Jesuits – Page 3

Do the Russian Orthodox consider Francis to be “Pope hypocrite”?

Some things don’t translate well. Plus, you can trust everything you read in the media, except what you read here on the Communio blog! Apparently, following the election of the Jesuit Cardinal of Buenas Aires as bishop of Rome has caused the Russian media to interpret what the word “Jesuit” means for the public. The word “iezuit” as it is used in some of the media outlets carries with it a derogatory connotation, and some would say restoring an older definition. Derision seems to have a currency. The words “Jesuit Pope” is translated into Russian as “Papa iezuit” which sounds like “Pope hypocrite.” But you can’t fall off the floor.

Dostoevsky popularized the word “iezuit” as inquisitor, monster and cunning in his novels; and during Soviet era the text books used the word as such, carrying the legacy with the inclusion of Jesuit as Vatican spy. All this is not lost on the Russian Orthodox Church, who, it is reported, one of the bishops publicly said on TV that Dostoevsky’s definition fits well with Jesuits and that the Spiritual Exercises are incompatible with the spiritual tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church.

I hope this thinking is not going to be a “new way” forward in relationships with Moscow and Rome.

Popes who belonged to religious orders

Pope Gregory XVI, a Benedictine monk, made gambling on papal elections punishable by excommunication.

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th Roman Pontiff he was listed among a rather small and elite group of men who had their intellectual and spiritual formation in religious life. Bergoglio is a member of the Society of Jesus. But who are the others?

The Benedictine monks have 17

Gregory I, Boniface IV, Adeodatus II, Leo IV, John IX, Leo VII, Stephen IX, Gregory VII, Victor, III, Urban II, Paschal II, Gelasius, II, Celestine V, Clement VI, Urban V, Pius VII, Gregory XVI

The Augustine canons and friars have 6

Honorius II, Innocent II, Lucius II, Adrian IV, Gregory VIII, Eugene IV

The Franciscans friars have 4

Nicholas IV, Sixtus IV, Sixtus V, Clement XIV

Secular Franciscans have 2

Pius IX, Leo XIII

The Dominicans friars have 4

Innocent V, Benedict XI, Pius V, Benedict XIII

The Cistercian monks have 2

Eugene III, Benedict XII

The Theatine clerks regular have

Paul IV

The Jesuit clerks regular have 1

Francis

Francis writes to Adolfo: thanks for prayers and unconditional service to the Church and Christ’s Vicar

Here is the letter of Pope Francis to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Adolfo Nicolás in response to Jesuit’s letter to His Holiness last week (which you can read here). No mincing of words: thank you for prayers and pledge, an assurance of the Jesuits unconditional service to the Church and the Vicar of Christ. A very debatable position of the Jesuits in the last 50 years. As you can see in the photo, Father General went to visit with the Pope this week.

Dear Father Nicolás,

I received with great joy the kind letter you sent me, in your name and that of the Society of Jesus, on the occasion of my election to the See of Peter, in which you assure me of your prayers for me and my apostolic ministry as well as your full disposition to continue serving – unconditionally – the Church and the Vicar of Christ according to the teachings of St. Ignatius Loyola. My heartfelt thanks for this sign of affection and closeness, which I am happy to reciprocate, asking the Lord to illuminate and accompany all Jesuits, so that faithful to the charism received and following in the footsteps of the saints of our beloved Order, they may be evangelical leaven in the world in their pastoral action, but above all in the witness of a life totally dedicated to the service of the Church, the Spouse of Christ, seeking unceasingly the glory of God and the good of souls.

With these sentiments, I ask all Jesuits to pray for me and to entrust me to the loving protection of the Virgin Mary, our Mother in heaven, while as a sign of God’s abundant graces, I give you the Apostolic Blessing with special affection, which I also extend to all those who cooperate with the Society of Jesus in her activities, those who benefit from her good deeds and participate in her spirituality.

Francis

Vatican, 16 March 2013

The First American Pope: Catholicism’s turn into an evangelical future

National Review Online published today George Weigel’s “The First American Pope: Catholicism’s turn into an evangelical future.”

Weigel calls His Holiness, Pope Francis a “True Man of God,” “A Pope for the New Evangelization,” “A pope in defense of human rights and democracy,” “The 2005 runner-up takes the checkered flag in 2013?” and “The first Jesuit pope?”

Jesuit Superior General writes to Pope Francis

In the name of the Society of Jesus, I give thanks to God for the election of our new Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., which opens for the Church a path full of hope.

All of us Jesuits accompany with our prayers our brother and we thank him for his generosity in accepting the responsibility of guiding the Church at this crucial time. The name of “Francis” by which we shall now know him evokes for us the Holy Father’s evangelical spirit of closeness to the poor, his identification with simple people, and his commitment to the renewal of the Church. From the very first moment in which he appeared before the people of God, he gave visible witness to his simplicity, his humility, his pastoral experience and his spiritual depth.

