Father General Nicolás told the synod that the Ignatian spirituality he was formed in encourages finding God in all things.

“I am afraid that we missionaries have not done it with sufficient depth,” he said.  Father General Nicolas also spoke about the need to enrich the universal church with the signs and seeds of God’s presence in other cultures and religions.

Father General Nicolás, who spent most of his priesthood in Japan and in other parts of Asia, said too many church members have “looked for Western signs of faith and sanctity and have not discovered how God has been at work in other peoples. This impoverishes all. We miss important clues, insights and discoveries,” he said.

“The fullness of Christ needs the contribution of all peoples and all cultures,” Father General Nicolás said. He said some of the keys to effective evangelization include:

• The simplicity of the message.
• Generosity in acknowledging the work of God in the life and history of people.
• Being aware of one’s own life as a factor of credibility.
• Forgiveness and reconciliation are the most helpful shortcuts to the heart of the Gospel.

Read the full text of Father General Nicolás’s remarks and learn more about the synod from this Catholic News Service report.

Jesuit Father Gerald Blaszczak

Father Alexander Santora, the current pastor of The Church of Our Lady of Grace & St. Joseph in Hoboken, recently featured Jesuit Father Gerald Blaszczak in his weekly column for The Jersey Journal. Fr. Santora, an alum of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, didn’t know Fr. Blaszczak while they were high school students at Prep, as they only shared the school’s halls for one year. Following graduation, Blaszcsak entered the Society of Jesus. 

As a freshman at St. Peter’s Prep in 1966, I was in awe of the seniors who were outstanding athletes, student leaders and academic stars.

Gerald Blaszczak was among the latter and, unfortunately, I never met him personally. He entered the Society of Jesus after graduation in 1967 and through the years I used to hear about his appointment as vice president of Fordham University or pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, their flagship parish.

Pope Benedict also announced that one bishop and four priests who have distinguished themselves in their commitment to the Church, will be made cardinals in the February consistory although they will not be eligible to vote in conclave having passed the age limit of 80 years. Among these Jesuit Father Karl Becker, Professor Emeritus of Dogmatic Theology of the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Jesuit Father James Martin recently wrote about Cardinal-designate Becker’s elevation, especially in light of him being a Jesuit:

“Normally the pope names (or, technically, ”creates”) cardinals from the ranks of bishops and archbishops (as with Archbishop Dolan) and these men are often heads of the larger archdioceses.  But occasionally the pope names a priest, to honor the man for his life’s work.  (Normally they are over 80, not named a bishop so as to spare them from the sacramental duties of a bishop, and are ineligible to vote in a papal conclave.) Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ, the American Jesuit theologian, was a recent example.  (An interview with Cardinal Dulles a few months before the consistory, including his thoughts on becoming a cardinal, is here.)

A note about accepting ecclesiastical honors in the Society of Jesus.  At the close of their formation, a Jesuit will make his “Final Vows.”  (This comes after their “First Vows” made at the end of their novitiate.)  Many Jesuits will profess four vows: poverty, chastity and obedience and a special vow of obedience to the pope “with regard to missions.”  Some will profess the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  We also make five separate “promises”: First, we promise never to change anything in the Jesuit Constitutions about poverty–unless to make it “more strict.”  Second, we promise never to “strive or ambition” for any dignity in the church, like becoming a bishop.  Third, never to “strive or ambition” for any high office in the Jesuits.  Fourth, if we find out that someone is striving for these things, we are to “communicate his name” to the Society.  (All these were signs of Ignatius wanting to root out among his Jesuits the desire for ecclesial honors, which was rampant in Igantius’s time.)  Finally, we make a promise that, if we are somehow made bishop, we will still listen to the superior general.

But there have been, over the years, several instances of Jesuits being named cardinals, most often for their work in theology.  Indeed one of the great Jesuit saints is Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, SJ.  So while we are counseled to avoid “ecclesiastical honors” this particular honor is almost always accepted for two reasons: first, it comes directly from the Holy Father; and second, it is an honor not simply for the man but a mark of a pontiff’s gratitude for the Society of Jesus.”

