Fr. James Martin, S.J. On Liberation Theology

Pope John Paul II admonishing  Fr. Ernesto Cardenal, S.J.

In its heyday, liberation theology was not without controversy: some in the church, and some in the Vatican, thought it skirted too close to Marxism--including Pope John Paul II.  On the other hand, John Paul didn’t shy away from personally involving himself in direct political activism in Poland.  It was the Latin American version of social action that seemed to bother him more.  But even John Paul affirmed the notion of “preferential option for the poor,” as did Paul VI before him.  “When there is question of defending the rights of individuals, the defenseless and the poor have a claim to special consideration,” John Paul wrote in his great encyclical Centesimus Annus, which celebrated 100 years of—uh oh--Catholic Social Teaching. “Liberation theology” is easy to be against.  For one thing, most people don’t have the foggiest idea what you’re talking about.  (It even sounds vaguely suspicious, too.)  It’s also easier to ignore the concerns of the poor, particularly overseas, than it is to actually get to know them as individuals who make a moral claim on us.  For another, there are lots of overheated websites that facilely link it to Marxism.  My response to that last critique is to read the Gospels and count how many times Jesus tells us with should help the poor and even be poor.  In the Gospel of Matthew, in fact, Jesus tells us that the ones who are to enter the Kingdom of heaven are those who help “the least of my brothers and sisters,” i.e., the poor.   After that, read the Acts of the Apostles, and read about the apostles “sharing everything in common.”  Then let me know if helping the poor is communist or simply Christian. I have no idea if President Obama subscribes to liberation theology. But I do.

Link (here) to read the full post entitled, Glenn Beck and Liberation Theology by Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Link (here) to the photo and lengthy  story of “Pope John Paul II on his 1983 arrival in Managua, publicly reprimanded Jesuit priest and Sandinista Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal."

More on the subject

An interview with sanctioned Fr. Jon Sobrino, S.J. in Sojourners Magazine (here)

More on Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor program in Washington, D.C. (here)
Read about the Italian Father Alighiero Tondi, S.J. and his Communist connections with the Catholic Action Movement (here) as told by Time Magazine
Jesuit Education and Social Change in El Salvador By Charles Joseph Beirne, S.J.

Go (here) to read the one time Jesuit Fr. Malachi Martin on Liberation Theology in his famous book entitled, The Jesuits.

Fr. James Martin, S.J. On The Sacking Of Padro Arrupe By Blessed John Paul The Great

I had my differences with Pope John Paul II, technically my former boss.  (Who doesn't disagree with the boss from time to time?)  He wasn’t always the biggest fan of the Society of Jesus (aka the Jesuits, my religious order), though some of his suspicions seem to have originated with some of his advisers.  

When, in an unprecedented move in 1981, he suddenly removed Pedro Arrupe, the beloved superior general of the Jesuits, from his post, a great many Jesuits were both dismayed and angered.  John Paul, suspicious of the Jesuits’ work in “liberation theology” (an approach that emphasizes the liberation of the poor from suffering, as Jesus had), was apparently told by some advisers that the Jesuits would be disobedient after his public sacking of Arrupe.  

We were not.  Over the years, multiple sources have told me that John Paul was surprised by our fidelity--and pleased.  It changed his view of the Jesuits.

Link (here) to read the full post by Fr. James Martin, S.J. at America's blog In All Things

Fr. James Martin, S.J., “It’s Always Very Moving When A Jesuit Is Martyred,”

“It’s always very moving when a Jesuit is martyred,” said Jesuit Father James Martin, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage and editor-at-large for America magazine. “Even if I don’t know him, he’s my brother. And it’s a reminder of the high level of service that all of us are called to as Christians.” Father Martin said he believed Father van der Lugt fulfilled what Blessed John Paul II called a “martyr of charity.” John Paul II declared St. Maximilian Kolbe this kind of martyr for sacrificing his life to save another prisoner in a Nazi death camp, as the systemic barbarity of the Nazis was a form of hatred of the faith.

Link (here) to the National Catholic Register

Over At America Magazine

There was a remarkable piece titled “What We Wrought” recently in America, a Jesuit publication, by a Catholic pacifist long active against the U.S. led overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It is remarkable primarily because even as it bewails how the U.S. “destroyed” Iraq, it omits all mention of Saddam and his own central role in Iraq’s destruction.

The Catholic anti-war activist recalls her own travel 12 years ago to Iraq under the unnamed dictator in solidarity against international sanctions and against the impending U.S. led invasion. She was active with “Voices in the Wilderness,” a now disbanded group militantly against Iraq war and sanctions, as well as U.S. nuclear weapons and Israeli policies.

