What If Ten Percent Of Catholics Went To Mass?

This 90-year-old Jesuit priest told the bishops in a meeting in Baguio, right before martial law, “that if 10 percent of the Catholics in the Philippines went to Mass on Sundays, there will not be enough cathedrals, churches, chapels, visitas, etc., to accommodate these 10 percent, and we priests will have to say not four or five Masses, but even more.” The fact remains that most Catholics in the Philippines live far away from churches, and even if there are easily accessible churches or chapels, there would be no priests to say Mass even in the city proper or in the towns or barrios and sitios. If indeed 80 percent of the now more than 90 million Filipinos are Catholics (at least nominally), what a mind-boggling problem we would have in how to evangelize and catechize these millions to become true Christians in spirit and in truth. 

Link (here) to the original article by Fr. Emmanuel V. Non, S.J.

Scott Hahn Is Writing The Cover Story For America Magazine!

Scott W. Hahn, a professor of theology at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and author of (Doubleday, 2013), 

is the author of this week's cover story in America, "Mass Evangelization: Sharing Faith with the Eucharist." In this week's Podcast, he speaks with Luke Hansen, S.J., 

and describes the role of friendship in the work of evangelization.

Consuming the Word

Link (here) to America Magazine to listen to the podcast

Francis J. Beckwith, "Gonzaga Effectively Marginalizes These Students, Suggesting To The Wider Public That Their Religious Interests Are Illegitimate"

Francis J. Beckwith

Gonzaga University was founded by an order of priests known as the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. Although , but not amended, to allow the hiring of the university’s first lay president, the Jesuits remain an officially recognized campus group with its own residence aptly named “Jesuit House.”

Gonzaga’s bylaws were temporarily suspended

Nevertheless, the Society of Jesus requires its members not only be male and Catholic, but celibate as well. Oddly, then, if Gonzaga cannot “yet endorse a group based on faith exclusivity,” the school’s Jesuit community has failed to win the endorsement of the school it founded.

Second, Gonzaga’s University Ministry “provides a wealth of opportunities for students to participate in retreats, liturgies and events that illustrate the connections between faith and life. . .in support of Gonzaga University's mission as a humanistic, Catholic and Jesuit institution of education. . .” These opportunities include the celebration of Catholic Mass on campus. The Catholic Mass, however, requires that those receiving the Eucharist be in full communion with the Catholic Church, which means that both non-Catholics and lapsed Catholics are forbidden from participating in the Lord’s Supper. Thus, if Gonzaga is committed to “non-discrimination based on certain characteristics, one of which is religion,” its own University Ministry, since it offers Catholic Masses on campus, is dissenting from the school’s commitment. Whatever these two points reveal about the deep fissures in Gonzaga’s self-understanding, they do not disclose the most egregious problem with the university’s policy as applied to the Knights of Columbus: it is an instance of the passive aggressive tyranny trick. As with any college campus, Gonzaga includes among its students serious religious believers, including Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Because they take their faith seriously – that is, they believe that their faith is not only true but its communities and practices essential to moral and spiritual formation – they desire fellowship with others within their tradition and strive to become better examples of authentic faith. Because of the nature of the religious faith embraced by these students – and the differences between men and women that most of these faith traditions rightfully acknowledge and celebrate – certain types of spiritual and moral formation simply cannot be accomplished in settings that are ecumenical and/or in mixed company. By not offering these students an opportunity to organize groups that accomplish these ends, 

Gonzaga effectively marginalizes these students, suggesting to the wider public that their religious interests are illegitimate, not worthy of being part of the Gonzaga community and its conversation about the good, the true, and the beautiful.

Consequently, although one of its vice presidents states that the university desires “to create and maintain an environment in which none are excluded,” it in fact excludes, and it does so by implying that those who are excluded harbor antipathy toward social justice and equity.

This is the passive-aggressive tyranny trick in all its glory.
Link (here) to read Francis J. Beckwith's full article at The Catholic Thing

Jesuit Retreat House Director Sister Mary Ann Flannery, "Retrieving Arcane Practices Of A Faith That Must Move Forward Believing In The Power Of The Resurrection Rather Than The Feeble Power Of A Human-made System."

Sister Mary Ann Flannery, M.C.

If Pope Francis continues to reach out to the poor and to demonstrate a willingness to entertain discussions

of pluralism engaging other faiths

as well as the place of women in the church, he will have made a significant contribution. 

When Vatican II, the renewal of the Catholic Church initiated by Pope John XXIII in 1960, began, I was a college student. Our church history professor, Sister Ellen Vincent, once pointed out that change would be rapid (thankfully), but after 30 or 40 years, distressed Catholics would galvanize a counterculture issuing reactionary attacks on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. "Not to be alarmed," she said, "only be aware, and meet the challenge with knowledge of your faith."

