journalists at the Foreign Press Association headquarters in Rome on April 10.
Father Sosa was also asked what he felt, as a Venezuelan, after seeing the images of Venezuelans being deported in chains from the United States and sent to prison in El Salvador. “A mixture of sadness and anger. And to this prison, it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I felt sorrow not only for these 250 Venezuelans who are in El Salvador but also for the 1,500 persons arrested in Venezuela who wait for justice and are not in a better situation.”
Father Sosa was elected superior general of the Jesuits on Oct. 14, 2016; he is the first Latin American to hold this post. At the press conference, he spoke in Italian and answered questions related to the pope’s health and the possibility of his resignation, the Rupnik case, safeguarding against sexual abuse and Jesuits in China.
Before taking questions, however, the Jesuit leader gave a presentation in which he focused on three topics: the current situation in the world, the new phase of Francis’ pontificate in a church on the move and the Society of Jesus today.
Today’s world
Commenting on the state of the world in the 21st century, Father Sosa began by highlighting four “tendencies” that have strongly marked recent decades. He recalled that the Libyan-born Venezuelan scholar and political analyst, Moisés Naím, had identified three, the three Ps: populism, polarization and post-truths. He did so in his book, The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century.
Father Sosa added a fourth P: protectionism. He said these four tendencies reduce the space of democracy, free speech, the free exchange of goods and the rule of law and close the doors of powerful nations to migrants. Moreover, they open the doors to autocrats, who undermine multilateralism and international law and lead to the rule of the powerful. They make it difficult to maintain peace because it is difficult to enact justice.
Religion and popular culture are also subject to polarization, Father Sosa noted, which can lead to persecution. In this context, too, he said, we see an increasing flood of migration as people flee from poverty, conflict, climate change, and religious or political persecution. For the millions who flee these situations in search of a better life, the four Ps present a growing threat.
On the other hand, he said, the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus in recent decades have been rowing against the dominant tide with their commitment to justice for people, the promotion of peace and reconciliation and the protection of the environment, and are trying to do all this with young people to give hope to the world.
The new phase of Francis’ pontificate
Father Sosa noted that in the past 12 years, Pope Francis has sped up the implementation of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), especially through the worldwide synodal process. As a result of this, he said, we have today a church in which people participate more, are more united and recognize the richness of diversity. The Argentine pope has also fostered relations with the other Christian churches and other religions and has sought to promote interfaith dialogue as a way to work for peace in the world.
Father Sosa said these efforts, along with the papal encyclicals “Laudato Si’” (on the “Care for Our Common Home”) and “Fratelli Tutti” (“Siblings all”) are rowing against the “four Ps.”
The Society of Jesus
Father Sosa recalled that the Society of Jesus was born to serve the church and receives its mission directly from the pope.
“Today, our brother Jorge Mario Bergoglio is pope—Pope Francis. We obey him, as we did the previous ones, and will also [obey] the next one,” he said. “Pope Francis knows the Society well, and knows how to use its resources,” the Jesuit superior said.
Father Sosa then spoke about the four universal apostolic preferences intended to guide the life and work of the Jesuits over the next 10 years. Pope Francis approved them on Feb.9, 2019.
They are:
1. To show the way to God through discernment and the Spiritual Exercises;
2. To walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice;
3. To accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future;
4. To collaborate in the care of our Common Home.
Father Sosa spoke about how Jesuits walk with the poor and discarded people of the world, sharing their hopes and struggle for liberation. He said he had just returned from a visit to the Middle East and met Jesuits and “their companions in mission” in Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, all of them in precarious and difficult situations from a political and religious perspective. He said the same is true with the Jesuits in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, South Sudan and Myanmar with whom he has also been in contact.
He reported that Jesuits, in accordance with the third apostolic preference, are listening to “the dreams and concerns of young people” and this gives hope for the future. In this context, he mentioned a groundbreaking approach to youth ministry started by Jesuits in Chennai province, India, the country with the largest youth population in the world—50 percent are under age 25—called Magis Digital Home.
Speaking of the fourth apostolic preference, cooperating in caring for our common home, he emphasized the importance of linking spirituality to the ecological conversion effort as some centers of spirituality are doing, such as “Le Châtelard,” near Lyon, France, which he visited recently.
Apart from these four universal apostolic preferences, Father Sosa told the press that the Jesuits are today trying to envision how they might better contribute to the mission of the church with their Ignatian charism and the resources at their disposal at this time of epochal change.
Father Sosa presented an overview of the Society of Jesus today: There are 13,768 Jesuits in the world divided into 72 provinces in 110 countries. Of these, 9,987 are priests and 718 are brothers. In addition, there are 624 novices and 2,439 in various stages of studies. While the average age is 56, in Europe it is 67 and in Africa 43. There are some 4,000 Jesuits in India, where Father Sosa visited recently. (The total number of Jesuits in the United States is 1,663.)
He underlined, however, that these Jesuits are assisted by very many other people, both lay and religious, who share the Ignatian charism and the activities the Society is engaged in, especially in the vast field of education, but also in parish work, spiritual formation, in the struggle for social justice and much else.
Father Sosa concluded his presentation by touching on a question that was raised several times by journalists at the press conference: the abuse scandal in the church and the Society of Jesus. He said that the awareness of the gravity of these abuses in the church and the Society has led the Jesuits to a deep examination of the root causes and a commitment to build a culture of safeguarding in all areas of their activity and apostolic works.
