Dr Edward Peters: Some reactions to Fr. Orsy's comments on the Phoenix abortion case

Dr Peters writes:

Fr. Ladislaus Orsy, SJ, one of the most respected -- I would even say revered -- figures in canon law today, has published a letter in The Tablet containing his informal reactions to the Phoenix abortion case. I offer a few reactions of my own to Fr. Orsy's comments, in service, I hope, to advancing this important discussion.

Read about it here.

Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., Requiescat in Pace

Cardinal Dulles dies at age 90.

Jesuit USF Honors Homosexual, Condom-Promoting AIDS Ambassador

A "Role Model" for USF Students

Among those receiving honorary degrees at University of San Francisco commencement ceremonies this past weekend was Ambassador Mark Dybul, an open homosexual with a same-sex partner about whom he makes no secret. Dybul has served as U.S. Global AIDS coordinator under President George W. Bush.

At his swearing-in ceremony in October 2006, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice welcomed Dybul’s family members, including his partner, Jason Claire, and Claire’s mother, whom Rice called Dybul’s “mother-in-law"....

According to a USF press release, the university honored Dybul “for his work at the forefront of the international fight against HIV/AIDS as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator.” According to the release, “Dybul is a role model for USF students as someone with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed, and the values and sensitivity to be men and women for others....”

Perversion rewarded and promoted - not only by our own country, but by a Jesuit institution. St Ignatius, pray for us!

More at California Catholic Daily here.

Majerus Offends with "Magic Underwear" Comments

Apparently not satisfied with offending faithful Catholics with his support of embryonic stem cell research and abortion "rights," Saint Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus may have offended Mormons during an interview on the radio program, The Dan Patrick Show last Monday...

When asked about the BYU-Texas A&M matchup, Majerus responded, "A&M. I don't like BYU from my Utah days. The magic underwear Mitt and those guys send themselves."

Father Adolfo Nicolás, New Superior General of the Jesuits

Father Adolfo Nicolás was elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus on Saturday, 19 January in a solemn ceremony following four days of prayer and conversation by the 217 electors who came to Rome from all over the world.

Californa Jesuit novices explore the length and breadth of interreligious dialogue

How far can Catholics go in “interreligious learning”? Jesuit Father Francis X. Clooney hinted at the answer to this question in a Jan. 15 posting on the internet site of America magazine, a Jesuit national weekly.

Fr. Clooney....gave a three-day seminar “on interreligious dialogue and related issues to the first year novices of the California and Oregon Provinces.”


The seminar featured, in part, the viewing of documentaries. One of the films presented was Swamiji, about the life of a French Benedictine, Henri Le Saux, who, said Clooney, “went to India in the late 1940s to help start a Catholic ashram -- a kind of monastic enclave.” However, Le Saux, said Clooney, found over a 30-year period “that he was learning and receiving far more than he could give in return...”

For Clooney, Le Saux “is an example not many can follow, but certainly makes us think about how far we can go in interreligious learning....”

Swami? God help us.

Obama Apearance at Jesuit-run Catholic College Sparks Protest

Jersey City, Jan 15, 2008 / 01:11 am (CNA).- The appearance at a Catholic college of a presidential candidate who supports abortion has provoked objections from the Cardinal Newman Society, an organization focusing on Catholic identity and renewal in higher education.

On Wednesday Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama addressed St. Peter’s College, a Jesuit-run institution in Jersey City, New Jersey. College president Dr. Eugene J. Cornacchia in a press release before the event said the college welcomed Obama “as we would welcome any presidential candidate who wishes to discuss and debate the ideas and events that are shaping our history...”

Another so-called Catholic college to be avoided...and a Jesuit institution, as well - figures...

Last Call for the Society of Jesus – To Obedience

The Jesuits elect their new superior general and discuss the reasons for their decline. But the Vatican authorities have already said what they expect from the order: more obedience to the pope, and more fidelity to doctrine.
by Sandro Magister

"Diversity perversity"

Vatican cardinal charges the Jesuits to recover fidelity to the Church’s hierarchy.

The address of a leading Vatican cardinal on Jan. 7 to the 35th General Convention of the Society of Jesus in Rome, called to elect a new superior general, began with customary words of praise for the outgoing superior, Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, and expressions of a certainty that the order would address the challenges it faces worldwide. Yet, the address segued into expressions of disappointment with the current state of religious fidelity to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

Many of us pray for that day when one no longer thinks of dissent or disobedience when one hears the word "Jesuit"...

