Emmanuel
EUCHARIST: LIVING & EVANGELIZING
The Eucharist and Justice:
Concurrent Themes in the Thought of
Pedro Arrupe and Pope Francis
by James Menkhaus
Dr. James
Menkhaus is an
assistant professor
of theology
at Gannon
University in Erie,
Pennsylvania.
On July 31, 2013, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Church of the
Gesu in Rome to commemorate the feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the
founder of the Society of Jesus. As the first Jesuit pope in the history
of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis has not neglected his Ignatian
formation. Following the celebration of Mass, the pope prayed at the
tomb of Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ, who was superior general for much of
young Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Jesuit development.1 Thus, the spirit of
Father Arrupe that animated the Jesuit order as the new superior general
sought to update the Jesuits to the call of the Second Vatican Council
would have influenced Bergoglio’s Jesuit formation.
In this essay, I wish to point out a few examples of the eucharistic theology
of Father Arrupe and elucidate the possible influence of Arrupe’s theology
on Pope Francis through an examination of insights that they appear
to share. These observations will be analyzed through the eucharistic
model of social justice and solidarity. This model is in no way meant to
exhaust the perspectives shared by these two men. Given Francis’ love
of the poor, Arrupe’s challenge to connect the Gospel and social justice,
and the Jesuit tradition’s emphasis on fighting unjust social structures,
the Eucharist as a call for justice is an important point for conversation.
Pedro Arrupe:
Eucharistic Devotion from the Fires of Hiroshima
One of Pedro Arrupe’s earliest transformative experiences of the Eucharist
occurred in Lourdes, France, in 1926. Arrupe was in his fourth year of
undergraduate medical studies when he traveled to Lourdes to verify the
miraculous stories he had heard. As he observed the Blessed Sacrament
carried down the street, a paralyzed nun stood up and praised the
sacrament, while a second woman with stomach cancer proclaimed she
was cured. Further, a young boy who had suffered from infantile paralysis
stood up.2
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