Jesuits elect new Superior General

Venezuelan Jesuit Father Arturo Sosa has been elected as the new leader of the Jesuits who are meeting in Rome this month for their 36th General Congregation. The announcement was made on Friday morning following four days of prayer and discernment. Father Sosa was chosen by the 212 electors who represent almost 17.000 Jesuits working in countries around the world. He succeeds the 80 year old Father Adolfo Nicolas who announced his resignation in 2014.

The new Superior General of the Society of Jesus was born in Caracas on 12 November 1948. He obtained a doctorate in political sciences before entering the Jesuits and being ordained a priest in 1977.

While the Jesuits are using a new electronic voting system on tablets for most of the proposals that they are discussing during their General Congregation, the election of the Father General continues to be held with the traditional method of paper ballots, as first prescribed by the founder of the order, Saint Ignatius of Loyola.