[Radio Vaticana / America Magazine]

But then he shared what he believes is the line his former students quote most: “There are two things you do not do alone: liturgy and sex.”

The world renowned liturgical scholar was interviewed Dec. 13 as he prepared to return to the United States after more than 46 years in Rome.

Students and friends share his pithy quotes with relish and his graduate summer school students at the University of Notre Dame even published a collection of them several years ago.

“They’re totally spontaneous. It’s not like I sit in my room before class thinking, ‘What wisecrack can I throw at them today?’ It just happens,” he said.

Father Taft, who said he’s “on the top of the heap” when it comes to knowledge of the Byzantine liturgy, officially retired as a professor at Rome’s Pontifical Oriental Institute in 2002. He was scheduled to move to the Jesuit retirement center in Weston, Mass., just after Christmas and will celebrate his 80th birthday Jan. 9.

With more than 800 titles already to his credit, the Rhode Island native, who was ordained in the Byzantine rite in 1963, still has one big writing project left: completing the sixth and final volume of his history of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, used by both Eastern Catholics and Orthodox.

Packing interrupted work on the book, he said, but the slow progress also is due to less energy and more time devoted to prayer.

“One of the advantages of getting old is that what the Byzantine liturgy refers to as the ‘dread tribunal of Christ’ that you’re going to stand before puts the fear of God into you, and so you move to pray more,” he said. “That already has had an influence on my spiritual life.”

In addition to teaching, Father Taft served for decades as an adviser to the Vatican, writing more than 90 reports, draft documents and expert opinions on matters related to the Eastern churches.

“It’s better to be part of the process than to stand on the sideline and criticize, although I criticize, too,” he said. “My attitude has always been I’d rather have myself writing these decisions than have someone dumber than me doing it.”

The liturgy Father Taft has devoted his life to studying is the same liturgy he has devoted his life to celebrating, praying and helping others to pray.

“I write on liturgy so that people might understand it better and celebrate it better,” he said.

Without a doubt, he said, Eastern Catholics know more about their liturgical tradition than they did before the Second Vatican Council and it shows in the way they celebrate their liturgies. The situation isn’t perfect across the world, he said, citing as an example Russian Byzantine communities where the choir tends to take over all the people’s parts and the congregation ends up being spectators.

“Liturgy is a play where there is no audience. We’re all actors,” he said.

As for a popular notion that the so-called Tridentine Mass in the Latin rite approaches the Byzantine liturgy’s sense of mystery better than the modern Mass in the vernacular does, Father Taft said, “Nonsense.”

“The prayers are not for God. God happens to know the whole show already,” he said. “The language is for us and if you don’t understand the language” — whether in Latin or your native tongue — “then you’ve got a problem.”

“The notion that the language creates the mystery is the height of asininity,” he said.

For Father Taft, after a lifetime of studying every word and detail of the liturgy, the mystery increases with knowledge and understanding.

He also said people are wrong to assume the Tridentine Mass is closer to “Catholic tradition.”

“The Tridentine reform of the liturgy was just as much of a change, with respect to what preceded it, as the Vatican II restoration of the liturgy was,” he said.

Father Taft is solidly on the side of the faithful who can’t abide by priests inventing and innovating in the liturgy as it catches their fancy. But he doesn’t blame that on the Second Vatican Council, which held its last session in 1965, the semester he arrived in Rome.

Church leaders “so froze the liturgy from the Council of Trent right up until the Second Vatican Council that when they opened the door of the freezer, everything poured out. It wasn’t the Second Vatican Council that created the abuses, it was the reaction to centuries of rigidity in the liturgy,” he said.

“What the Second Vatican Council did was return the liturgy to those to whom it really belongs: the people of God,” which includes the clergy, but not exclusively, he said.

Father Taft has given away hundreds of books preparing to move, but not his liturgical books because, he said, he needs them for prayer.

The Weston house “offers full-care service” with rooms for Jesuits who can live independently and an “assisted living” floor for those needing a bit of help. The ground floor has an infirmary and “a chapel where you have the funeral and across the lawn is the cemetery. Everything’s right there.”

