Blithe Spirit, the Blog

Given Adolfo Nicolás’ almost five decades of ministry in Japan — and their effect on his outlook — the day since his election has seen the 30th “Black Pope” being repeatedly compared to the 28th.

Yes.  That would be the newly elected “general” of the Jesuits.  Like the 28^th, Pedro Arrupe, he spent much time in Japan.  Much more is noted by blogger Rocco Palmo, a much published Philadelphian who writes from America for The Tablet, the international Catholic weekly published in London.

Fine.  But I expect there’s another likeness, that as a Jesuit novice blogged a year or so ago, in his first half year as a Jesuit, a Jesuit general “literally has his finger on the pulse of the planet.”

He doesn’t, of course, and I entered into dialog with the young man in order to remind him gently that he may literally has his finger on the pulse of a novice but not of the planet.  Alas, by the time he cut me off from comment on his blog, he had made it brutally clear that he had no idea of the meaning of “literal,” nor any sense of its being the opposite of “figurative.”

He’d come to the Society fresh off a respectable state university campus and had apparently met usual Jesuit requirements as to gray matter and literacy but nonetheless thought the Jesuit general took global pulses.

  This I found more disheartening than if he’d denied the Trinity, which he may yet do, who knows?

New head man for Jesuits has non-Western tilt?

It’s been 46 years since Father Adolfo Nicolás first traveled to Japan as a missionary from Spain. His has been a long conversation, first in Japan, but also in Korea and more recently in the Philippines. It’s left him convinced that the West does not have a monopoly on meaning and spirituality, and can learn a lot from the experience of Asian cultures.

He’s Spanish-born Adolfo Nicolas,

ordained in Tokyo in 1967 and spent most of his career in the Far East - directing a pastoral institute in Manila, in the Philippines, and holding leadership positions in Japan.

Let us not rush to judgment, but let us confess our bias toward Western values and suspicion of those who lean East.

The Vatican cardinal speaking in Rome at the Jesuit’s general congregation for electing a new general

told the Jesuits that it is with “sorrow and anxiety” that he has seen even members of religious orders weaken their attachment to the institutional church and their fidelity to its official teaching.

You gotta love bishops, for instance:

 ”With sadness and anxiety, I also see a growing distancing from the hierarchy,” he said, emphasizing that St. Ignatius insisted his companions exercise their ministry under a particularly close bond of obedience to the pope.

“The fundamental nucleus of Ignatian spirituality consists in uniting love for God with love for the hierarchical church,” Cardinal Rode said.

You are bothering people:

 ”The doctrinal diversity of those who … by vocation and mission are called to announce the kingdom of truth and love, disorients the faithful and leads to a relativism without limits,” he said.

Otherwise, nice job and good luck!

From the pro-life trenches:

“First of all,” Father Euteneuer said, “Holy Mass is not a forum for your self-expression. You chose the sacred liturgy and the pulpit reserved for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the launching pad for your personal testament to homosexuality … You’ve read the same documents I’ve read about the liturgy, and none of them say the liturgy is your personal stage.”

He’s Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International.  Furthermore:

“When even a celibate priest chooses to go public about his homosexual identity as an expression of ‘diversity’ or ‘pride’, the faithful are rightfully confused and scandalized. Not only do you owe them an apology, you owe them a better example of priesthood. They deserve a priest who is clear about the Church’s doctrine about homosexual acts and who teaches it unambiguously. … If you do not clearly witness the Church’s teaching about your own vocation, how can you teach others to be faithful to theirs?”

He has two good points.  His entire comment is here, introduced with this:

On Sunday, November 4th, Rev. Thomas Brennan, S.J., revealed publicly to a parish at St. Joseph University in Philadelphia that he was a homosexual. The priest chose to “come out” during a so-called “Diversity Week” allegedly dedicated to honoring Jesuit founder, St. Ignatius Loyola.

Convicted pedophile Rev. Donald McGuire, S.J., preached up a storm in his good old days, as told in this ad for CDs:

Audio Length: 13 hours 30 min.
Average Customer Rating: 3.4

Fr. McGuire, one of the premier retreat masters in the country and the Spiritual Director for Mother Teresa and for her Missionaries of Charity, gives a life-changing retreat on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

He helps the retreatant to delve deeply into the profound mysticism of the Spiritual Exercises, and to grasp the key principles of the spiritual life, including Sin, Knowing Yourself, Penance, Conversion, Prayer, Holiness, and Spiritual Freedom.

©1999 Ignatius Press

Comment by Reader D on comment below:

Is McGuire “legally blind”? [News to this reporter.  He, being tricky guy, may have adopted that persona.]

Wouldn’t McGuire fear lightning bolts, toying with boys and preaching to saints? [Not if he was crazy.]

 

What kind of twisted gymnastics of the soul breeds that scenario? [Very twisted.]

 

Yes, how blessed that God does write straight with crooked pens or lines. Else we’d all be up the sh_t creek.  [In a lead canoe without a paddle, yes.]