In April 2005 a group of Jesuits were celebrating mass at St. Beuno’s, an Ignatian spirituality center in Wales, literally while
crowds at the Vatican were waiting to see who would be the new pope, up
on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. Of course, near the end of the
Liturgy of the Word, the celebrant priest at St. Beuno’s would have to
pray for the pope. But on this day, the celebrant didn’t know which pope
he was going to pray for. So he had an assistant wait outside the
chapel, watching the Vatican coverage live on TV. The assistant was
planning to alert the priest, during the mass, of the new pope’s name,
as soon as he appeared on the balcony. So, indeed, at some point early
in the liturgy, the assistant tiptoed into the chapel with a little
folded note bearing the name of the new pope.
The celebrant stopped and opened the note. Then his face went pale, and he closed it. When he finally got to the intercessory prayers, he grumbled, “…and for our Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict the, uh, [looking down at the note] 16th, Lord help us.”
Like the new pope, Francis I, many Jesuits are “conservative”, as
some Americans understand the term, on social and gender issues like
contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage, and the ordination of women.
But many Jesuits are liberal. Some are very liberal. One was sanctioned by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in for saying mass with a Roman Catholic Womanpriest.
Many Jesuits backed liberation theology, which led Pope John Paul II in 1982 to appoint a staunch conservative in charge of the order. All of this raises the question: what do Jesuits actually think about the new pope? Not what do they say — because publicly, few of them say anything but praise — but what is being whispered, at St. Beuno’s, behind monastery walls, in university corridors — anywhere the Jesuits have confidentiality?
Well, why not ask one? Certainly, some Jesuit
could give us a general idea. So, I called some media offices to try to
get an interview with a Jesuit who would speak candidly about what his
colleagues really think about Pope Francis. No takers. Why not? Well, a friend of mine had a theory: “if they do they lose
their pension, housing, insurance… everything they vowed away at age 16
or so….” That may or may not be true. It could also be the case that no
Jesuit is critical of the new pope.
Link (here) to Association of Catholic Priests
3 comments:
I laughed at the joke (I assume it was a joke!) up top.
But I'm somebody who does not believe every organizational struggle needs to be made in public. I'm just interested to see what changes, if any, the new Pope brings...
Katy - I do not think it was a joke at all. I am the first to beat my chest in mea culpa to our blessed Pope Emeritus Benedict; I was also duped by the smear-campaign against Cardinal Ratzinger present in nearly all levels of church and society. He was demonized by the American Catholic heirarchy so much, that you can find several thinly-veiled parodies/charicatures of him in religious writings and popular culture (i.e. the movie "The Third Miracle"). It wasn't until after the first year of his pontificate that I realized we had all been lied to; Pope Benedict was the one who had been trying to stop/prevent the abuse, raise the red flag with his predecessor, and reign in the bishops who were running their dioceses like personal fiefdoms (i.e. Mahoney). God help us all.
Oh King What (Qualis Rex), Oh King What you poor dear traditionalist ideologue.
Benedict did not bring the pedophilia scandal to the attention of JPII because Cardinal Ratzinger knew JPII woudn't be having any. It was an indelicate subject that Pope John Paul just did not want to believe was real. Instead, Ratzinger worked overtime to make sure that bishops around the world would NOT turn pedophiles over to secular authority to face justice. Nor did Ratzinger bring to JPII's attention the fact that John Paul's pal Fr. Maciel was a sex-addicted abuser of both women and his Legion of Christ seminarians not to mention monumentally corrupt.
Moreover, there is no evidence that Benedict ever tried to stop bishops from running dioceses like personal fiefdoms so long as they toed the doctrinal line. Indeed, he set an egregious example by having the papal apartments remodeled and openly embracing the upscale Prada brand.
Nor did anyone twist young Joseph Ratzinger's arm to join the Hitler Youth. Blessed Pope Emeritus Benedict? In another universe, perhaps, in this one; not so much.
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