“That’s where we’re all heading eventually and not to face it is stupid and immature, in my opinion,” he said.

Facing the inevitable, of course, includes some reflection on the past.

“Being a Catholic priest is a wonderful thing. It really is,” Father Taft said. “As long as he’s not a turd, people will do anything for their priest.”

After almost 80 years of life, the Jesuit said the key to happiness is trying to help others; “that’s what it’s all about.”

“You’re looking at a happy man,” he said.

[Catholic News Service]

As the Secretary for Higher Education, Garanzini will assist Father General Nicolás on a part-time basis, coordinating and championing Jesuit higher-education issues around the world.

Garanzini succeeds Jesuit Father Ronald Anton.

Among Fr. Blaszczak’s new responsibilities will be the promotion within Jesuit ministries of “dialogue and reflection on the relationship between faith and reason, culture and moral issues and also between the Church and society.” He will also coordinate the Secretariat for inter-religious dialogue and work with the six conferences of the Society worldwide on Ignatian spirituality and pastoral work.

Blaszczak said he was “humbled by the scope of my new job,” and that he was also excited by the possibilities. “I am eager to be involved in projects which I deem so valuable and which have been so close to my heart throughout the years of my Jesuit ministry.”

On this Earth Day, Álvarez de los Mozos encourages Jesuits and their partners to work toward justice, peace and environmental care.

Pope Benedict XVI and Father General Adolfo Nicolás

Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolás announced last month a major restructuring in the Society of Jesus’ governance structure at the General Curia in Rome.

In a letter sent to the whole Society, Father General explained that the changes will occur in three ways; a restructuring of the secretariats at the General Curia, instituting a commission on the Society’s Mission, and creating a reflection group for continued discernment of mission.

“With the help of the General Counselors, we are restructuring the Secretariats. The structure that has been in force till now has primarily been organized according to apostolic sectors.”

The reorganization of the secretariats will break the focus on apostolic sectors and instead focus on the important dimensions of the Society’s mission, which should be present in all apostolic sectors. The General Curia will now have Secretaries for the Service of Faith, the Promotion of Justice and Collaboration with Others.

Father General explained that much of the ordinary governance such as admission to final vows and appointment of superiors will stay the same. The changes being made were in fact prompted by the 35^th General Congregation and meetings with major superiors in the Society.

“The changes we are introducing concern primarily our capacity to address issues related to our mission, with the flexibility, depth and creativity required at this moment of history and the life of the Church,” wrote Fr. Nicolas.

To read the full letter from Father General, and specifics on the restructuring, visit the [Jesuit Curia]

Pope Benedict XVI and Father General Adolfo Nicolás

Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolás announced last month a major restructuring in the Society of Jesus’ governance structure at the General Curia in Rome.

In a letter sent to the whole Society, Father General explained that the changes will occur in three ways; a restructuring of the secretariats at the General Curia, instituting a commission on the Society’s Mission, and creating a reflection group for continued discernment of mission.

“With the help of the General Counselors, we are restructuring the Secretariats. The structure that has been in force till now has primarily been organized according to apostolic sectors.”

The reorganization of the secretariats will break the focus on apostolic sectors and instead focus on the important dimensions of the Society’s mission, which should be present in all apostolic sectors. The General Curia will now have Secretaries for the Service of Faith, the Promotion of Justice and Collaboration with Others.

Father General explained that much of the ordinary governance such as admission to final vows and appointment of superiors will stay the same. The changes being made were in fact prompted by the 35^th General Congregation and meetings with major superiors in the Society.

“The changes we are introducing concern primarily our capacity to address issues related to our mission, with the flexibility, depth and creativity required at this moment of history and the life of the Church,” wrote Fr. Nicolas.

To read the full letter from Father General, and specifics on the restructuring, visit the [Jesuit Curia]

The initiative is called “Unexpected Connections: Journey to the Heart of the Society,” and it includes guided tours by Jesuits.

“It is a rare opportunity for everyone who comes to visit us, but it is also an opportunity for us, Jesuits, to open our doors to people. We are not used to having people in our house, ” said Italian Jesuit Father Flavio Bottaro.

See more in the video clip from Rome TV below: