June 26, 2005
Loving & Hating the Pope
Recently a document came to me from a Jesuit priest who teaches in Rome . It was entitled Liberal Jesuits & the Late Pope. In speaking about hatred of the pope he writes, “Over the course of twenty-eight years in the Society of Jesus, I’ve watched Wojtyla-hatred turn into one of the principal sub-themes of Jesuit life…official documents have never departed from the language of deference to the pope. I’m talking about the informal expectation of day to day existence.” The author, Fr. Mankowski, makes it clear that of course there were many Jesuits very loyal to the pope, even outspokenly loyal, but on the other hand apparently there were many who were so deeply opposed to Pope John Paul II that they even openly wished for his death and said that they wished for his death. Some even expressed disappointment that the attempt of assassination of the pope had not succeeded.
How terribly sad it is to read this. I belong to a family that had many ties to the Jesuit order. My father and all my uncles on both sides went to Jesuit schools. One of my uncles worked his entire life as an employee of the Society of Jesus, for whom he had the greatest esteem. Growing up I was profoundly influenced by the spiritual work of the Jesuits, particularly Fr. Daniel A. Lord, SJ, and many of my books are published by Ignatius Press, which is very loyal to the pope.
How does this disloyalty occur? I really can’t say, but I do feel that without singling the Jesuits out, one must speak about this kind of fierce disloyalty. It not only exists among the Jesuits, but it can be found perhaps in less strident degrees among other religious orders, especially of women. Does it ever dawn on people that they may be going against the providential will of God? They certainly are going against the teaching of the Gospel as regards to the position of Saint Peter and the tradition of the church beginning in the very earliest centuries. It’s an amazing irony that there is no pope in modern times who was more popular and more esteemed in the whole world than John Paul II. The publicity surrounding his death was astonishing. One might say that the prestige of the Papacy at the time of John Paul’s death was the highest it has been in five hundred years, and this prestige carried over into the election and installation of Pope Benedict XVI. How then do we have this anomaly? Who knows – but one thing is very, very certain – that if one wishes to be a good Catholic Christian at this moment in church history, one must react strongly against the outrageous hostility to the pope. If one does not see the influence of the diabolical in this – one should be warned.
The Franciscans of the Renewal were founded on a number of principles. One of these is personal loyalty to John Paul II and the general loyalty that a Catholic Christian must show to the Vicar of Christ. We have no apologies to make to anyone. I want to encourage all of our friends who read this column on the Internet to be outspoken in their defense of the memory of Pope John Paul II and defense of his successor. This is a time for loyalty, direct speech and frequent engagement of those who see things quite differently. We must oppose the hostility that Fr. Mankowski speaks of in his article. I’m not suggesting that we do this with bitterness and viciousness, but I am suggesting that we do it very, very directly and that we be informed of the magnificent intellectual accomplishments of both of these men who have been chosen by the providence of God to lead the flock of Christ. Also I would ask you personally as a favor to me to pray fervently for the Society of Jesus, particularly on the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, which occurs on July 31 st. The Jesuits have done an immense amount for the Catholic Church and let us pray that these poisoned ideas will come to an end, that there will be repentance, and that there will be an open confession of the necessity of returning Jesuit education to the once noble position that it had the Catholic world.
Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR
www.franciscanfriars.com
comments: father benedict @ franciscanfriars.com