Since then, many Catholics have witnessed the rummaging of pre-Vatican II sacristy closets for accouterments, regaling our liturgy with items of the past that belong in museums more than sanctuaries and retrieving arcane practices of a faith that must move forward believing in the power of the Resurrection rather than the feeble power of a human-made system. 

We are lifted to the horizon of hope this post-Easter with the election of Pope Francis, a man who lives the simple message that God truly loves each of us immeasurably. 

Link (here) to The Cleveland Plain Dealer to read the full editorial by Sister Mary Ann Flannery. Sister Flannery is the director of the Jesuit Retreat House of Cleveland in Parma, Ohio

Jesuit To Obama Adminstration, "Contrary To The Rhetoric Of Family Values That Permeates Our Political Discourse"

Fr. Sean Carroll, S.J,

First it was guns. Now, immigration. Members of the Catholic Church have been hitting hard at Congress this week on matters of national policy. The latest is Jesuit Father Sean Carroll who told members of Congress on Wednesday that U.S. immigration policy violates basic Christian biblical teachings — namely, that it separates families, Raw Story reported. 

“With each passing day, we as a country continue to separate family members, through our immigration laws and our detention and deportation practices, contrary to the rhetoric of family values that permeates our political discourse,” he said, at a congressional hearing headed by pro-abortion progressive Rep. Raul Grijalva from Arizona, 

Raw Story reported. Father Carroll said that 5,100 children are now in foster care, separated from caretakers who have been detained or deported by federal authorities.“This reality falls far short of what Scripture teaches regarding care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger,” he said. “Our current policies essentially leave many children as orphans, wives and husbands as widows and widowers, and the stranger deported across the border, away from their family members who need them so deeply.”

Link (here) to The Washington Times

Pope Francis To Consecrate His Pontificate To Our Lady Of Fatima

A Portuguese site is reporting that Pope Francis has asked Card. Polycarpo of Lisbon to consecrate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima. The Cardinal Patriarch told his brother bishops that the Pope had asked him twice. It will be done on May 13th, the 96th anniversary of first apparitions to the Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. For those thinking of going to Fatima on the 13th of May, the Cardinal said something would be inserted in the prayer booklet for that day. I would imagine that everyone could unite in prayer that day, likewise. Fatima has live stream available, so as we get closer we’ll see if we can look in………….One thing I have noticed and told others about is how Pope Francis responds after Mass when there is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary nearby to venerate. He practically runs for the statue like a boy running to his mother, stands there in visible devotion for a minute or two, then leaves. The first time I saw him do this on video, he almost plowed down an unsuspecting MC trying to get there. There is little doubt in my mind that Pope Francis is very devout when it comes to the Blessed Mother.

Link (here)

Jesuit Bishop, "One Lives Day By Day."

Bishop Antoine Audo, S.J.

Syrians caught up in the ongoing fighting in the devastated city of Aleppo are exhausted and starving, a senior Antoine Audo, the Jesuit Chaldean bishop of Aleppo and president of the aid agency Caritas Syria, told the missionary news service Fides: "One lives day by day. I have the impression that people are more and more exhausted. They have all become poor and everyone is always looking for something to eat for himself and his family. "In the streets of Aleppo you can see the people that run endlessly with bags in their hand, trying to find a bit of bread," he said. He added that roads in the formerly prosperous city were being closed and that doctors were being threatened and forced to flee.

bishop has warned.

Link (here) to the Tablet

St. Ignatius Of Loyola Could Not Start The Society Of Jesus At Gonzaga Under The Current Rules

The chief reason for my confusion is that as an organization, the Knights of Columbus is, by these criteria, identical to the Society of Jesus. 

How strange it is to think that if Ignatius of Loyola and his companions, who were students at the University of Paris when they established the Society, had tried to apply for club status at Gonzaga, they would have been denied. I can’t help but wonder if it is the intention of the Office of Student Life to dissociate itself from Gonzaga University because of the Jesuits’ long-standing practice of such “discrimination,” or will Student Life instead choose to initiate action to remove the Society of Jesus from its affiliation with the Gonzaga community?

This may strike you as an absurd inquiry, but it is actually a logical response to the rationale in your decision. As you noted, the revival of the Catholic Daughters on campus would solve the “gender-exclusivity” problem, but alas, the Catholic Daughters are Catholic too, and that seems to be central problem.

It would appear that the Knights of Columbus have been denied recognition as a club on this Catholic campus specifically because it is a Catholic group. Is that not the only conclusion one might draw? 

Link (here) to read Carl Olson's full article at The Catholic World Report

Fr. Giovanni La Manna, S.J., "Francis I Will Not Create Conflicts Between Obeying The Father General And His Holiness.

Fr. Giovanni La Manna, S.J.

