Religion: Standpat in Rome

To the Sistine Chapel—where Popes are elected and many solemn church decisions announced—Paul VI last week summoned delegates of the Jesuit General Congregation that for two months has been debating the reform of the order traditionally regarded as Roman Catholicism’s highly disciplined and educated shock troops. To outsiders, the renewal effort has seemed dryly procedural and strikingly inconclusive; Paul’s surprising purpose was to denounce sternly the “strange and sinister suggestions” that he detected in the discussions.

“Do you wish, sons of Ignatius, militants of the Society of Jesus, to be today, and tomorrow and always, that which you have been from your foundation until this day for the holy Catholic church and for this apostolic see?” he asked. “This question of ours would not be justified if there had not reached our ears news and rumors regarding your society of which we cannot hide our surprise and, for some of them, our sorrow.”

The Fourth Vow. One issue that Paul seemed to have in mind was a proposal that the Society of Jesus play down somewhat the privileged status of the select “professed” priests, who are allowed to take a fourth vow of special obedience to the Pope in addition to the normal vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. Under the old rules, only professed priests were eligible to reach executive office in the Society; one change made by the congregation was to give membership on the advisory councils of the provinces to nonprofessed priests and lay brothers.

To some conservatives, any tampering with the institution of the fourth vow was the first step in weakening the chain of loyalty that binds the Jesuits to the Pope. Paul, apparently, was worried about this too. Equally disturbing, in his view, was another suggestion that the Society abandon the rule of a compulsory hour each day for mental prayers; Paul called prayer “the indispensable armor for the soldier of Christ.”

Tomorrow’s Church. As it turned out, the Pope’s powerful warning against excessive reform represented a clear case of overkill, and was clearly intended as a guide to future congregations rather than as a commentary on the work done by this year’s group. Delegates to the congregation, chiefly older and more conservative members of the Society, have been pointedly prudent regarding change. Winding up business last week, the congregation referred certain big questions regarding the structure of the Society, such as whether or not to tamper with the fourth vow, to committee for further study. As for the daily hour of prayer, the delegates’ report emphasized its importance in Jesuit tradition, but gave local provincials some leeway for making exceptions. Taken together with his recent standpat position on birth control, the Pope’s rebuke showed that he intended to be cautious in carrying out the renewal promised by the Vatican Council. The day he spoke to the Jesuits, Paul told a general audience at St. Peter’s: “You cannot demolish the church of yesterday to build the church of tomorrow.”