TOKYO (AP) — Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Japan in a very personal way Tuesday, spending the morning with his Jesuit confreres in the community that would have been his own had his dream to be a missionary come true.

Francis celebrated morning Mass in the chapel of the Jesuit-run Sophia University and visited retired and sick priests before delivering a speech on Jesuit education in the final event of his weeklong Asia pilgrimage.

“In a society as competitive and technologically oriented as present-day Japan, this university should be a center not only of intellectual formation, but also a place where a better society and a more hope-filled future can take shape,” he told faculty and students.

As a young Jesuit in Argentina, the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio had dreamed of following in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier, who introduced Christianity to Japan in the 16th century.

He was prevented because of health reasons, but he joked with Japanese bishops upon arriving in Tokyo that he got his “revenge” when he was in charge of the order in Buenos Aires and sent five Argentine priests to Japan as missionaries.

One of those Argentine priests is now the head of the Jesuits in Japan, the Rev. Renzo De Luca, who served as Francis’ interpreter for the trip.

De Luca has said his former seminary rector was someone who was particularly “close” to his students, always available even though at a certain point there were more than 100 living in the seminary.

“Even in that time, it was easy to find him: He’d sit with us, cooked with us. Every so often he cooked for us,” De Luca told Vatican Media. “He was someone very close to us. He never wanted to be anyone important or hard to get ahold of.”

If Francis had come to Japan as a missionary, he likely would have eventually ended up at Sophia, a prestigious private university that caters to the wealthy, like many of the Catholic schools in Japan.

There, Francis met his long-time friend Adolfo Nicolas, an 83-year-old former superior general of the Jesuits who had taught theology for three decades. Nicolas was recovering from a recent health problem.

Overall, even publicly funded higher education in Japan is expensive and generally reserved for the elites. Tuition for bachelor or equivalent level degrees in public schools in Japan are the fourth highest across OECD countries, after England, the U.S. and Chile, at $5,218 a year, according to OECD data.

In his speech to students and faculty, Francis urged the school to not just be a center for elites, but to consider more marginal groups.

“Quality university education should not be the privilege of a few, but constantly informed by the effort to serve justice and the common good,” he said. “The marginalized would be creatively incorporated into the life and curriculum of the university, in an effort to bring about an educational approach aimed at reducing distances and disconnects.”

He also urged the university to boost its curriculum with more environmental concerns, following his own priorities and those recently articulated by the Jesuits globally as topics for their schools, churches and programs to incorporate.

Students massed outside the school to welcome Francis, including some from the theology department who toted an environment-themed banner saying “Welcome” in Spanish.

They said they felt particularly close to the pope because they considered him open-minded and a friend.

“We call him papa because he is so close to us,” said Leo Ito, a theology student at Sofia.

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Story: Nicole Winfield and Mari Yamaguchi. Associated Press journalist Hau Dinh contributed to this report.

WINDHOEK (Xinhua) — Namibia’s drought relief coffers were boosted by the Chinese business community from across the country, who donated 2 million Namibia dollars (136, 000 U.S. dollars) for drought relief efforts.

The Chinese Embassy in Namibia representing the business community handed over the cheque to Namibia’s Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila in Windhoek on Monday.

Speaking at the handover Kuugongelwa-Amadhila thanked the Chinese community for the assistance that has been rendered to Namibia over the years due to recurring droughts.

The Prime Minister who is cognizant of the effects of global warming and climate change said due to Namibia’s arid environment, the country will likely receive the negative impacts for more years to come.

“We need to build on our drought resilience,” she said, while she thanked China for their unwavering support during the torrid period.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila also assured the Chinese government that the funds received will be channeled to those that are in dire need.

Chinese Ambassador to Namibia, Zhang Yiming, who handed over the contribution told the Namibia government that China will continue to assist with the much need support needed to their “all-weather friends”.

“We hope under the government, this situation can be overcome,” he said, adding that the around 4,000 Chinese businesses operating in Namibia assisted with the donation.

Zhang said the Chinese government has heeded the call for assistance by Namibia’s president. Since the declaration of a state of emergency, China’s Red Cross Society was one of the first respondents and donated 150, 000 U.S. dollars for relief.

Zhang said among other contributions the recent donation of relief food worth 1 million U.S. dollar aimed to assist the Kavango East and West regions will see the first consignment being distributed in December.

Namibia is currently experiencing the worst drought in 90 years and on May 6, Namibian President Hage Geingob declared a state of emergency.

BERLIN (AP) — A Lebanese-born Swiss real estate mogul said Monday that he purchased Adolf Hitler’s top hat and other Nazi memorabilia from a German auction in order to keep them out of the hands of neo-Nazis, and has agreed to donate them to a Jewish group.

Abdallah Chatila, a Lebanese Christian who has lived in Switzerland for decades, told The Associated Press he paid some 600,000 euros ($660,000) for the items at the Munich auction last week, intending to destroy them after reading of Jewish groups’ objections to the sale.

“I wanted to make sure that these pieces wouldn’t fall into bad hands, to the wrong side of the story, so I decided to buy them,” he said in a telephone interview.

Shortly before the auction, however, he decided it would be better to donate them to a Jewish organization, and got in touch with the Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal group.

Chatila is never going to even see the items — which also include a silver-plated edition of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and a typewriter used by the dictator’s secretary — that will be sent directly to the group, he said.

“I have no direct interest whatsoever, I just thought it was the right thing to do,” he said.

Neither Keren Hayesod nor the Hermann Historica auction house responded to requests for comment.

Keren Hayesod’s European director told France’s Le Point magazine, however, that while no final decision had been made on what to do with the items, they’d likely be sent to Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial which has a selection of Nazi artifacts.

The European Jewish Association, which had led the campaign against the auction going ahead, applauded Chatila for stepping in.

“Such a conscience, such an act of selfless generosity to do something that you feel strongly about is the equivalent of finding a precious diamond in an Everest of coal,” EJA chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin wrote Chatila in a letter provided to the AP.

“You have set an example for the world to follow when it comes to this macabre and sickening trade in Nazi trinkets.”

Chatila said Rabbi Margolin had inspired him in the first place. He also acknowledged there was some opposition in his native country.

“I understand that some of the Lebanese people were not happy with my gesture, thinking that I was helping the ‘enemy,’” Chatila said at his Geneva office, gesturing with air-quotes as he alluded to perennial tensions between Lebanon and Israel.

“(On) the other hand, a lot of Israelis thought that it was a great move because this is another approach for peace — or something that is close to peace,” he added.

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Story: David Rising. Jamey Keaten contributed from Geneva.