“You destroyed our country,” the Catholic activist quotes one Iraqi student recently telling her. Another tells her, “You destroyed our ancient civilization. You took our childhood. You took our dreams. What can you do? You drop bombs, commit war crimes and then send research teams to investigate what is in the bombs. What can you do? We will not forget. It is not written in our hearts, it is carved in our hearts.” Iraq’s recent resurgence in sectarian violence is recounted in the America piece at length as evidence of America’s crimes against Iraq, even several years after U.S. military withdrawal. For many there will never be any statute of limitations on American culpability for Iraq’s travails.But this anti-American narrative omits almost all history prior to the Persian Gulf War, which the America piece briefly cites without explaining what precipitated it, which of course would distract from the article’s polemical goal. What prompted such focused American attention on Iraq across two decades is never detailed.

Link (here) to  Juicy Ecumenism to read the rest of the story

Facebook And Twitter

Fr. James Martin, SJ hosted The Jesuit Collaborative's first-ever Google Hangout on the topic of Prayer.  TJC sponsored the discussion in conjunction with America Magazine, for which Fr. Martin serves as editor-at-large. The Hangout, titled How Do You Pray, consisted of a fruitful and honest discussion on how prayer impacts our daily lives.  Participants were asked to share ways they each pray, which gave us a wonderful look at differences and similarities we all share in our conversations with God.

Facebook and Twitter pages #HowDoYouPray.

Link (here) to the Jesuit Collaborative 

2357

Paragraph 2357 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that while people with same-sex attraction Scripture clearly “presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity.” “[T]radition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered’. They are contrary to the natural law,” it adds. “They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” This teaching is not mentioned in any of the three videos of the series. The first video in the series starts with an interview with Fr. James Martin, S.J., a prominent US media personality and Jesuit priest in New York, who has made advocating for the normalisation of homosexuality in the Catholic Church a prominent feature of his career.
“must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,”

Martin says that “many LGBT people” “have very deep spiritual lives and are Christians.” He also denies a conflict between the Catholic Church and the homosexual movement, saying, “It’s not as if you have atheist gays on one side, and religious or spiritual straight people on the other.”

Martin also praises the movement in the Catholic Church in the US and elsewhere that is a feature of many parishes that encourages homosexuals to believe they can be actively “gay” and faithful as Catholics, without contradiction. “The idea that someone could come out and be honest and transparent and open about the way that God created them, I think is terrific. I think it’s something that the Catholic Church can support,” he says. Martin adds, “If a music minister is gay, it doesn’t matter [to other parishioners] if they’re homosexual…it matters that they did a great job at the [liturgy of the] Easter Vigil. “If a spiritual director is gay, it doesn’t matter that they’re homosexual. It matters that they’ve brought people to God through prayer.” 

Link (here) to Lifesite News

The Big Pope Francis Interview

“Holy Father, what made ​​you choose to enter the Society of Jesus? What struck you about the Jesuit order?”

“I wanted something more. But I did not know what. I entered the diocesan seminary. I liked the Dominicans and I had Dominican friends. But then I chose the Society of Jesus, which I knew well because the seminary was entrusted to the Jesuits. Three things in particular struck me about the Society: the missionary spirit, community and discipline. And this is strange, because I am a really, really undisciplined person. But their discipline, the way they manage their time—these things struck me so much. “And then a thing that is really important for me: community. I was always looking for a community. I did not see myself as a priest on my own. I need a community. And you can tell this by the fact that I am here in Santa Marta. At the time of the conclave I lived in Room 207. (The rooms were assigned by drawing lots.) This room where we are now was a guest room. I chose to live here, in Room 201, because when I took possession of the papal apartment, inside myself I distinctly heard a ‘no.’ The papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace is not luxurious. It is old, tastefully decorated and large, but not luxurious. But in the end it is like an inverted funnel. It is big and spacious, but the entrance is really tight. People can come only in dribs and drabs, and I cannot live without people. I need to live my life with others.”

Link (here) to America Magazine for the full read.

America Is A Catholic Ministry, And Both Of Those Words— Catholic And Ministry—Are Carefully Chosen

Fr. Matt Malone, S.J.

America is not a magazine, though we publish one; nor is America a Web site, though we have one of those as well. America is a Catholic ministry, and both of those words— Catholic and ministry—are carefully chosen. We are not journalists who happen to be Catholic, but Catholics who happen to be journalists. That is not to denigrate or neglect the good and valuable work that the non-Catholics on our staff do every day; it is simply to express our fundamental commitment. 

America does not labor in the service of mere speech, words with a lower case w; nor are we in pursuit of some idealized, dreamy, Platonic-style discourse. Rather, we labor in the service of the Word with an upper case W, the self-communication of God in Jesus Christ. Admittedly, these words “might sound a bit pretentious,” as Father Davis once said about a similar statement of his own. Journals of opinion are constantly at risk of taking themselves too seriously. 