“The distinguishing mark of our Society is that it is . . . a companionship . . . bound to the Roman Pontiff by a special bond of love and service.” (Complementary Norms, No. 2, § 2) Thus, we share the joy of the whole Church, and at the same time, wish to express our renewed availability to be sent into the vineyard of the Lord, according to the spirit of our special vow of obedience, that so distinctively unites us with the Holy Father (General Congregation 35, Decree 1, No. 17).

P. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J.

Superior General

Rome, 14 March 2013

James Schall hits the target: On the “Art of Jesuitism”

I hate Jesuitism. Perhaps you do too. We stand in good company with Nietzsche and of course with Jesuit Father James Schall.

Full disclosure: I love Father Schall’s work. I love Nietzsche. Both get things correct. It may be surprising that someone as “crazy” as Nietzsche would interest me, or even Catholics. Several years ago I began to believe, after reading another Jesuit’s use of Nietzsche’s thought in one of his essays that we Christians need to take this man seriously. Whether you agreed with the philosopher and Schall is unimportant. What is crucial is that your horizons are stretched and forced to clarify and verify what we know to be true. Nietzsche means to be provocative, even nasty, but to dismiss him is wrongheaded.

Father Schall published an essay “On the Art of Jesuitism” looking at Nietzsche’s experience of Jesuits and their approach. You will be challenged in what both philosophers have to say.

Father James V. Schall, SJ, is a professor at Georgetown University and a well-published author. Father Schall is due to retire from GU.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini dies

The famed Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, 85, died today following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He had been living at a Jesuit retirement home near Milan.

Born in Turin, Carlo Maria Martini entered the Society of Jesus in 1944, was ordained a priest in 1952, being solemnly professed of four vows as a Jesuit in 1962, a bishop in 1980 and created a cardinal in 1983. He retired in 2002 and participated in the conclave that elected Benedict.

By training Martini earned two doctorates and he is known as a Scripture scholar (working on the Gospel of Luke) having been the head of the Biblicum at the time of his appointment to the archbishopric of Milan. A man of great sensitivity for the spiritual life and sacred Scripture, Martini, in his healthy years, was sought after as a retreat master. His insight in Ignatian spirituality has aided many people.

With Cardinal Martini’s death the College of Cardinals numbers 206 members, 118 of whom are able to enter a conclave to elect a new pope.

Saint Ambrose and Blessed Ildefonso, pray Cardinal Carlo Maria, and for us.

America Magazine appoints Matt Malone 14th editor in chief

The century old magazine edited by the Jesuits, America Magazine, has a new editor in chief, Father Matthew Malone, SJ. He’s the 14th editor, and the youngest in the publication’s history.

America is a mixed bag of journal opinion when it comes to covering the Church, it mostly pushes the envelop on matters that are not up for debate: it sheds more smoke and than light. In many ways it seems as though America has abandoned it’s prestigious and valuable nature of journalism as a Catholic publication rooted firmly in Ignatian spirituality. I pray that Saint Ignatius and all Jesuit saints and blesseds inspire Father Matt in his new mission. I certainly wish him the best.

America’s press release is here.

Ján Chryszostom Cardinal Korec, SJ

An interesting and unique anniversary is being observed by a member of the College of Cardainls: Ján Chryzostom Korec, SJ, the emeritus bishop of Nitra (Slovak Republic), 87, Bishop Pavel Hnilica ordained the cardinal secretly in a hospital room.

The cardinal is an exceedingly interesting man. When I met him in 1997 when he was making a US tour of Slovak communities, his interaction among his hosts was wonderful. He received an honorary Doctorate from Sacred Heart University on that visit to Connecticut.

Cardinal Korec’s statistics are fascinating: nearly 61 years a priest, 60 years a bishop and 20 years a cardinal.

Here’s the Pope’s congratulatory message:

Venerabili Fratri Nostro
IOANNI CHRYSOSTOMO S.R.E. Card. KOREC, S.I.
Episcopo emerito Nitriensi

Laeti laetum nuntium accepimus quod tu, Venerabilis Frater Noster, sexagesimam propediem anniversariam celebrabis memoriam illius diei semper tibi recolendi, quo Episcopus consecratus es et inter Apostolorum Successores relatus, huius nominationis occulte nactus honorem.

Quemadmodum tam felicis nec non praeclari eventus ratio poscit, Nos, commemorantes ministerium sacrum quod diligentissime tot annos peregisti, te actuosum, fidelem ac prudentem Pastorem enixe laudamus praesentiamque spiritualem Nostram hac in festivitate tibi pollicemur.

Dum ergo flagrantia vota, quaecumque sunt salutaria, optabilia, fausta adprecantia, imo e pectore promimus, a sanctissimo ac sempiterno Deo tibi supernorum munerum copiam imploramus, quorum auspicium simul atque propensae voluntatis Nostrae pignus esto Apostolica Benedictio, quam tibi amantissime impertimus.

Ex Arce Gandulfi, die XV mensis Augusti, in Sollemnitate Assumptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis, Anno MMXI, Pontificatus Nostri septimo.

BENEDICTUS PP XVI