Jesuits must obey not only the pope, but also the Father General -- the so-called Black Pope -- who is currently Adolfo Nicolás. How will they relate to these two figures?

I believe that the new pope is an exceptional person, in both a spiritual and a human sense, and that he will have the maturity to avoid any type of conflict. As for the mission of Jesuits, they take a vow which goes beyond obedience: the so-called "fourth vow of obedience to the pope." Based on this vow, the pope can ask Jesuits to undertake a mission at any moment, and Jesuits are bound to obey him, regardless of the Father General's wishes. But I am certain that this won't happen: Francis I will not create conflicts between obeying the Father General and His Holiness.

What is the significance of the first Jesuit pope for the Church's history?

It is certainly something new, and like all new things it will bring joy and curiosity among the faithful. Personally, I am very happy and curious to see how a Jesuit pope will move forward.

From your perspective, will there also be some recognition of your order?

The new pope is a person who received a Jesuit education, and those who have been Jesuits for years cannot erase their origins. His education influenced the way he conducted himself as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires; a man is unlikely to forget that which has shaped him. The fact that he is a Jesuit will influence the way he serves the Church. We have already had a taste of this in tonight's greeting -- in his request that the faithful pray for him even before blessing him. Just as the pope blesses the people of the Church, Francis I asked his people to bless and pray for him.

What does his name mean? Do you think he chose it in reference to St. Francis and his vow of poverty?

Since His Holiness has a Jesuit history, I very much think that he chose it with St. Francis Xavier in mind (San Francisco de Jasso Azpilcueta Atondo y Aznares de Javier), one of the first missionaries who tried to evangelize in new lands. I believe that the choice is rooted in His Holiness' own history and therefore in that of the Jesuits.

Thinking and living as a Jesuit, I immediately thought of this reference to our Francis Xavier, a important saint for Jesuits and one of the first blessed witnesses of the Society of Jesus, who spent his entire life on his mission of evangelization. I am sure that this name rings in the spirit of His Holiness.

What kind of pope will Frances I be? Will he offer a break from the past, or continuity?

He will certainly keep the path of his predecessors in mind. But he will assign priorities in his own way, and the fact that he is a Jesuit will affect how he identifies these priorities. Considering the name he has chosen, he will surely be a man committed to the New Evangelization in the Year of Faith.

He will guide the Church with the attention of someone looking at the world from another point of view -- in his case, from Argentina. And in that way he will help bring fresh air and a review of priorities to the universal Church. All of this brings nothing but excitement and enthusiasm to the Church. Returning again to his first speech as pope: By asking the faithful to bless him, he began a dialogue -- a new reciprocal relationship. It is not a one-way speech, but one which bespeaks a sense of shared reality.

Link (here) to the full interview of Fr. Giovanni La Manna, S.J. the President of The Astalli Canter in Rome

Pope Francis To Visit The Jesuit Operated Astalli Center

The Astalli Center in Rome

A priest in Rome says Pope Francis personally called him to say he will visit the Astalli Center, a local facility “Yesterday I received a call on my cell phone. It was Pope Francis and he told me he would come. This is wonderful,” Father Giovanni La Manna, head of the Jesuit Service for Refugees in Rome, posted on his Twitter account April 7. The Astalli Center offers refugees free medical care, psychological counseling, legal advice, meals, showers, a laundromat and educational assistance. Undocumented refugees can use the services at the Center without fear of being identified and deported, due to an agreement between the Jesuits and the city of Rome. Most the immigrants at the center are Muslims refugees fleeing from the Middle East and Africa, and the lines to use its services are often long. In a previous interview with CNA, Fr. Manna, who has been working at the center since 2003, said the stories behind many of the refugees are tragic. Most of them have fled because their lives were in danger because of political or religious reasons, he said. Others have been forced to flee because 
run by the Jesuits, that helps thousands of undocumented refugees – many with tragic histories.

“being a Christian in a Muslim country is very difficult.” “There are also many women who have fled because their families force them to marry someone they don’t love,” the priest added. The inspiration to help these refugees “comes from the Gospel. We don’t make anything up, we just keep in mind what the Gospel says and teaches,” Fr. Manna noted.  

And in welcoming these people we make no distinction for race, language or religion. To us they are people who deserve care and help.” The Jesuit Service to Refugees started in 1980 and has spread throughout the world to help people in need. The Astalli Center in Rome receives nearly 400 people day, and a team of volunteers helps the Jesuits care for them.

Link (here) to

The "Go-To" Jesuit

The Rev. Thomas J. Reese chuckles when he recalls the origins of his role as a “go-to” commentator on all things Catholic. Reese, a Jesuit priest and political scientist writing for the Catholic journal America, was covering the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as the group developed a pastoral letter on war and peace in 1983. Inside the press room during down time of the bishops’ meeting, a reporter asked if anyone knew anything about an item on the agenda that day. Reese had read up on that subject a few days earlier and began explaining.