In his homily for the Mass opening the convention, Cardinal Franc Rodé, the Holy See’s prefect for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, told the sons of St. Ignatius of Loyola that “with sorrow and anxiety” he sees “that the sentire cum Ecclesia [“thinking with the Church”] of which your founder frequently spoke is diminishing even in some members of religious families.” The Church, said Rodé, awaits “a light from you to restore the sensus Ecclesiae. The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius are your specialty. The rules of sentire cum Ecclesia form an integral and essential part of this masterpiece of Catholic spirituality...”

He noted that “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. There is one truth, even though it can always be more deeply known...”

Rodé called on those who “oversee the doctrine of your magazines and publications [to] do so in the light of and according to the ‘rules for sentire cum ecclesia,’ with love and respect.”

A report on the "Opening of General Congregation 35" and of the Elections can be read at the Jesuits' page here.

The Future of the Jesuits by Russell Shaw

December 28, 2007

On a quick trip to Rome a few weeks ago, I made it a point to visit the Gesu, the mother church of the Society of Jesus, and to pray for the Jesuits and their general congregation opening January 7. I found much of the church's magnificent Baroque interior concealed by scaffolding set up for a housecleaning before that crucial event.

The symbolism couldn't have been more apt. Just as the Gesu, in the historic heart of Rome, needed renovating, so does the Society itself. Rather than operating at the cutting edge of the Church, Jesuits in recent decades have fallen increasingly behind the times and, not unlike the Gesu, now stand in need of some serious renewing.

This is not an anti-Jesuit polemic. I am grateful for the education I received from the Society. Over the years I've known many Jesuits, and most have been — and still are — admirable men, loyal sons of the Church deeply devoted to the service of the people of God. Many have been, and still are, my friends.

Yet as 217 Jesuits from around the world convene at the Society's headquarters near St. Peter's Square for the 35th general congregation in the order's history, they face the challenge of not only electing a new General Superior but setting directions for a body in long-running crisis. Business as usual won't work. The Jesuits need an overhaul and they need it soon....

...The delegates to the 35th general congregation have the task of choosing a successor and setting policy for the years ahead. People who care about the Jesuits should wish them much success. That's what I prayed for at the Gesu when I was there.

We should all pray for them and ask for the special interecession of St Ignatius.

Jesuit Fr Kolvenbach:Theological dialogue with Islam 'impossible'

An excerpt from an interview by John Allen with Jesuit Father General, Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach:

On the strictly religious and theological level, is dialogue with Islam possible?

I’m afraid that at a theological and dogmatic level, dialogue with Islam is impossible. Often in Beirut, Muslims would ask me: ‘How is it possible that an educated person, a professor, believes in three gods?’ Obviously, they were referring to the Christian dogma of the Trinity. That’s an example of the difficulties of dialogue. Some who are favorable to theological dialogue with Muslims forget that at a certain point, you have to choose. For Muslims, it’s very clear: God is one. They chant it five times every day...

Book bound in martyred Jesuit priest's skin for sale

A macabre 17th century book about the execution of Gunpowder Plot conspirator Father Henry Garnet believed to be bound in the priest's own skin will go under the hammer this Sunday.

Perhaps most spooky of all, some claim to see an image of the priest's tortured face peering out of the anthropodermic binding of 'A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors, Garnet a Jesuit and his Confederats'....

This brings new meaning to the phrase, "you can't judge a book by its cover".....The link above is to the Catholic Encyclopedia entry for Fr Garnet.

Jesuits tentatively settle Alaska sex abuse cases

An Oregon-based Jesuit province has tentatively agreed to pay a record $50 million to settle 110 claims of child sexual abuse in remote Alaska Native villages, attorneys for the accusers said Sunday.

The settlement is the largest ever involving a Catholic religious order, according to a statement issued by plaintiffs' attorneys.

The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, with headquarters in Portland, includes in its territory Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. It is separate from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, which earlier this year agreed to pay clergy accusers up to $75 million to emerge from bankruptcy.

Wouldn't this make St Ignatius proud? May God help us all!