GC35 News
(Vatican Radio) Letter from Pope to the General Congregation
posted by: webkmccarthy
on Friday, January 18, 2008
Vatican Radio Source
(18 Jan 08 - RV) A few days before he presented his resignation as
Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach
received a personal letter from the Holy Father, Benedict XVI. Father
Kolvenbach shared the letter with the members of the General
Congregation and with the rest of the Society, and reported to the Holy
Father “the profound attention and gratitude” with which the message
has been received”. To the Jesuits, Father Kolvenbach underlined “the
affection, spiritual closeness, esteem and gratitude with which the
successors of Peter have regarded and see the Society of Jesus,
continuing to expect the faithful service of the Society for the
integral and clear proclamation of the Gospel in our time.”
In
his letter Pope Benedict recalls the particular bond that binds the
Society of Jesus to the Successor of Peter, as expressed in the "fourth
vow" of special obedience to the Pope. The Holy Father underlines and
asks "that the Congregation reaffirms, in the spirit of Saint Ignatius,
its own total adhesion to catholic doctrine, in particular on the
crucial points under attack today from secular culture”.
Here we publish the complete text of Pope Benedict’s Letter:
“On the occasion of the 35th
General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, it is my fervent desire
to extend to you and to all those taking part in the Assembly my most
cordial greetings, together with an assurance of my affection and of my
constant spiritual nearness to you. I know how important for the life
of the Society is this event which you are celebrating, and I further
know that, consequently, it has been prepared with great care. This is
a providential occasion for impressing upon the Society of Jesus that
renewed ascetic and apostolic impulse which is wished by all, so that
Jesuits might fulfill completely their mission and confront the
challenges of the modern world with that faith to Christ and to the
Church which distinguished the prophetic action of Saint Ignatius of
Loyola and his first companions.
The Apostle writes to the
faithful of Thessalonica of having announced to them the gospel of God,
“encouraging you and imploring you” — Paul specifies — “to comport
yourselves in a manner worthy of God who calls you to his kingdom and
to his glory” (1 Th. 2:12), and he adds: “Indeed on account of this we
continually thank God because, having received the divine word preached
by us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, as
the word of God, which works in you who believe” (1 Th. 2:13). The word
of God therefore is first “received”, i.e., heard, and then —
penetrating all the way to the heart — it is “welcomed”, and who
receives it recognizes that God speaks through the agent sent to
deliver it: in this way the word acts in believers. As then, so even
today evangelization demands a total and faithful adhesion to the word
of God: adhesion first of all to Christ and to attentive listening to
his Spirit which guides the Church; humble obedience to the Pastors
whom God has placed to guide his people; and prudent and frank dialogue
with the social, cultural, and religious appeals of our time. All this
presupposes, as we know, an intimate communion with Him who calls us to
be friends and disciples, a unity of life and of action which is fed by
listening to his word, by contemplation and by prayer, by detachment
from the mentality of the world and by unceasing conversion toward his
love so that it may be He, the Christ, who lives and works in each of
us. Here is the secret of authentic success for the apostolic and
missionary commitment of every Christian, and even more of all those
called to a more direct service of the Gospel.
Such an
awareness is certainly well present among those taking part in the
General Congregation, and I am eager to honor the great work already
completed by the preparatory commission which in the course of 2007 has
examined the postulates sent by Provinces and indicated the themes to
be faced. I would like to direct my thoughts of gratitude in the first
place to you, dear and venerated Father Superior General, who since
1983 has guided the Society of Jesus in an enlightened, wise, and
prudent manner, seeking in every way to maintain it in the channel of
its founding charism. For objective reasons, you have at various times
asked to be relieved of so heavy a post, assumed with a great sense of
responsibility at a moment in your Order’s history which was not easy.
I express to you my most heartfelt gratitude for the service you have
rendered to the Society of Jesus and, more generally, to the Church. My
sentiments of gratitude extend to your closest collaborators, to the
participants of the General Congregation, and to all Jesuits scattered
in every part of the world. To all and to each should arrive this
greeting from the Successor of Peter, who follows with affection and
esteem the multiple and appreciated apostolic works of the Jesuits, and
who encourages all to continue in the path opened by your holy Founder
and walked by innumerable hosts of your brothers dedicated to the cause
of Christ, many of whom are inscribed by the Church among its saints
and blessed. From heaven, may they protect and sustain the Society of
Jesus in the mission which it carries out in this our current age,
marked by numerous and complex social, cultural, and religious
challenges.