“All of a sudden, everybody had their pens out, taking notes from me,” said Reese, whose Roman collar convinced reporters that he knew quite a bit about Catholicism. “I started to back away and said, ‘Wait a minute, I’m covering this, too.’ ”

Despite his early reluctance, Reese has become one of the media’s most sought-after experts on the inner workings of the Catholic Church. He’s written several books about the hierarchy, including “Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church.”

Link (here) to the Buffalo News

Thorns And Champions

The news of a Jesuit being elected Pope sent shock waves through my system, as I’m sure it did to many others. The Jesuits have garnered an ambiguous reputation this past century, especially in conservative Catholic circles, much due to a loosening grasp on their origins. At least in America today, Jesuits are equated with higher education. 

They are the thorn in the side of conservative Catholics and the champions of the liberal, political activist Catholics. But what will Pope Francis, a humble, morally conservative Jesuit, mean for this order? As a former student of a Jesuit university and a current teacher at a school originally founded by Jesuits, I offer one theory.

To put it simply, I see Pope Francis returning the Jesuits to their original foundation: dedicated defenders of the Church in a world that opposes Her at every turn. St. Ignatius of Loyola lived during the height of the Protestant Revolt when the Church was being attacked from all sides. After being severely injured in battle, Ignatius dedicated himself as a soldier for Christ and His Church. He came from such a militaristic background that he considered his new order, the Society of Jesus, to be the “shock troops” in service of the Pope—to defend him, his authority (which was being called into question), and the Church in the battle against Protestantism.

While I mean no disrespect to the priesthood of any Jesuit, they have become in recent years closely associated with progressive and liberal ideologies, which make many orthodox Catholics cringe at the mere mention of the Society of Jesus. Pope Francis himself has recognized that many Jesuits have fallen away from their original calling. 

While he was bishop of Buenos Aires, he criticized his fellow Jesuits for supporting liberation theology (communism under the guise of Christianity) and has called them to return to their roots of service to the Church and defense of Her teachings.

1. He will call his brother Jesuits back home and remind them of their vow of obedience to him. The Jesuit vow of obedience to the Pope was what set them apart at their founding. They were fully devoted to defending the Pope and promulgating his teachings and those of the Church around the world. Pope Francis will prompt a resurgence of loyalty to the papacy and the Church, especially in a world where he is under constant surveillance and his every move is questioned, analyzed in high definition, and critiqued.
2. Second, he will remind them that their duty is first and foremost to Christ and His bride, the Church. In his first few weeks as Pope, Francis has shown no indication of backing down on Church teachings. He lives a very radical life of love and justice, one that has captured the attention of the mainstream media, but never has he spoken out against fundamental Church teachings that liberals abhor. This example of being a Pope of service and love while holding fast to Church teachings will show his fellow Jesuits that living a life of social justice and love of God’s people does not mean compromising the faith and moral foundations of the Church.
3. I believe that Pope Francis will muster a new wave of young Jesuits in order to do battle with the secularism that runs rampant in our world today. His aforementioned dedication of service to God’s people and to Church teaching, not to mention his love of science, will inspire young men around the world to join the ranks of the Society of Jesus so that they can go out and teach the world through word and deed about God and His Church.

Let us pray for our Pope Francis!

Link (here)  to Truth and Charity

Tim Tebow At Tampa Jesuit High School

That appears to be the case. A Jesuit High School spokesman confirmed to FOXSportsFlorida.com that the pair of former Heisman Trophy winners held a private workout at the Tampa school on Monday afternoon. Testaverde, a former Miami and NFL quarterback who serves as the quarterbacks coach at the high school, hosted Tebow for what was described as a “private” get-together between the signal-callers. 

The session comes at an interesting time for Tebow. He’s expected to attend the New York Jets’ voluntary offseason workouts next Monday in Florham Park, N.J., despite a foggy future with the team. Some work with Testaverde — whose son, Vincent Jr., is a junior quarterback at Jesuit High — could only be a benefit for the former Gators fascination. 

“What I can say, officially, is he worked out here yesterday, and he worked out with Vinny Testaverde,” said Pete Young, a spokesman for Jesuit High. “Vinny is a parent at our school. His son goes to school here, and Vinny is also the quarterbacks coach for the football team . . . It was a private workout, and it was right in the middle of the day yesterday . . . There were a couple other guys out there with him, but I have no idea who they were. They were just catching passes.” 

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time Tebow and Testaverde worked out together. Young said a similar meeting happened before, last March. With Monday’s event, though, Tebow and Testaverde chose to keep the session as low-key as possible, which means not speaking about their experience.

