HONG KONG — An American Maryknoll priest in Hong Kong preached that the greatest blessings in life come when you least expect them, a rain shower on a hot day, a friend unexpectedly turning up, remission in a crippling illness, an inspiring idea just when your brain seemed to have turned into blancmange.
In Rome last month, something similar occurred. Leaders of the Society of Jesus, often regarded as the intellectual shock troops of the Roman Catholic Church, met to choose their new head, the 30th in the 468-year history of the society. Heavy storm clouds were gathering, with Pope Benedict XVI giving the Jesuits stern warnings not to stray from the official church line.
The gossipy Italian press suggested Jesuits from Europe, India, even Australia, for the new father general, nicknamed "the black pope." But on the second ballot the 217 voters chose someone who had escaped mention outside the Jesuit community. They selected Father Adolfo Nicolas, a 71-year-old Spaniard who went to Japan as a young man 46 years ago and never left Asia except for going to Rome for further theological studies.
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