America is no exception here either; we freely admit that some of our opinions can have a preachy, eat-your-peas quality. Still, it is nonetheless true that America’s fundamental commitment is to God in Jesus Christ. This must be so if we are to fulfill the purpose envisioned for America by its founders: to furnish “a discussion of actual questions and a study of vital problems from the Christian viewpoint.”

Link (here) to the full editorial by Fr. Matt Malone, S.J. of America Magazine

Watch Fr. Daniel Berrigan, S.J. Brake Into A Draft Office, Steal Files And Publicly Destroy Them

Fr. Daniel Berrigan, S.J.

Martin Sheen once recounted about the May 17, 1968 burning of draft files in Catonsville, Md., by nine Dan and Phil Berrigan — broke into a draft office, stole files and publicly destroyed them as an act of nonviolent resistance against war and imperialism, the face of protest changed.

But the iconic images and audio from that historic event were almost lost in the annals of history.unusual suspects to protest the Vietnam War. 

The Catonsville Nine, as they came to be called, marked the beginning of dramatic new forms of antiwar resistance. When seven men and two women — all Catholic, including two priests,

Link (here) to Waging Non-Violence to watch a video of Fr. Daniel Berrigan, S.J. commit a criminal act in which he was sent to prison for.

Read Luke Hansen, S.J. at America glamorize the incident (here)

Favor Of Giving Me Some Counsel

Jesuit priests at the time of their solemn and final profession in the Society of Jesus promise:

I also promise that I will never strive for or ambition any prelacy or dignity outside the Society; and I will to the best of my ability never consent to my election unless I am forced to do so by obedience to him who can order me under penalty of sin. And moreover, if I shall find out that anyone [another Jesuit] is seeking to secure anything of the two aforementioned things or is ambitioning them, I promise that I will communicate his name and the entire matter to the Society or its Superior.

This is based upon the Jesuit Constitutions S.J., (Part X, N°6 [817]), and the experience of St. Ignatius as found in several strong letters in which he fought against Jesuits being made bishops.  But now that we have a Jesuit pope, the question is: knowing our tradition, and knowing how St. Ignatius fought strongly against Jesuits becoming bishops, will the pope appoint Jesuits to be bishops?  The second question: how does a Jesuit  who is made a bishop or cardinal regard the General of the Jesuits? To cover this possibility, the Jesuit promises:

In addition, I promise that if despite the third vow, I should happen to be ordained a bishop, I shall not refuse to listen to the General of the Society, if he, personally or through someone else of the Society, will do me the favor of giving me some counsel.

This, of course, does not deal with the possibility of a Jesuit becoming the pope! And what is his relation to the General of the Society? But as we have already soon, soon after being named pope, Pope Francis contacted and had a very cordial meeting with Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, the General of the Society.

Link (here) to America Magazine to read the post by Fr. Peter Schineller, S.J.

Fr. Raymond Schroth, S.J., " But Recently As The “War” President, Barack Obama Has Morphed Into An Indifferent, Pragmatic Utilitarian"

Fr. Raymond A Schroth, S.J.

Barack Obama has changed...In his major speeches — Inaugural Addresses, State of the Union, etc. and in“war” president he has morphed into an indifferent, pragmatic utilitarian. The man who once taught Constitutional law seems to have forgotten the relationship between law and morality, his heart-felt campaign for gun control— he has come across as a Christian humanist, a man of compassion, deep feeling, high democratic ideals. But recently as the

He seems to have shelved the basic Christian principle of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,”....To an almost odd degree, President Obama has assumed responsibility for every drone assassination. I was personally appalled as it became clear that no attempt was made to arrest Osama bin Laden and bring him to trial.

 Even the Navy Seal who personally shot the unarmed Osama again and again told Esquire magazine this was either the greatest or worst moment of his life. In the aftermath the fact that Obama had killed bin Laden was touted as proof that Obama was a strong leader....Following the killing of Osama bin Laden, the White House proceeded down its list of “High Value Targets” to Anwar al-Awlaki, a New Mexico born American, Al Queda propagandist living in Yemen, sentenced to death without trial by President Obama. The president was so anxious to kill— not arrest— him that he would not let “collateral damage” interfere. So on the morning of September 30, as Awlaki and American Pakistani journalist Samir Khan, and cohorts piled into cars and drove out, drones with Hellfire missiles, with other aircraft and helicopters standing by, fired one into Awlaki’s car and a fireball burned their bodies beyond recognition...

Perhaps a year from now Al Queda will have drones that can zero in on prominent or just ordinary Americans. Operated from secret command posts abroad, they will hover over baseball fields, universities, shopping malls, and churches with Hellfire missiles of their own. 

