In a November 14 letter to the Archbishop of Barcelona for the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s conversion, Pope Francis recalled the providential role of a war and a plague in the saint’s life.

“This is a great lesson for us, for we are not lacking in wars and plagues before we are converted,” the Pontiff wrote. “We can, therefore, take them as an opportunity to reverse the course we have followed so far and invest in what really matters.”