Link (here)  to Fox Sports

"El Jesuita"

"Pope Francis: Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio." The book, by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti, is a series of interviews originally published in 2010 under the title "El Jesuita" ("The Jesuit"). The book is currently unavailable in English. Priests and the stink of sheep: The future pope said,  

"A church that limits itself to just carrying out administrative duties, caring for its tiny flock, is a church that in the long run will get sick. The pastor who isolates himself is not a true pastor of sheep, but a 'hairdresser' for sheep who spends his time putting curlers on them instead of going to look for others." 

He said the situation today is the mirror opposite of the biblical parable of the shepherd who leaves his 99 sheep to find the one that is lost. "Today we have one in the pen and 99 we need to go looking for."

Link (here)

I Think Reese Knows That; He Just Doesn’t Like It

Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J.

There are a couple of technical slips in Niraj Warikoo’s article in the Detroit Free Press on the reception of holy Communion by gay activists (e.g., I hold a professorial chair at Sacred Heart Seminary, I am not a “chairman”, and one of my longer quotes is condensed to the point of confusing), but generally his presentation of my views (and I think of Abp. Vigneron’s) is well done.

Only the comments of Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J. require, as per usual, contextualization, if not challenge. Per Reese: “Most American bishops do not favor denying either politicians or voters Communion because of their positions on controversial issues” and Peters’ views are “in a minority among American canon lawyers.“

Re Reese’s first comment—and setting aside his transparent attempt to steer the Canon 915 discussion into the voting booth, wherein no one thinks it applies—Reese is commenting on how bishops act whereas I am commenting on how canon law expects bishops and others to act. 

Reese’s claim about bishops’ (in)action, even if true, would not make my views (actually, the 1983 Code’s views, resting on settled Church teaching) wrong, it would simply mark them as ignored. To be sure, the implications for me if my views are wrong, and for others if my views are right, are pretty obvious, but my hunch is, Reese knows that.

Re his second comment, Reese cites no canon lawyers who regard my position as “minority” (as if being in agreement with John Paul II, Cdl. Burke, then-Cdl. Ratzinger, and the PCLT could leave one worrying about one’s ‘minority status’) though a few canonists have expressed alternative interpretations of the law. That’s fine, of course, it’s what lawyers do, but that only pushes the real question—namely, whose interpretation of the law is the more sound—back a bit. Eventually that fundamental question pops back up and needs to be addressed. Finally, it seems to me that most of those (rather few) canonists who do express alternative interpretations of Canon 915 do not, when one gets right down to it, disagree with my read of the law, rather, they hesitate over whether the facts of individual cases meet the criteria set out in Canon 915. Fact questions are very important, I grant, but they lend themselves to resolution based on objective information. 

I’ve always said that and so have the US bishops. What concerns me, and what I spend most of my time defending in this matter, is the basic point that Church law requires, upon the demonstration of certain kinds of facts, that canonico-sacramental consequences follow.

But again, I think Reese knows that; he just doesn’t like it.

Link (here)  to the canon law blog, entitled In Light of the Law to read Dr. Edward Peters post.

Notorious Activist Jesuits

Fr. James Carney, S.J.

The Rev. Joseph McShane, president of the Jesuit Fordham University, opened a recent event with a quip

playing on the order's reputation and Francis' no-frills papacy. The pope has kept the simple, iron-plated pectoral cross he used as bishop and living in the Vatican guesthouse rather than the grand papal apartment.

"A humble Jesuit? An oxymoron. A Jesuit pope? An impossibility. A humble Jesuit pope? A miracle," McShane said.

In the 1970s, when the church was debating how it should relate to the modern world, the order's General Congregation, or legislative body, decreed that "the service of faith" and "the promotion of justice" would be the focus of every Jesuit ministry. This coincided with a period of high-profile — detractors would say notorious — activist Jesuits, including the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, a founder of the anti-nuclear Plowshares Movement.

In Latin America, the Jesuit emphasis on helping the poorest peoples often drew the society into political upheaval, including the cause of liberation theology, a Latin American-inspired view that Jesus' teachings imbue followers with a duty to fight for social and economic justice. U.S. Jesuit James Carney was killed in 1983 serving as chaplain to a rebel column from Honduras.

Pope John Paul II, hoping to re-direct the religious order, took the extraordinary step in 1981 of replacing the Jesuit's chosen leader with his own representative. The society encompasses a range of outlooks, including tradition-minded men. Still, conservative 

Catholics often view Jesuits as a band of disloyal liberals. The day after Francis was elected, George Weigel, a John Paul biographer, wrote in the conservative National Review magazine that the pope "just might take in hand the reform of the Jesuits" that Weigel argued was never finished. 

(Smolich rejects any suggestion that the order isn't faithful to the church or its teachings.) It's too early to say how these past conflicts could influence Francis and his relationships with the society. 

He had disavowed liberation theology as a misguided strain of Catholic tenets, while still maintaining a focus on the economic failings of Western-style capitalism and the need to close the divide between rich and poor.

