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After the changes following Vatican II... 

there was tension within the Society as to how the life of a Jesuit was to be lived. 

At the thirty-second General Congregation which convened in 1975... 

Arrupe's dream of working for the poor was crystallised in the document 'Our Mission Today: the Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice.'

It stated: 'Our faith in Jesus Christ and our mission to proclaim the Gospel demand of us a commitment to promote justice and enter into solidarity with the voiceless and the powerless.'

On 20 June 1977... 

the White Warriors Union death squad threatened to kill all 47 Jesuits serving in El Salvador... 

unless they abandoned their work with the poor and left the country within a month.

After consulting with the Jesuit community in El Salvador, Arrupe replied 'They may end up as martyrs, but my priests are not going to leave because they are with the people.' 

A few months earlier, Jesuit Rutilio Grande, a proponent of liberation theology, was assassinated in El Salvador. On 16 November 1989, six Jesuits would be murdered at the Jesuit University of Central America. Others also suffered martyrdom: the chief bishop in El Salvador Archbishop Óscar Romero was gunned down whilst celebrating the Eucharist on 24 March 1980. 

Lay missionary Jean Donovan, Ursuline sister Dorothy Kazel and Maryknoll sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford were beaten, raped and murdered by non-uniformed members of the Salvadoran National Guard on 2 December 1980. They joined some 75,000 Salvadorans who were killed during this troubled period.

 All the while, Arrupe continued to support and pray for those people who were willing to lay down their lives to help the poor initiate change.

Touched by the plight of the Vietnamese boat people in 1979... 

Pedro Arrupe sent cable messages to some 20 Jesuit major superiors throughout the world sharing his distress at the suffering of these people. He asked them what they could do to help bring relief to refugees and displaced persons in their own regions. He received a positive response, with numerous offers of personnel, medicine, and funding. 

The following year in 1980, Arrupe founded the Jesuit Refugee Service to coordinate the Society's refugee work. In a speech launching the service he said "Saint Ignatius called us to go anywhere where we are most needed for the greater glory of God. The spiritual as well as the material need of more than 16 million refugees throughout the world today could scarcely be greater. God is calling us through these helpless people." 

In 2017, JRS listed 47 countries where its 10 regional offices were currently serving nearly 950,000 individuals. Over the years JRS had served an estimated 40 million refugees.

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