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

Liberation Theology In Honduras

Fearing for the lives of (pictured) Jesuit Fr. Ismael Moreno  (here) (here) (here) and his media colleagues, Jesuit leaders in Honduras have issued a global call for concern. Moreno, know as Padre Melo, has gone into hiding because of death threats that he has received by phone and text messages, according to a statement dated April 19 from the Jesuit superiors in Honduras. Over the last 10 months, Moreno has used his position as director of the independent radio station Radio Progreso to become an outspoken participant in the movement against the forced removal last July of President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras. The political situation Honduras has remained tense, with demonstrations against the new president and allegations of abuse of those who opposed the ouster. A March 8 report by an Organization of American States commission cited more than 50 detentions, eight cases of torture, two kidnappings, and two rapes against members of the opposition during the month of February.

The Jesuit statement says that threats against Moreno  

"are related to the humanitarian decision to provide protection for the young woman Irma Melissa Villanueva in a case already known by the Public Ministry's District Attorney's office and by various national and international human rights organizations."

Villanueva is a journalist from Radio Progreso who has reported that she was savagely beaten and sexually assaulted by four policemen during an Aug. 14 demonstration against the regime that ousted Zelaya. Human rights groups have reported that judicial authorities have not acted on Villanueva's reporting of the assault. Gerardo Chévez, another Radio Progreso reporter, also is receiving threats because of his work on the radio, the Jesuit statement says. 

Link (here) to the nonconstructive National Catholic Reporter. 

Honduran Jesuit On Political Situation

Honduras' powerful Roman Catholic Church has backed the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya, surrendering a chance to be an impartial mediator because it would rather take sides in order to counter the influence of Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez.

The political forces and military that toppled Zelaya on June 28 cited Chavez as a factor in their coup, saying they feared the Honduran president was adopting the Chavez brand of socialism and political tactics.

They accused Zelaya of violating the constitution by seeking to extend his rule through the lifting of presidential term limits, as Chavez has done.

Leaders of the Catholic Church, which polls show is the most respected institution in the conservative Central American country, have backed the ouster and thrown their weight behind the interim government installed by the Honduran Congress.

"The Church should have taken a more conciliatory posture," said Efrain Diaz, a political analyst with the non-governmental Center for Human Development. "This country is fractured and it needs a climate of reconciliation."

Ismael Moreno, a Jesuit priest and radio commentator who is not part of the hierarchy, put it more bluntly.

"The Church has lost all ability to mediate," he said. "It has lost all credibility."

Link (here)

Liberation Theology In Honduras And Padre Lupe

In reading Jim Carney, I discovered a maverick and cantankerous streak in him. He was also stubborn. These are tendencies I have seen also in myself, so perhaps these are some reasons I am a Carney admirer. Weber and Stochl have been consummate socializers, especially Weber, who was in a class by himself, smooth like silk. Carney was not a socializer. He loved the poor people of Honduras, and eventually this was all that mattered to him.

I suppose Carney became a fanatic. He gave up his United States citizenship to become a naturalized Honduran. (There are very, very few people who ever give up American citizenship.) Carney’s interpretation of Christianity convinced him that a true follower of Jesus Christ had to be a revolutionary in the Honduran and Central American context in which he found himself as a Jesuit missionary.

Earlier this week, I was looking over a couple chapters of Carney’s book. I saw mention of John Waters and John Willmering as working in Honduras during Carney’s sojourn in the 1970s. Waters and Willmering were Jesuit scholastics at SJC during my time (1959-1965), but these two could never have carried Carney’s cross. They were nice guys. To put it bluntly, they were not man enough to do what Jim Carney did. Few of us are. If you can’t get a copy of Jim Carney’s book, you can “Google” him and get a sense of the man. Carney took the first name “Guadalupe” as part of his Honduran metamorphosis, so you can find him as James Carney, Jim Carney, or Guadalupe Carney.

Link (here) to the full article from Belize News

Blogger Note: Fr. James Carney died in Honduras September 20, 1983 while participating in a 99 man guerrilla military operation in Honduras.

Jesuit Radio Station On The Run

Rev. Ismael Moreno, station manager of Jesuit-run Radio Progreso in the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, said

Radio Progreso is broadcasting from a secret location because soldiers seized the station on Sunday

within hours of when troops in the capital dragged Zelaya from the presidential residence and put him on a plane to Costa Rica. Troops have mounted surveillance outside the homes of grassroots activists and that some 200 pro-Zelaya demonstrators had been briefly detained and beaten by police.

Link (here)
Previous piece on Radio Progresso (here)

If you are broadcasting religious content why would you have to operate clandestinely?

More Than Meets The Eye ? Honduras Democracy And Jesuit Radio

The signals of two Tegucigalpa-based television stations and a provincial radio station were blocked early Sunday morning, according to international press reports and local journalists.

The signal of Canal 8, a national, government-owned television station, was reinstated late Monday night, local reporters said. Radio Progreso, a Jesuit-run radio station in the northern city of El Progreso, was back on the air on Tuesday afternoon, reporters told CPJ.

However, the private television station Canal 36, which CPJ sources said had supported Zelaya, remained off the air as of Tuesday afternoon.

Link (here)

More Honduran news (here)

No Coup!

Th Honduras President was trying set himself up as socialist dictator, He was relieved of his duties by the Supreme Court and Legislature of Honduras.

Before his ouster, President Manuel Zelaya was no democratic saint himself. He was doing battle with the other branches of government over his legally questionable efforts to eliminate presidential term limits. The Supreme Court and Congress declared a referendum on the subject unconstitutional, and the prosecutor's office and electoral tribunal had the ballots confiscated. When the army refused to organize the vote, Zelaya fired the commander of the armed forces.

Link (here)

On Jesuits in Honduras (here) , (here) , (here) and (here)

Jesuit On The State Of Honduras Politics

In the view of Jesuit priest Ismael Moreno, the political role they are being given appears to be part of

"a government that has loaded itself with booty and that now, with the end of its term approaching and new elections coming up, wishes to stay on beyond its four-year mandate, with no clear sense of direction except to secure more power.”

Moreno told IPS that the government's erratic behaviour is enveloping many sectors, including leftwing parties with scant popular backing. This coopting action, he said, reflects the government's interest in carrying out a referendum to change the constitution and the system of government.

Link (here)