Jesuits also worry that the religious order could suffer in the spotlight. Maybe the new pope will keep his distance from the society, for fear of giving an appearance of favoritism. Or, he could use his new authority to become — from their perspective — too involved in the society, like John Paul. And they wonder if Jesuits would somehow be blamed for any of Francis' decisions that prove unpopular.

Link (here) to The Chronicle

Fr. James Francis Carney, S.J. And The Central America Revolutionary Workers Party

The disappearance of the Rev. James Francis Carney is significant because Carney had been a U.S. citizen and because of credible allegations that U.S. military and intelligence personnel were directly involved. A Jesuit priest from St. Louis, Carney began working as a missionary in Honduras in 1961. He dedicated his life there to helping organize the poor in their struggle for land and labor rights. Carney took the name “Padre Guadalupe” to show his reverence for the Virgin of Guadalupe. His deep connection with the country and its people led him to renounce his U.S. citizenship and become a naturalized Honduran citizen in 1974. Carney wrote in his autobiography, published posthumously as “To Be a Christian Is... To Be a Revolutionary”: “Why are the campesinos so poor in this rich valley? They are farmers who do not have any land! We rebel against that, even if they call us communists, even if they kill us. We have to wake our people up, tell them to get organized, help them to change the situation.” 

Because of Carney’s work for social change, the Honduran government in 1979 revoked his citizenship and expelled him. Carney relocated to a parish in Nicaragua and worked with campesinos there during the early years of the Sandinista government. He continued, however, to feel an inseparable tie with Honduras. In 1983 he became chaplain to a group of 96 Honduran guerrillas from the Central America Revolutionary Workers Party who were training in Nicaragua. 

Their mission was to return to Honduras and launch a fight for land reform and social justice. The armed group entered Honduras in July 1983 and and began operating in the remote, mountainous region of the Olancho province. However, on Aug. 1 a pair of deserters alerted the Honduran Army to the group's presence. The military immediately launched Operation Patuca to locate and capture the guerrillas, and over the course of two months they were handily defeated by Honduran troops with U.S. logistic support. Most members of the group were killed, captured, deserted or died of starvation; as many as 70 may have been executed. On Sept. 19, 1983 the Honduran military held a press conference to publicize its success to date in the Olancho counterinsurgency operation; it reported Carney’s participation with the group and displayed his religious vestments, chalice and bible, which had reportedly been found in an arms cache. On Sept. 21, a Honduran Army spokesman announced the priest had been killed during a combat operation three days earlier; however, the following day a spokesman revised that account, saying Carney, who was suffering from exhaustion caused by malnutrition, died while attempting to flee Honduran troops.
Link (here)

Father Reese’s Unpleasant Experience

In Francis, the Roman Catholic Church has its first Jesuit pontiff. Relations between his religious order and headquarters in Rome have often been rocky. Peace has also not always reigned between the Vatican and America magazine,

based in New York and once described by a former editor in chief, the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, as “the Catholic PBS.” Eight years ago, Father Reese was forced to resign because of Vatican displeasure with articles critical of church positions on sensitive matters like same-sex marriage. 

So, Father Malone, is it an article of faith that this new papacy is good for the Jesuits? “It’s uncharted territory,” he said, sipping the first of several cups of coffee. “It’s hard to know how it affects us other than to say we’re very proud. We have a reputation — sometimes earned, sometimes not — for being a little arrogant. We try not to give voice to our pride too much.”

For now, anyway, Francis’s ascension seems to have been a boon for Father Malone’s magazine. During the papal conclave, “we had a huge number of hits on the Web site,” he said, adding, “In fact, it crashed after he was announced, because of the demand.”

Across its 104 years, America has never had a chief editor as young as Father Malone, who was 40 when appointed last June, the same month he was ordained as a priest after a decade of preparation.

Does Father Reese’s unpleasant experience weigh on him? He paused before answering.

“There isn’t a newspaper or magazine that can say everything it wants to say,” he said, adding with a laugh that at America it is usually for want of space. But bear in mind that “we’re not disinterested observers,” he said.

“We are evangelists. I think that America, historically, has gotten into trouble when we have forgotten that part of our identity.”

Father Malone suggested meeting at Park Café, a coffee shop attached to the Hotel Wellington, on Seventh Avenue at 55th Street. It is around the corner from a building on West 56th Street that contains the magazine’s offices and a residence for about 20 Jesuit priests, Father Malone included. This choice was not an act of modesty, he asserted in an e-mail exchange to set up the lunch. “I just have a bland, Irish palate,” he said. “A grilled cheese and French fries is my idea of culinary heaven.”

He lived up to his own billing, ordering grilled cheese on whole wheat, but skipping the fries. In that spirit of abnegation, his tablemate settled for two scrambled eggs.

