ROME (CNS): As part of the celebrations for his 50th anniversary of priesthood, Pope Francis chose to personally present, Escritos (Writings), a multi-volume collection of writings by his longtime spiritual director, the late Jesuit Father Miguel Angel Fiorito, at a conference at the Jesuit headquarters on December 13.
The pope wrote an introduction to the Spanish-language collection saying it is “a consolation for those of us who, for many years, were nourished by his teachings. These writings will be a great good for the whole Church.”
He said it “is a way for me to express my gratitude for all that the Society of Jesus has given me and has done for me,” and it is a way to encourage all the men and women around the world who offer spiritual direction to others following the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The collection was curated by Argentine Jesuit Father Jose Luis Narvaja, the pope’s nephew, whom the pope described as another of Father Fiorito’s disciples in a school of thought where general principles were held in common, but “the disciples could develop it, following the spirit —not just the letter—of the master with freedom and creativity.”
The pope wrote in the introduction that the collection is a distillation of “spiritual mercy: teaching for those who do not know, good counsel for those who need it, correction for those who err, consolation for those who are sad and help in being patient for those in desolation.”
Spiritual mercy, he continued, is summed up in teaching people discernment in the tradition of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a process of “curing spiritual blindness, a sad illness that prevents us from recognising God’s time, the time of his coming.”