The moral authority we think we once had as a democratic “City on the Hill” will have been compromised perhaps beyond recall. After all, when we kill the enemy’s innocent children, we have invited the enemy to do the same.

Link (here) to read the full opinion piece entitled, Do Unto Others, in the Jesuit publication America Magazine, by Fr. Raymond Schroth, S.J.

“If This Is Poverty, Bring On Chastity.”

The most popular joke about Jesuit poverty is this:  A first year novice is visiting a large Jesuit community during a big celebration of the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, on July 31, usually an occasion for grand dinners.  The novice spies the immense dining room, the tastefully appointed tables, the flower vases and the filet mignon ready on the table and announces, “If this is poverty, bring on chastity.”

Link (here) to read the quote by Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Quietly But Constantly

The sister of a Jesuit priest who was kidnapped by Argentina's military dictatorship in 1976 has charged that Father Orlando Yorio was "practically abandoned" by Church leaders,

complained Gracielo Yorio in court testimony. Yorio, an activist priest who had applied for release from the Jesuit order, was kidnapped along with his fellow Jesuit, Father Franz Jalics, and held for 5 months. The future Pontiff told an Argentine investigation that he had worked quietly but constantly to secure the release of the two imprisoned Jesuits. 

Father Jorge Bergoglio--who was then the Jesuit provincial in Argentina, and is now Pope Francis--failed to protect the priest. The late

Link (here) to Catholic Culture

Fr. James Martin, S.J., "Pope Francis, Who “Reaffirmed” The Findings Of The Assessment, And The “Program Of Reform."

Today the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement about the ongoing“reform” (to use their word) of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the main umbrella organization of women religious in the United States, which represents roughly 80% of American Catholic sisters and nuns.  In their statement, the Congregation noted that the new prefect of the Congregation, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, as well as Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, the Holy See’s Delegate for the Doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, met with the Presidency of the LCWR.  Archbishop Müller also noted that he had spoken with Pope Francis, who “reaffirmed” the findings of the Assessment, and the “program of reform.”  The LCWR issued a statement, which listed the participants in the meeting in full, and said that the meeting was “open and frank.”

oversight and

Link (here) to the full piece by Fr. James Martin, S.J. at America Magazine

Link (here) to Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's critique of the same article.

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

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

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.

A Little To Comfortable Marxist Idealogy

Karl Marx

Jesuits, most of whom take a special vow of obedience to the pope in matters of mission, have, ironically,

had a sometimes rocky relationship with Rome over the centuries. There are a lot of reasons for that, too many to go into.

Most recently, in the early 1980s, the Vatican intervened in the internal governance of the Society; it was thought that the Jesuits had grown a little too comfortable with liberal democracy and/or Marxist ideology. That the cardinals would even consider choosing a Jesuit now, I thought, marked a new beginning in that relationship. 

It is, one prays, a moment of reconciliation......As is the custom, sometime in the next few days the superior general of the Society of Jesus, Adolfo Nicolás, will walk the short distance from the Jesuit headquarters here in Rome past the “hot dog” stand to the Apostolic Palace, where he will meet with the new pope and, in the traditional way, assure him of the Society’s commitment to serve the See of Peter. In a unique way, on that particular occasion, Father General will carry not only the promise of our filial obedience to the new holy father, but our fraternal love for our brother Jesuit and, if you’ll permit me to say so, our pride.

Link (here) to America Magazine to the piece by Fr. Matt Malone, S.J.
What is Liberation Theology ? (here)
Who is Fr. John Sabrino, S.J. ? (here)

An Interview With Celebrity Jesuit James Martin

What was your initial reaction to the news that a Jesuit had been selected as the new Pope?

I was stunned into speechlessness, which isn’t typical for the Jesuits. I couldn’t wait to get home to my community and celebrate with them.

You have more than 20,000 likes on your Facebook page, making you one of the most popular Jesuits in America. Did Pope Francis steal your spotlight?

[Laughs]. No, I wouldn’t say that. Any claims to that title I may have had before, he has definitely taken away from me. I might be one of the more well-known Jesuits out there, I guess.

What’s the environment like in the Jesuit community right now?

It’s a worldwide celebration. Our community couldn’t stop talking about it. Last night we had an already-scheduled community meeting that was meant to focus on a less-exciting topic, but it immediately turned into a sharing session about our joy over the new pope.

Could you explain in simple terms the foundation of Jesuit spirituality?

Helping people find God in all things. It’s a spirituality of freedom. Trying to free yourself up from anything that gets in the way of you and God and another person. It’s a spirituality deeply connected to Jesus.

Link (here) to read the full interview at the Daily Beast.

Fr. Matt Malone, S.J. the Editor of America Magazine on the election of the Pope Francis I (here)