An Open Letter to the Society of Jesus at the Commencement of GC35:
I am praying mightily for you today, as are many other lay people around the world. In a way, I feel I am praying not only for you, but to you. And many, many others feel the same way.
There is nothing very complex about our plea to you. We love the Church. We know that St. Ignatius loved the Church. Regardless of the actual numbers (I know there are faithful Jesuits; I know there are "moderate" Jesuits) your image is not that of men who love the Church. Yesterday at Mass, I told a fellow parishioner that I was writing a pilot set in a Jesuit house of formation and he rolled his eyes and gave me a lecture. This is not some pet peeve of mine.
Things did not get this way because you like to wear plaid shirts instead of clerics and we're a bunch of wacko fanatic legalists. They got this way because you (and your retiring leader and the one before him) have remained silent while very public Jesuits have made very public displays of speaking out against the Church's teachings. Jesuit professors have systematically stripped our children of their faith while our complaints have fallen on deaf ears. You are causing us great pain and you don't seem to care. You care mightily about the poor and about issues of "justice." Why don't you care about us?
There is an article at Catholic Exchange called "The Future of the Jesuits" written by Russell Shaw; you should read it. (Hat tip to Joseph Fromm, whose blog is teeming with excellent GC35 coverage and commentary.)
Even more than the article, you need to read the responses to it. I am quoting a few of them below. Keep in mind that these were not written by me, nor were they written by a few fringe lunatics. And I did not purposefully exclude the comments that defended the Jesuits. There were none.
My mother asked that we younger kids NEVER attend a Jesuit university - she watched in agony as her older children went there and systematically LOST their faith. A friend of mine teaches at a Jesuit high school where the head of the theology dept. proclaimed at a staff meeting that there is NO Hell (that would limit the mercy of God). There are examples all over Catholic news of Jesuit schools being a fine example of what NOT to do in Catholic education. Once known for their zeal to spread the faith they are now better known for the opposite. I would sooner send my kids to a state college than a Jesuit school - for now, we home school. I do keep this and all religious orders, in my daily prayers as I pray one, or more, of my own children may enter this vocation. What a miracle and blessing it would be to see this order restored to its proper glory!!!
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Historically, when St. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus in the 16th century, its primary mission was to serve as a bulwark religious order whose sworn duty was to protect the integrity and respect of the Holy See in a Europe rife with Reformation discord, and later to counter anti-religious fervor in the era of the Enlightenment. Anymore now (and again, as Mr. Shaw points out, there are a few very good apples in the basket: Fr. Mitch Pacwa of EWTN, and Fr. Joseph Koterski of Fordham U. come to mind) the Society has become (to use a biological analogy) the equivalent of an immune system gone awry. Instead of attacking the enemies of the Body, the Jesuit "antibodies" more often than not attack its host (the Body, i.e. the Holy See and Teaching Magisterium of the Church).
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I know there are faithful Jesuits--I've met them--but my personal experience with the Society of Jesus has been overwhelmingly negative. I went to them for help discerning a religious vocation and I was referred to a Jesuit father for spiritual direction, who pointedly did not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (and told me so at every opportunity), habitually celebrated invalid Masses (using grape juice), flaunted Church authority, and taught his young charges (he was a campus minister at a university) heaven knows what. Fortunately Providence found me a much better spiritual director after a short while, but I can scarcely conceive of the damage that this man had done to others and is still doing for all I know.
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Yes there are excellent faithful Jesuits. They are easy to recognize....they look abandoned, abused, and isolated in their own religious community. One of the greatest American Jesuits of the 20th Century, Father John Hardon, is still a persona non grata in his own Detroit Province - 7 years after his death. They persecuted him and tried their best to suppress his work. Enough said. Religious Congregations continue to exist by the power of the Holy Spirit...when they abandon God, God abandons them.
(The above comment is the absolute truth. In my efforts to research an orthodox Jesuit protagonist, I have met quite a number of them -- yes, double digits, in fact -- and I have discovered that they way they are treated by their own brother Jesuits, merely for being orthodox, is shocking. Also, Fr. Hardon was my mother-in-law's mentor and close friend, so I know a lot about how they treated him. Now his cause is in the second stage; he will end up being a Jesuit saint who was shunned and persecuted by the Jesuits. I have yet to ever read an article defending him, written by a Jesuit. And his crime? Being faithful to the Church and the Magisterium and spreading authentic Catholic doctrine.)
I remember many years ago Father Aruppe who was the head of the Jesuits visited the pope, Paul VI if I recall, and the pope asked him, why his order (the Jesuits) caused him so much personal grief. Aruppe resigned, but nothing changed. The Jesuits stayed their course.
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Yes, I must concur - as a convert, I've embraced the faith like many of you and learned the magnificent truths of our church. Unfortunately, I too trusted my son to a Jesuit education. Take out the religion classes and it was a fine experience (unfortunately, that is the Jesuit way, take out religion .. at least our religion). On reflection, the Jesuits have that holier than thou perspective of education and faith. They have long since fallen into the "academia" far left and seem driven to cast off magisterial authority (ooh, that would infringe on their ability to teach!) while elevating other faiths at the expense of our own.
I've heard a countless number of comments like these in the last fifteen years, which is how long I have been praying for you daily and lighting candles for you all over the planet. I have filled this blog with my own pleas. I know that St. Ignatius will be heavily on your minds during the next few weeks. I pray that you will think of him not as a "man of his time," but as a man of God's time, which does not conform to the world. I pray that you will remember how he felt about Holy Mother Church. He has not changed his mind.
I pray that you will listen to the people who care deeply about your future, and that you will consider the possibility that we might have a point, and that we have the right to an opinion, and the right to care.
May the words that open GC35 at the foot of St. Ignatius' tomb be on your minds and in your hearts today, as it is in ours:
Father and Master Ignatius,
discerner of the ways of God,
faithful friend of the Lord,
and humble servant of Christ and the gospel
beneath the banner of the cross;
you who untiringly sought the greater glory of God
through discernment and prayer,and were docile in obedience to the Lord and his spouse the Church;
you who did not seek riches or honor,
but preferred poverty with the poor Christ
and humiliations with Christ humiliated,
provided only that the most holy name of Jesus,
in which our salvation is placed,
was proclaimed to all;
intercede for us with the Father of mercies,
so that in this time of grace
we may seek and find in all things
God’s divine presence
and know his sovereign will.
To the Eternal King of all things
we entrust this least Society,
created not by human hands,but by the powerful hand of Christ our Lord
in whom we place our hope.
May Christ conserve and prosper
what he has begun
for his greater service and praise
and for the salvation of souls.
To you, Father Ignatius, and to the Society of saints in heaven
we entrust ourselves,
so that, confirmed in faith,
refreshed in hope,
and inflamed by evangelical charity,
we may love and serve the Lord in all things
and renew each day
our prayer of offering:
“Take, Lord, receive
all my liberty,
my memory, understanding,
my entire will—
all that I have and possess;
you have given to me,
to you, Lord, I return it.
all is yours now;
do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace;
that is enough for me.”
We ask this in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
AMDG,
Karen
I could not agree more with the mother who states her children lost their faith at a Jesuit institution.Where I live prestige, academics, elitism, and
reputation are far more important than
nurturing a child's soul or faith. Who
has more merit finalists? Who has the
better football team? Henri J. M. Nouwen states in "The Wounded Healer"
"Who can save a child from a burning house without the risk of being hurt by the flames?" There was no need for
a First Aid Kit at my sons Jesuit high
school!
Posted by: anonymous | January 08, 2008 at 01:39 PM