Jesuits elicit various reactions among Catholics, from a sunny belief that they are the brainiacs of the church to a darker view that they are grand conspirators, too clever by half. “Jesuitical” is not a word always said in admiration. But Father Malone cautioned against sweeping judgments: “There’s an old saying that if you’ve met one Jesuit, you’ve met one Jesuit.” 

Link (here) to the New York Times to read the full interview of Fr. Matt Malone, S.J.

"There Is Not, Never Has Been, And Never Will Be A Single Human Being For Whom Christ Did Not Suffer."

At the beginning of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius has us imagine the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity looking out over the world and at suffering humanity lost in sin. How will this beloved creature made in God's own image and likeness, made for union with God, be saved? St. Ignatius has us imagine the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and his birth in Bethlehem. The Son chose to humble and empty himself, becoming a man, sharing our life and our death. Throughout the Exercises of the Second Week, we are called to be close to Jesus, to follow him, and to labor with him for the salvation of humanity. Baptism joins us to Christ and makes us one with him in this work. The evangelical counsels of consecrated persons configure them more closely to Christ poor, chaste, and obedient; to Christ humble, self-emptying, and sacrificing. The motivation for this is love--the love of the Blessed Trinity which did not abandon humanity in its sin, the love revealed on a cross. We are called on this day in a special way to share the love of God for suffering humanity. In our Good Friday Service we venerate the cross. But before doing so, we look out on the world from that cross. We see the world with Christ's eyes. We love lost and suffering humanity with Christ's Heart. We pray for all people, bringing them with us to the cross where Christ died for us all. 

A Church council in the year 853, which is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #606, stated: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer." He suffered and died and save all, no one excluded. Then, after the veneration of the cross, we receive Holy Communion. We are joined with Christ so that we carry in our bodies his death and resurrection. 

United to Christ, we carry the cross, the sign of God's love for all, the sign of the lengths to which God goes to save us. Not all people know this, nor have all accepted it. We carry the cross to them when we love them and lay down our lives for them so that they may accept the salvation Christ won for them and be saved. In the closing words of his homily at the Mass he celebrated with the cardinals who had just elected him, Pope Francis said:

"When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord. My wish is that all of us, after these days of grace, will have the courage, yes, the courage, to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Lord’s Cross; to build the Church on the Lord’s blood which was poured out on the Cross; and to profess the one glory: Christ crucified. And in this way, the Church will go forward. My prayer for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, will grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ crucified. Amen."

Link (here) to Fr. James Kubicki, S.J. and his blog Offer It Up

The Jesuit Church Of St. Micheal In Passau

In the shadows of the Stephan's Cathedral is St. Michael, the former Jesuit Church, situated on the bank of the Inn river. It was probably constructed with twin baroque-styled towers by Pietro Francesco and Carlo Antonio Carlone, the architects of St. Stephan's Cathedral, between 1670 and 1677. After a complaint by the Bishop, who wished to preserve the architectural dominance of the cathedral, this Jesuit church ended up less ostentatious than originally planned. Weber made this sketch of the church in 1983.

The interior stucco work, created by Giovanni Battista Carlone and his workshop, is reminiscent of the cathedral. Most notable of the furnishings is the high altar done by the Jesuit architect from Breslau Father Christoph Tausch, in 1712, with an altarpainting by Carlos Innocenzo Carlone in 1714. The black and gold side alters were completed by the local artists, Johann Seitz and Matthias Högenwald from Passau in 1678. Other paintings in the church are the works of Johann Spillenberger, Frans de Neve, Bartolomeo Altomonte and others. The splendid pulpit completed in 1715 is presumably the work of Jospeph Matthias Götz. The casing for the organ was carved by Joseph Hartmann in 1715. The seminary buildings now house the Catholic theological faculty of the university. On the southern wall of the church is the chapel dedicated to Franz-Xaverius decorated uniformly in the style of Early-Rokoko in 1725.

East of the complex is the massive seminar building complex of the former Jesuit college. It is separated into three buildings. The former monastery building is currently a Humanistisches Gymnasium,a college preparatory school with emphasis on the Classics. It was founded in 1612 and has a number of rooms decorated with stucco from the 17th and 18th century. The "Old School Building" which was renovated in 1912 to the current Philosophy and Theology Department of the university. It has an observatory tower. The third building "Seminary" is the old trade school with its cloistered walk. There is the State Library which evolved from the former Jesuit library between the Gymnasium and Observatory. The main reading room is decorated in stucco from 1725. The library has valuable manuscripts (Vornbach Bible of 1421), a coin collection and incunabulum dating back to the 15th century.

Link (here) 

I Tried To Show Him How It Was Out Of Step

S.G. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. and Fr. Campbell-Johnston, S.J.

