Pope Francis, harassed by those who want to p …

From Rome

The fate of Francisco's papacy
, the next synod of bishops on Amazon to be held in the Vatican in October and the situation in Venezuela, were the main topics on which the meeting with foreign journalists who made Monday in Rome the highest authority of the order of the Jesuits, Superior General Father Arturo Sosa.

Born in Caracas in 1948, Arturo Marcelino Sosa AbascalHe was ordained a priest in 1977. He holds a degree in philosophy and a doctorate in political science and has been a professor at several Venezuelan universities. As a Jesuit, he was among other things advising the father of the highest order in Rome. In 2016, it was the first non-European Of the 31 successors of Ignacio de Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus in 1540- being elected "black pope", the name that was once given to the greatest authority of the Jesuits for their power in the Church and go out and since then he has dressed in black as any priest, not white as a pontiff.

During his years of working in Venezuela, he was not very famous. But in the 1990s, and more specifically in 1992, his name was revealed when the authors of a coup attempt against President Carlos Andrés Pérez – among whom he had become President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez – have asked that Father Sosa will act as mediator. Soldiers who attempted the coup but then surrendered must be transferred to prison and fear for their fate. This mediation has led some sectors to accuse him after being a "phyllochavista".

Asked about the situation of Pope Francis – a Jesuit like him – to whom very conservative sectors, especially in the United States, accuse him of being too progressive and even "communist" and that there is both inside and outside the Vatican boycotters of his actions, Father Sosa said that "there are very different opinions". "There is no doubt that there is a political struggle within the church. One element enters into this struggle, clericalism, that is, the struggle for power within the Church. And this is not just an attack on Pope Francis. He will not change, he is very calm in the face of criticism. But criticism is also a way to influence the election of the next pope. Pope Francis is not a young man, he will not be the longest pontificate of history. These criticisms relate to succession. "

Pope FrancisFather Sosa says, "He is the son of the Second Vatican Council. And as such, he puts all his energy and ability to realize what Vatican II dreamed about for the Church. Because it is the true reform of the ChurchFather Sosa referred to the Council, which is considered by many to be the most "revolutionary" in the Church so far, with particular emphasis on the participation of the people and the poor, as Francisco pointed out. From the first day of his pontificate "How I would like a poor church for the poor," was his first sentence to hundreds of journalists who attended his first press conference a few days after his election as pope in March 2013.

In the people of God "who is most favorable to Vatican II has more resistance. But you have to keep fighting – over fifty years (since this Council), it's not that long, "he said. He also said that the Society of Jesus, which has about 15,600 members in 110 countries around the world, In recent years, he wondered how to act in the era of Pope Francis and adopted "four apostolic preferences," that is, directions, for the next ten years. Preferences that seek to achieve "reconciliation and justice". These preferences are: to point the way to God, to walk with the poor and excluded, to help young people create a future of hope and to contribute to the common house, this is how Pope Francis calls the Mother Earth in its ecological encyclical "Laudato Yes." "Migrants and refugees," were already among the priorities of the Jesuits, "are a challenge and as such they can not be neglected or replaced".

Regarding the upcoming Amazon synod on the Vatican in October, which is particularly important after the recent fires, Father Sosa said that the Society of Jesus works with the Panama-Amazon network, which includes many dioceses. and religious organizations in many countries. The Jesuits work mainly in the Brazilian part of the Amazon. "The Church wants to propose solutions to the Amazon. The question that will arise at the synod is how we should serve this community and how to solve its problems. The synod will be "a pastoral meeting to exchange ideas and think together for Latin America and for the world," Father Sosa said, but not before highlighting the concept of "integral ecology", which includes "all dimensions of society". human life, "insists the Instrumentum Laboris, that is, the basic document that will open the debates at the synod. "Those who think it's a left-wing option must open their eyes," said the Jesuit father.

In Venezuela, he said about his country, we need "not only the change of government, but also the change of system" and that both are "the product of the will of the people," measures " taken democratically ". Talking about elections in Venezuela "is not a utopia, because there is a democratic culture to the Venezuelan people". But in his opinion, international support is needed to achieve these goals.