Indeed regarding this theme, how can one not
recognize the valid contribution which the Society offers to the
Church’s activity in various fields and in many ways? Truly a great and
meritorious contribution, one which only the Lord will be able to
rightly reward! As did my venerated Predecessors, the Servants of God
Paul VI and John Paul II, I too gladly wish to take this opportunity of
a General Congregation to bring such a contribution to light and, at
the same time, to offer for your common reflection some considerations
which might be of encouragement for you and a stimulus to implement
ever better the ideal of the Society, in full fidelity to the
Magisterium of the Church, such as described in the following formula
which is well familiar to you: “To serve as a soldier of God beneath
the banner of the Cross and to serve the Lord alone and the Church, his
spouse, under the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth”
(Apostolic Letter Exposcit debitum, 21 July 1550). One treats
here of a “peculiar” fidelity confirmed also, by not a few among you,
in a vow of immediate obedience to the Successor of Peter “perinde ac cadaver”.
The Church has even more need today of this fidelity of yours, which
constitutes a distinctive sign of your Order, in this era which warns
of the urgency of transmitting in an integral manner to our
contemporaries — distracted by many discordant voices — the unique and
immutable message of salvation which is the Gospel, “not as the word of
men, but as it truly is, as the word of God”, which works in those who
believe.
That this might come to pass, it is indispensable — as earlier the beloved John Paul II reminded participants of the 34th
General Congregation — that the life of the members of the Society of
Jesus, as also their doctrinal research, be always animated by a true
spirit of faith and communion in “humble fidelity to the teachings of
the Magisterium” (Insegnamenti, vol. I, pp. 25-32). I heartily hope
that the present Congregation affirms with clarity the authentic
charism of the Founder so as to encourage all Jesuits to promote true
and healthy Catholic doctrine. As Prefect of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, I had the opportunity to appreciate the valid
collaboration of Jesuit Consultors and experts, who, in full fidelity
to their charism, contributed in a considerable way to the faithful
promotion and reception of the Magisterium. Certainly this is not a
simple undertaking, especially when called to announce the Gospel in
very different social and cultural contexts and when having to deal
with different mentalities. I therefore sincerely appreciate such labor
placed at the service of Christ, labor which is fruitful for the true
good of souls in the measure in which one lets oneself be guided by the
Spirit, remaining humble as regard the teachings of the Magisterium,
having reference to those key principles of the ecclesial vocation of
the theologian which are delineated in the Instruction Donum veritatis.
The evangelizing work of the Church very much counts on the formative
responsibility which the Society has in the areas of theology, of
spirituality, and of mission. And, really so as to offer the entire
Society of Jesus a clear orientation which might be a support for
generous and faithful apostolic dedication, it could prove extremely
useful that the General Congregation reaffirm, in the spirit of Saint
Ignatius, its own total adhesion to Catholic doctrine, in particular on
those neuralgic points which today are strongly attacked by secular
culture, as for example the relationship between Christ and religions;
some aspects of the theology of liberation; and various points of
sexual morality, especially as regards the indissolubility of marriage
and the pastoral care of homosexual persons. Reverend and dear Father,
I am convinced that the Society senses the historic importance of this
General Congregation and, guided by the Holy Spirit, wants once again —
as the beloved John Paul II said in January 1995 — to reaffirm
“unequivocally and without any hesitation its specific way to God,
which St. Ignatius sketched in the Formula Instituti: loving
fidelity to your charism will be the certain source of renewed
effectiveness” (Insegnamenti, vol. XVIII/1, 1995, p. 26). Furthermore,
the words my venerated Predecessor Paul VI directed to the Society in
another analogous circumstance appear so very current: “All of us must
be vigilant so that the necessary adaptation will not be accomplished
to the detriment of the fundamental identity or essential character of
the role of the Jesuit as is described in the Formula Instituti
as the history and particular spirituality of the Order propose it, and
as the authentic interpretation of the very needs of the times seem
still to require it. This image must not be altered; it must not be
distorted.” (Insegnamenti, vol. XII, 1974, pp. 1181-1182)
The
continuity of the teachings of the Successors of Peter stands to
demonstrate the great attention and care which they show toward the
Jesuits, their esteem for you, and the desire to be able to count
always on the precious contribution of the Society to the life of the
Church and to the evangelization of the world. I entrust the General
Congregation and the entire Society of Jesus to the intercession of
your holy Founder and the saints of your Order, and to the maternal
protection of Mary, so that every spiritual son of Saint Ignatius might
be able to keep before his eyes “first of all God and then the nature
of this his Institute” (Formula Instituti, 1). With such
sentiments, I assure you of a constant remembrance in prayer and in a
heartfelt way I impart to you, Reverend Father, and to the Fathers of
the General Congregation and to the entire Society of Jesus, a special
Apostolic Blessing.
Vatican, 10 January 2008
Benedict PP XVI