Deep divisions between the conservative Argentine province of the Jesuits, for long headed by Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, and other Jesuit provinces in the west, are detailed in report in today’s Tablet , the British Catholic weekly, by Fr Michael Campbell-Johnston SJ, a former provincial of the British Jesuits. Fr Michael Campbell-Johnston spent many years as a priest in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. The church there was persecuted by a western-supported military dictatorship – responsible for the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980, six Jesuits, two US nuns and many other Christian leaders. He recounts how, during a visit to the order’s social institutes in Latin America in 1977, he met Fr Bergoglio. The Argentinian had been Jesuit provincial for Argentina for four years. “At the time,” Fr Campbell- Johnston says, “there were an estimated 6,000 political prisoners in Argentina and another 20,000 desaparecidos , people who had been ‘disappeared’.” In some countries, the Jesuit social institutes were forced to act underground and in secrecy, he writes, “ but . . . our institute in Buenos Aires was able to function freely because it never criticised or opposed the government. As a result, there were justice issues it could not address or even mention. 

This was the topic I remembered discussing at length with Fr Bergoglio. “He naturally defended the existing situation, though I tried to show him how it was out of step with our other social institutes on the continent. Our discussion was lengthy . . . [but] we never reached an agreement.”  

Back in Rome, Fr Campbell- Johnston says he received a copy of a letter to the pope signed by more than 400 Argentinian women who had “lost” children or other relatives and who begged the Vatican to intercede with the military dictatorship. “I took it into the [Vatican] secretariat of state but never received any acknowledgement,” Fr Campbell-Johnston reports.

Link (here) to The Tablet

It Does Not Feel Like A Victory For This Party Or That

Easter 2013

I observe from all over the world an extraordinary upsurge of optimism about the Church in its present (admittedly tricky) situation; several people, including one very senior religious sister, have said to me, by e-mail or telephone or in conversation, that they are feeling better about the Church than they have done for years. This is a very good indicator of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Anyone who tries to predict what shape Francis’ papacy is going to take is bound (like all those who so confidently predicted the outcome of the conclave) to end up looking stupid, so I am not going to do that.

The best thing about the present moment is that it does not feel like a victory for this party or that; instead it has the fresh and joyful unexpectedness that is the sign that the Holy Spirit has been at work. Let me conclude, therefore, by simply asking for the prayers of all readers, not just Catholic, nor just Christian, for the new adventure on which we are beginning. And even if you think that you may be atheist, I would still ask that you spare a thought for Francis I. We live in a world that is very closely linked, and the Bishop of Rome can influence that world very much for the better, if he will listen to the voice of God and to the voice of the poor. This is a very happy day for us all.

Link (here) to the full piece at Thinking Faith by Fr. Nicholas King, S.J.

Process Theology

One of the world’s most famous 20th-century Jesuits is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, an adventurous theologian who studied paleontology in China. Like many Jesuits, Teilhard de Chardin was an intellectual and scientist. 

He helped develop a school of evolutionary Christianity, now called process theology, that continues to grow in renown in the 21st century. As a result of his visionary cosmological thinking, however, Teilhard de Chardin was criticized by the Vatican in the 1950s. 

Such official sanctions have happened more than once to Jesuits. The Jesuits have long been associated with radical actions, thinking and idealism.

Link (here) to the secular and anti-Catholic Vancouver Sun 

Two Years Not Six Years In Cordoba

"In an article published in Panorama on April 3, by Ignazio Ingrao, titled 'When the Jesuits marginalized him', and anticipated in the blog of the same author, a supposed letter sent by the previous Father General of the Jesuits, Peter Hans Kolvenbach, is mentioned, with the prohibition for the houses of Argentine Jesuits 'to receive Father Bergoglio when he wished to leave the church assigned to him in Cordoba.' The affirmation is not only completely implausible, but it is absolutely false, because such a letter has never existed. Both the Jesuit Curia, where the [record of the] sending of such a letter is not found, and Father José Luis Narvaja, mentioned by 'Panorama' as the custodian of such letter, and that denied ever having made declarations to 'Panorama', deny this. The official in charge of the Press Office of the Jesuit Curia, Father Giuseppe Bellucci, also notes that the permanence in Cordoba of then-Father Bergoglio was not of six years, as mentioned in the article, but two." 

Link (here) to Rorate Caeli

The Knights Of Columbus Cannot Be Recognized At Gonzaga

Gonzaga University, a Jesuit-run institution in Spokane, Washington, has announced that the Knights of Columbus cannot be recognized as a student organization because the group admits only Catholics. The Knights of Columbus were told that they could not be formally affiliated with the university because their rules for membership are “inconsistent with the policy and practice of student organization recognition at Gonzaga University, as well as the University’s commitment to non-discrimination based on certain characteristics, one of which is religion.” 

Link (here) to Catholic Culture