Fr. Pedro Arrupe, the visionary former Superior General of the Society of Jesus, was deeply concerned about refugees and other displaced persons. In the late seventies, he was “struck and shocked by the plight of thousands of boat-people and refugees” in South East Asia, fleeing war and persecution. In a letter addressed to the Universal Society on 14 November, 1980, Arrupe wrote, “This situation constitutes a challenge to the Society we cannot ignore if we are to remain faithful to St. Ignatius’ criteria for our apostolic work and the recent calls of the General Congregations.” He went on to add, “The help needed is not only material: in a special way, the Society is being called to render a service that is human, pedagogical and spiritual. It is a difficult and complex challenge, the needs are dramatically urgent.” In that same letter, he established the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) spelling out its primary aims and objectives.  He wanted the Jesuits to “accept this letter and the request it makes in a spirit of alacrity and availability”. Besides service, accompanying the refugees and doing advocacy for them would be the core mission of the JRS.

Fr Arrupe found inspiration for the launching of the JRS, both in the Formula of the Institute and in the Constitutions. In the same letter he adds, “In the Constitutions, St. Ignatius speaks of the greater universal good, an urgency that is ever growing, the difficulty and complexity of the human problem involved, and lack of other people to attend to the need. With our ideal of availability and universality, the number of institutions under our care, and the active collaboration of many lay people who work with us, we are particularly well fitted to meet this challenge and provide services that are not being catered for sufficiently by other organizations or groups.” The spirit of Vatican II and the directives of the 31st and 32nd General Congregations greatly helped the Society to respond to the crisis of forcibly displaced persons in several pockets of the world.

Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach succeeded Fr. Arrupe as Superior General in 1983. For almost twenty-five years at the helm, Kolvenbach made sure that in keeping with Arrupe’s vision, the Jesuits never lost sight of their commitment to the refugees and other forcibly displaced. On 14 February, 1990, in an in-depth letter to the Universal Society entitled, ‘Review of the Jesuit Refugee Service’, Kolvenbach confirmed Arrupe’s vision of JRS “both as an expression of our concern for the poor and as a significant step towards our renewal, personal and corporate, in availability, mobility and universality”.

In that letter, Kolvenbach also highlighted the specificity of JRS saying that, “The Jesuit Refugee Service is a modest venture, but it does claim to bring a specific dimension to its work which is sometimes lacking elsewhere. While always ready to help refugees in their material and spiritual wants, and also in designing projects leading to a fuller and more independent life, we try to place special emphasis on being with and doing with, rather than doing for. We want our presence among refugees to be one of sharing with them, of accompaniment, of walking together along the same path. In so far as possible, we want to feel what they have felt, suffer as they have, share the same hopes and aspirations, see the world through their eyes. We ourselves would like to become one with the refugees and displaced people so that, all together, we can begin the search for a new life.”

Fr. Arrupe founded the JRS and it is his vision and charism, which has guided JRS for almost thirty-seven years now. Fr. Kolvenbach however, provided the organization with the necessary directions, the framework and the spirituality to respond to the growing number of refugees the world over. Both GC 33 (1983) and GC 34 (1995) provided him and the Society with the mandate to respond to the urgent concerns of the refugees.

On the day he resigned (14 January, 2008), Fr. Kolvenbach also paid tribute to JRS and its collaborators, refugees, lay people, religious and Jesuits, saying, “It has been a blessing and a consolation to witness the positive development of this important mission of the universal Society of Jesus. It is a joy to see how JRS is committed to the mission of consoling so many refugees and forcibly displaced people, the poorest of the poor, around the world, especially in camps.”

During the years Kolvenbach was Superior General, the number of refugees world over would have touched 50 million. At that time, the Middle East had its share of refugees mainly from Palestine and Iraq. The crisis in Syria began only in 2011, when Kolvenbach had already begun living a fairly ‘hidden life’ in the Jesuit community of St Joseph’s in Beirut. However, almost until he died on 26 November, 2016, he kept abreast of what was happening and was very concerned about the plight of the refuges and the IDPs.

Fr Adolfo Nicolas was elected Superior General at the 35th General Congregation in 2008. GC 35 in ‘Challenges to Our Mission Today: Sent to the Frontiers’ says,“Ever since Fr Arrupe called the attention of the Society to the plight of refugees, the phenomenon of forced migration for different reasons has increased dramatically. These massive movements of people create great suffering among millions. Therefore, this Congregation reaffirms that attending to the needs of migrants, including refugees, internally displaced, and trafficked people, continue to be an apostolic preference of the Society. Moreover, we reaffirm that the Jesuit Refugee Service adhere to its present Charter and Guidelines.” (D.3, #39, v)

One in every 113 people on earth has now been driven from their home by war, persecution, human rights violations or climate change.

