[Excerpted. . .]
The first Jesuit pope? Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. Bergoglio is an old-school Jesuit, formed by classic Ignatian spirituality and deeply committed to an intelligent, sophisticated appropriation and proclamation of the full symphony of Catholic truth — qualities not notable for their prevalence among members of the Society of Jesus in the early 21st century. I suspect there were not all that many champagne corks flying last night in those Jesuit residences throughout the world where the Catholic Revolution That Never Was is still regarded as the ecclesiastical holy grail. For the shrewder of the new pope’s Jesuit brothers know full well that that dream was just dealt another severe blow [And may it be dealt many, many more in the coming months!]. And they perhaps fear that this pope, knowing the Society of Jesus and its contemporary confusions and corruptions as he does, just might take in hand the reform of the Jesuits that was one of the signal failures of the pontificate of John Paul II.
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This is the type of Jesuit I was accustomed to and was quite shocked at the "other kind" of Jesuits I met and heard of out here on the Left Coast (and who are apparently all over the place). I do think my impression of Jesuits came from the older, "formed by classic Ignatian spirituality", section of the order.
ReplyDeleteI will note that when I went to pick up my son from our parish after the Mass this afternoon, it was quite full and many of the people who had left "the Church" because of Papa Benedict are back this weekend. . . .