Society of Jesus Archives

To understand Pope Francis, you have to understand the Jesuits

Catholic News Agency, Vatican
June 27, 2017

Father Brian Reedy, a US Navy Reserve chaplain who is pursuing a doctorate in philosophical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, examines the Jesuit influence in Pope Francis by taking into account the teachings of St. Ignatius and addresses the pope’s perceived “ambiguity” in his sayings and writings.

Nigerian priest shares harrowing story of being kidnapped

Catholic News Agency, Global Church
June 12, 2017

A Nigerian Jesuit priest and director of a local spirituality center tells the grueling story of being kidnapped, beaten and ransomed by Fulani herdsmen, a notoriously violent group whose clashes with farmers have killed thousands of people in Nigeria over the past two decades.

Pope chats with Scorsese, tells director he read ‘Silence’

Associated Press
November 30, 2016

Pope Francis today met Martin Scorsese, the director of ‘Silence’, a film about Jesuit missionaries in 17th-century Japan that was privately screened yesterday for 300 Jesuits.

Former Jesuit leader who faced stiff tests dies at 87

Global Church
November 26, 2016

Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, who led the worldwide Jesuit order for a quarter century from 1983 to 2008, and who broke with tradition by voluntarily resigning what had once been a lifetime job, died on Sunday in Beirut four days shy of his 88th birthday.

In Jesuit Q&A, Pope despairs of current politics and rigid seminary morality

Interviews, Uncategorised, Vatican
November 24, 2016

In a wide-ranging off-the-cuff question-and-answer session with Jesuit delegates in Rome, Pope Francis had two big topics on his mind: the decline of politics, and the rise of rigidity in seminaries.

Pope’s address to the Jesuits heals decades of hurt and misunderstanding

Analysis, Global Church
October 24, 2016

Knowing something of Pope Francis’s troubled Jesuit history makes his address yesterday to the General Congregation in Rome even more remarkable. In it Francis managed to heal both the Jesuits’ 1970s loss of identity as well as the misunderstandings they suffered afterwards.