Today the refugee crisis has gripped the world as never before! Recently, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pegged the number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people around the world as 65.3 million. This means that one in every 113 people on earth has now been driven from their home by war, persecution, human rights violations or climate change (which is erroneously and conveniently referred to as ‘natural disasters’). To put it more graphically, each minute about 24 people around the world have to flee their home for no fault of their own. With the escalation of violence in several countries like Yemen, DRC, South Sudan, northeast Nigeria and that more than 20 million people are affected across Africa because of war, drought and hunger — the actual figures of refugees and the displaced might be much more.

More than half of the refugees (53%) today come from just three countries: Syria (4.9m), Afghanistan (2.7m) and Somalia (1.1m). Strangely enough and contrary to public perception the countries which host the most number of refugees today are Turkey(2.5m), Pakistan (1.6m), Lebanon (1.1m), Iran (979,400), Ethiopia (736,100) and Jordan (664,100). The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also recently criticised the rising xenophobia and “aggressive nationalism” in western democracies, calling for greater social cohesion, saying, “It is essential to not just address the humanitarian crises, but to build resilience – of populations, of regions and countries — to create the conditions for those humanitarian crises not to be repeated.”

In keeping with the signs of the times, the complexity of the issues and the urgency of the growing crisis, GC 36 (which concluded in November 2016) gave the Jesuits a renewed mandate to respond to the displacement of peoples (refugees, migrants, and internally displaced peoples): “In the face of attitudes hostile to these displaced persons, our faith invites the Society to promote everywhere a more generous culture of hospitality. The Congregation recognizes the necessity of promoting the international articulation of our service to migrants and refugees, finding ways of collaboration with JRS”. (D.1#26)

Perhaps in keeping with his Jesuit spirituality, Pope Francis has never stopped reminding the faithful of the need and importance to respond to the cries of the refugees, migrants and other displaced. Accompanying the refugees has been a recurring theme of his Pontificate: visiting them in Lampedusa and Lesbos; washing the feet of refugees on Maundy Thursday; providing homes to Syrian refugees in the Vatican; asking that every Catholic Parish in Europe shelter and support at least one refugee family. Besides, making the plight of refugees a constant reference point in his homilies and teachings, particularly that Joseph and Mary had to take the child Jesus and flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod; the fact that the Holy Family was a refugee family too.

Addressing the 6th International Forum on ‘Migration and Peace’, on 21 February, 2017 in the Vatican he said, “For us Christians, hospitality offered to the weary traveller is offered to Jesus Christ himself, through the newcomer: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35). The duty of solidarity is to counter the throwaway culture and give greater attention to those who are weakest, poorest and most vulnerable.” Thus “a change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization — all typical of a throwaway culture — towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world.”

Wars and conflicts are the major causes of the global refugee crisis today. This is bound to continue as long as countries like the US continue to produce arms and ammunition and sell them to countries like Saudi Arabia. Recently the US and Saudi Arabia signed an arms deal of $110 billion. Saudi Arabia is well-known for its human rights violations and for fomenting terrorism (the US conveniently forgets that those mainly behind the 9/11 attacks were the Saudis). Sadly, there is no international outrage condemning such arms deal. The military-industrial complex is obviously keen that wars continue; that countries like Saudi Arabia and India continue buying sophisticated weaponry. Pope Francis has consistently spoken out against the arms and ammunition industry.

GC 36 also wrote a path-breaking letter ‘Witnesses of Friendship and Reconciliation:  A message and a prayer for Jesuits living in zones of war and conflict’. The opening paragraphs read,

“Dear Companions and Friends in the Lord, We, the Jesuits gathered at GC 36, greet and support you, our fellow Jesuits, who serve at the frontiers of war and violence alongside courageous co-workers. You risk your lives daily in order to reach out, humbly yet persistently, for what sometimes seems impossible, namely the peace and reconciliation longed for by Jesus Christ. We give thanks for the love and support offered by your families and for the friends who sustain and support you on a daily basis.

Through you, we greet also the men and women of the Jesuit Refugee Service and all those who share our mission in those Provinces and Regions where conflicts are strongest and most intractable. Without their contribution, our mission would be considerably poorer. Living the same dangers, threats and violence, you are brought together by the ties of friendship, prayer and solidarity.

Sometimes, in such a mission, you may feel forgotten, labouring in different parts of the globe, far from the spotlight of media.  In this special message, we call you to mind, pray for you and ask the whole Society to do the same. You remain at difficult frontiers, seeing, in those who suffer, the face of Jesus who remains a constant friend and companion.

We thank God for the witness of friendship and hope that you offer. We are grateful for the many blessings you receive from the people you serve, blessings that enrich the whole Society of Jesus. You are not alone; you are part of an apostolic body whose sole consolation is to be placed with the Son in his suffering as well as in his glory. Your “offering of great price” contributes to the strength and efficacy of the Society all over the world.”

Whilst the letter would surely bring much consolation to those Jesuits working in zones of war and conflict, it also serves as a renewed mandate to the Universal Society that accompanying the refugees and displaced, is a priority for us today!