Pedro Arrupe - Japan - Hiroshima

Hiroshima

After his doctorate, Fr. Arrupe was sent to work as a missionary in Japan. When the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, it was December 8 in Japan. Fr. Arrupe was celebrating the Eucharist for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception when he was arrested and imprisoned for a time, being suspected of espionage. On Christmas Eve, Fr. Arrupe heard people gathering outside his cell door and presumed that the time for him to be executed had arrived. However, to his utter surprise, he discovered that some fellow Christians, ignoring all danger, had come to sing him Christmas carols. Upon this realisation, Arrupe recalled that he burst into tears. His attitude of profound prayer (he would later describe this as one of his most transforming spiritual periods), and his lack of offensive behaviour gained him the respect of his jailors and judges, and he was set free within a month.

Fr. Arrupe was appointed Jesuit superior and novice master in Japan in 1942 and was living in suburban Hiroshima when the atomic bomb fell in August 1945. He was one of 8 Jesuits who were physically located within the blast zone of the bomb when it occurred, and all 8 survived the destruction. Fr. Arrupe described that event as "a permanent experience outside of history, engraved on my memory.” Father Arrupe used his medical skills to help those who were wounded or dying. The Jesuit novitiate was converted into a makeshift hospital where between 150-200 people received care . Arrupe recalled “The chapel, half destroyed, was overflowing with the wounded, who were lying on the floor very near to one another, suffering terribly, twisted with pain.” In 1958, Fr. Arrupe was appointed the first Jesuit provincial for Japan, a position he held until being elected Father General in 1965.

Prior to being elected Father General, Arrupe made a visit to Latin America and, on one occasion, was celebrating the Eucharist in a suburban slum. He was deeply moved at the devotion and respect the people had for Christ in the midst of their abject poverty. After the service, a man invited Fr. Arrupe to his hovel, where he told him that he was so grateful for his visit and that he wanted to share the only gift he had, that of watching the setting sun together. Fr. Arrupe reflected, “He gave me his hand. As I was leaving, I thought: ‘I have met very few hearts that are so kind.’”