Since the day following the feast of Epiphany, 226 Jesuits from the five continents have been meeting in Rome in a general congregation, the thirty-fifth since Saint Ignatius of Loyola (in the illustration, with pope Paul III) founded the order in 1540.The assembly will elect the new superior general of the Society, in the place of the outgoing Peter-Hans Kolvenbach. And on February 21, Benedict XVI will hold an audience with the newly elected head, together with the delegates who have come to Rome representing the almost twenty thousand Jesuits all over the world.
Moreover, the congregation will discuss a report on the Society's strengths and weaknesses, and a dozen questions concerning the identity and mission of the Jesuits in today's world. Including their vow of special obedience to the pope.
The discussion will last for several weeks, and will be held behind closed doors. But it is already known what the critical points will be. These were indicated with words that were sometimes harsh, in the homily for the Mass that opened the session on January 7, from an authoritative non-Jesuit: cardinal Franc Rodé, prefect of the congregation for institutes of consecrated life.
It is easy to guess that cardinal Rodé expressed the thought and expectations of Benedict XVI. One thing that preoccupies the Church's leadership is the influence that the Jesuits have on the bearing of the other religious orders, and on the formation of priests and theology students in the many schools and universities that the Society operates all over the world, beginning with the Pontifical Gregorian University, which prepares many future bishops.
"It is with sorrow and anxiety," Rodé said in the homily, "that I see that the 'sentire cum ecclesia' of which your founder St Ignatius frequently spoke is diminishing in some members of religious families."
And again:
"With sadness and anxiety I also see a growing distancing from the hierarchy. The Ignatian spirituality of apostolic service 'under the Roman Pontiff' does not allow for this separation."
And further on:
"The doctrinal diversity of those who at all levels, by vocation and mission are called to announce the Kingdom of truth and love, disorients the faithful and leads to a relativism without limits. [...] The exegetes and theological scholars are involved in working together under the watchful care of the sacred teaching office of the Church, to an exploration and exposition of the divine writings. [...] May those who have to oversee the doctrine of your magazines and publications do so in the light of and according to the rules for 'sentire cum ecclesia,' with love and respect."
It is no mystery that of the last seven theologians scrutinized by the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, four belong to the Society of Jesus: Jon Sobrino, Roger Haight, Jacques Dupuis, and Anthony De Mello +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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