Visita del P. General, Arturo Sosa

The Cave of Saint Ignatius in Manresa welcomed on Wednesday the visit of the General of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Arturo Sosa, sj. The General wanted to dedicate one day of his stay in Catalonia to visit for the first time the Cave and the places of the Ignatian Manresa that mark the biography of Saint Ignatius as well as the Society of Jesus.

The visit to Manresa has also allowed him to meet with the Mayor of Manresa and patron of the Saint Ignatius Cave Foundation, Valentí Junyent and with the Councilor for Tourism, Habitation and Neighborhoods, Joan Calmet, who have been able to comment on some aspects of the preparation and the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Saint Ignatius to the city.

Father Arturo Sosa's journey to Manresa took place in a climate of prayer and personal approach to the experience of the pilgrim Ignacio. In the morning in the same Cave, Father General has had a space of recollection and personal prayer. Afterwards, he celebrated the Eucharist, appreciating the opportunity to carry it out in this special space for Ignatian spirituality. As pointed out the previous day in Barcelona, ​​in the homily of the Cave has referred to the availability of Jesuits linked to inner freedom to be faithful to the mission

Father Sosa has celebrated the reforms that were made years ago in the Cave that allow recovering the atmosphere of rock and stone that bring the original experience to Saint Ignatius.

Accompanied and guided by the Jesuit Xavier Melloni, he made a tour of some of the spaces of the Ignatian Manresa, such as the Chapel of the Rapture, in the old Hospital of Santa Lucía, the Tort Cross and the Well of Light, where Ignatius on the way to the chapel of Sant Pau, he stopped and looking at the river Cardener. At this point, Father General has been able to recall this moment with the reading of the fragment of the Autobiography that includes this special moment.

In the Shrine of the Cave, Fr. Lluís Magriñà SJ, Superior of the Jesuits of Manresa, has presented him the project planned for the remodeling of the Shrine, in which is it working with a proposal of the Slovenian Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik.

With this visit, Fr. General has also been able to know and visit the new spaces of the International Spirituality Center of the Cave of Saint Ignatius and the programming it offers. Fr. Sosa has encouraged the community of Jesuits of Manresa and the center's team to continue working to promote the international network of spirituality centers of the Society of Jesus.