Since 2018, he said, Jesuits have been participating in a program to promote a consistent culture of protection that began by making an audit of the present situation in all of the provinces of the Society. Father Sosa said he has convened for October 2025 a meeting of all the major superiors and the central government of the Society of Jesus to take stock of the present situation and to give guidance for the coming years.
Q&A
Asked how he had experienced the health crisis of the pope, Father Sosa replied: “I lived it with much peace because I was sure that he (Pope Francis) would not throw in the towel, and I knew he had doctors that were able to care for his health. I lived it also in peace because I know nobody is eternal. Francis will not be there [as pope] in the future, there will be another one, but we will continue to serve the pope in whatever way possible.”
He added, in response to a similar question: “We see that the Francis of today is not the same as he was 12 years ago [when elected pope]. He is older, and an older person cannot do the same as he did 12 years ago. But the processes he has started do not depend only on him. He has created a team, he has named many bishops who are going in the same direction. There are processes that do not depend only on the pope, and they go on.” He said this is true “even if there are persons who are against this, and who try to put the brakes on them.”
Asked if there is a rule in their constitution that says Jesuits must obey the doctor, Father Sosa said, “There is a common rule of the Society that says the sick person should obey the doctor and the nurse as if they were the superiors.” But, he said with a smile, “The truth is that Jesuits do not like to go to the doctor!” The journalists smiled, too, because everyone knows this is true of Francis.
Asked about the possibility of the pope or the superior general resigning, Father Sosa said that “the aging of the population is not just a problem of the church but also of society at large.”
The superior general of the Jesuits is elected “ad vitalitatem,” he said, meaning for as long as he has the normal capacity and energies to do the job. He has four assistants “ad providentiam” that give him personal counsel and, if they think appropriate, can also recommend that he convene a general nongregation to discuss the issue.
He recalled that St. John Paul II said that “Jesus Christ did not get off the cross.” But, Father Sosa remarked, if one sees the papacy “as a service that has certain requisites, and can end before death, then everything changes.”
The case of Marko Rupnik
Several journalists raised questions about the Rev. Marko Rupnik, a famous Slovenian priest artist who was expelled from the Society of Jesus in June 2023 for his “stubborn refusal” to obey the measures imposed on him following credible accusations that he had spiritually, psychologically or sexually abused more than 30 women. He remains a priest, but the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is putting him on trial, which could result in his removal from the priesthood.
“It is not easy to express all that one feels about this,” Father Sosa remarked. “He caused so much pain, first of all, to the victims, but also to the Society of Jesus, that it is not easy to speak about this.” He added, “Like the victims, we [Jesuits] are waiting for this [judicial] process to end, even if I know that it is not an easy process.”
“From the beginning, we tried, together with the victims, to find ways of healing the wounds,” he said, while recognizing there are “deep wounds” in people, and “different wounds that must be healed in different ways.” The Jesuits are continuing this process, he said.
He said the reference team for victims set up by the Jesuits has received reports of abuse from some 30 persons, and “we hope” that all who have a grievance will feel able to come forward and speak. Some have spoken to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, he said, and since Father Rupnik is no longer a Jesuit, they now pass on any allegation they receive to that dicastery.
Father Sosa said these abuses by Father Rupnik happened “because of our blindness.” This blindness “prevented us from putting the various signs together,” he said; moreover, “we lacked the sensitivity to notice what was happening.”
As he explained in his introduction, the Jesuits have a process underway to avoid such blindness in the future and to provide safeguards. “I think we have learned to have more sensitivity,” he said.
He confirmed that the Society is also seeking to address the question of “spiritual abuse.” The subject, sometimes referred to as “false mysticism,” is being studied in Vatican dicasteries with a view to defining it as a crime.
He said people often speak about “vulnerable persons,” but he insisted “we are all vulnerable,” and so it is important “to create relationships where physical or spiritual abuse is not possible.”
Cutting of USAID
Asked about this decision by the Trump administration to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, Father Sosa said, “I know this has done much harm to us, especially in accompanying migrants.” He said the Jesuits have launched a fundraising campaign because “we are concerned about having to put a brake on our education programs in the refugee camps, which for millions of people are the only possibility they have of getting an academic qualification. We are seeking ways so as not to have to cut back these programs.”
China
Asked about the number of Jesuits in China, Father Sosa said there are about 25, of whom four or five are foreigners; the rest are native Chinese. The foreign Jesuits cannot do pastoral work among the Chinese, but are allowed to do academic work, he said. The Chinese Jesuits, on the other hand, “can do pastoral work as priests” and are not clandestine. They have studied outside the mainland, and can travel to Hong Kong and Macau, but they cannot live in community. He confirmed that “there are vocations in China.”
Responding to a question about the Jesuits rowing against the tide, Father Sosa said,
We have been doing so for a long time, not just since Trump came to power. The Society of Jesus and the church have to be witnesses of justice and of truth. Many people have given their lives for the church and for this. This is something of an enormous magnitude, the church has a great responsibility here. Pope Francis has been very courageous, he is one of the few heads of state who speaks out against war, rearmament, the exploitation of workers and the deportation of migrants.
