Events

  Interview with Fr General Kolvenbach

Here are excerpts from two interviews given by Fr. General to two U.S. magazines, National Catholic Register and National Catholic Reporter last year.

How much will the General Congregation address the issue of declining vocations in the Society?
I hope that the question will be discussed because the future of our mission depends on it. We certainly recruit members as other institutions do. The Lord is the one who sends new members to his vineyard; but it is up to us to find them and to make ourselves known. We share this problem with the Church and other religious congregations.

The Society of Jesus receives every year between 400 and 500 new members but the geographical distribution varies considerably; while the numbers from Asia, Africa and South America have been increasing, they have been declining in Europe and North America.

To what extent will the meeting look at the concern among some faithful that Jesuit priests are increasingly dissenting from Church teaching?
I would like to take exception to the statement. I do not think that the Jesuits “are increasingly dissenting form the Church teachings”. In the spirit of serving the Church and the faithful, some Jesuits are tackling difficult issues in Christian life the answers for which are not clear. There are, for the most part, new questions which demand new answers and it is a service to the Church to examine them and look for answers, even if the novelty of the issues involves some risks. If, in the process of this search, some writers or theologians go beyond the accepted limits, the authorities of the Church will call their attention. This has happened in the past and we cannot avoid it in the future, if we want to continue this service the Church needs and is expecting from us. But any research and writings by the Jesuits should be based on competence and pastoral responsibility as required by a constructive love of the Church.

What sort of future would you like for the Society?
I would like to pray for a future of the Society in consonance with its vocation to serve the Lord and the Church under the Roman Pontiff. We are called to be servants of Christ’s mission, especially in areas where Christ is not known or badly known. We are taught by our founder, St. Ignatius, to strive for the “magis”, for a tireless effort in search of new and better ways to announce the Good News. I hope that the Lord of the vineyard will use us, as Ignatius said, “to help the people” to encounter him, their Creator and Saviour, who is present at the beginning of each one’s life and who will be at its end to welcome us for all eternity.

Why did you feel the time was ripe for a General Congregation?
Ignatius did not like to call often General Congregations because he thought that the Jesuits should not waste precious time in meetings which could hinder the total dedication of time and energy that they should devote to their apostolic mission. Some Popes, however, did not appreciate this way of proceeding; they were afraid that, in the absence of regular meetings at the highest level, the Superior General could proceed on his own, without any control. Most of the General Congregations before Vatican Council II were called to elect a new General. That resulted in 30 General Congregations in four centuries which, mainly issued laws rather than inspirational texts. All this changed after the Second Vatican Council. From 1965 to 1995, in 30 years, four General Congregations were held: two to elect a new Superior General and two others to discuss our way of proceeding. In the world and in the Church of today there is a real need to reflect and to act together. Within the Society of Jesus also, provinces, communities and apostolic activities are not anymore isolated islands: the provinces of the two Americas work together, the inter-provincial activity in Asia is increasing, and both Africa and Europe are looking for common enterprises. According to the field to which they are committed – pastoral, educational, social or mass or media – the Jesuits are coming together to share their experiences and to plan how to face new apostolic challenges. If we are aware of the fast changes that are occurring at all levels of our contemporary life, it is only natural to feel the need for the universal Society of Jesus coming together more often and more regularly – every ten years for instance – if we are to carry faithfully our mission to be servants to the Lord’s mission in the contemporary world.

As part of that decision, why did you feel it was time for the Jesuits to select a new General?
In former times the Superior General could not resign. Just after the Second Vatican Council the 31st general Congregation pondered the problem. Modern medicine can keep a Superior General alive for a long time: but will biological survival alone guarantee the capacity to lead and inspire the universal body of the Society composed of so many Jesuits, engaged in so many fields of apostolate, scattered in so many countries? The 31st General Congregation (in 1965), while discouraging resignations for unimportant reasons, opened the door to a possible resignation for serious reasons. In fact, Fr. Arrupe, who was 75 years old at that time, had started the procedure for his resignation, because he began to feel the limitations imposed by his age. His proposal was finally accepted by the General Congregation in September 1983.

Following in Fr. Arrupe’s steps I wanted to do the same a few years ago but the Holy Father John Paul II, wisely, asked me to wait. Now the present Holy Father has given me the permission to tender my resignation to the General Congregation to be convened in January 2008. God willing, I will be at that time in my 80th year. All the Provincials, whom I have consulted as prescribed by our norms, have approved the proposal.

Do you think you have set a precedent so that in the future General will resign rather than serving for lifetime.
The precedent was set by Fr. Arrupe. He often expressed his concern that for reasons of illness or age he would not be able to see that the moment has come to step down.

If the Holy Father agrees to the proposal, the coming General Congregation could discuss if we should keep the present legislation as it is, or if it would be better to modify it in order to elect a General for a limited number of years instead of doing it “for life”. The advantages of a long governance are clear: continuity, experience, knowledge of persons and situations, and the possibility of long range planning. But when I see my colleagues, the General Superiors of so many religious congregations, I have to acknowledge that the benefit of new blood, new visions and new inspirations may be more suitable to our rapidly changing world.

How would you describe the main challenges facing the Society today?
In December 2005 all the major superiors of the Society came together at Loyola. They confirmed the apostolic interest in marginalized Africa and in promising China. The intellectual apostolate remains a priory for us, in spite of the fact it is occasionally suspect, often discouraging. It is still necessary for the people of God. In the social areas, at the request of the Holy See we have embraced a preference for the people on the move ( refugees and displaced persons, undocumented people and immigrants). The many institutions entrusted to us in Rome are also the object of special care: Vatican Radio, the Observatory, the consortium formed by the Gregorian University, the Biblical and Oriental Institutes, the Colleges for students from East-Europe, German speaking countries, Latin America and Brazil…. Embracing all these activities is the continuous desire to find a more explicit and clear way to give witness to the message and values of Our Lord.

Many people credit you with vastly improving the relationship between the Jesuits and Holy See. How did you do that?
Around 1980 there was a deep communication gap between the Holy See and the General Curia in Rome, Differences regarding the follow-up of the Vatican Council were visible not only with persons outside the Society but also among the Jesuits. To avoid that the General Congregation called to elect the successor of Fr. Arrupe would result in a clash between divided groups, John Paul II appointed Fr. Dezza to embark upon a serious preparation. It was indeed Fr. Dezza who improved the elationship between the holy See and the Jesuits. How did he do it? Well… by speaking Vaticanese. We should credit Fr. P. Dezza and his assistant Fr. G Pittau with the improvement of the relationship. I just followed their steps, assisted by my own rich experience as a mediator in the Near East.

What has this experience taught you? What do you think is commonly misunderstood about the Vatican?
Once after a long conversation with a top Vatican official on a quite difficult and delicate issue, he made this observation: “Dear Father, now we have to translate our fraternal discussion into a formal decision; for obvious administrative reasons, the letter will read less understanding and friendly.” Perhaps this anecdote is the best way to understand the fatal tension between the pastoral approach and deep ecclesial concerns that condition the regular contacts with the officials of the Holy See. The rules of the Vatican administration are complex and demanding because they are guarantors of world-wide faithfulness to divine law and the tradition. This role of the Holy See can be easily misunderstood and attributed to a negative attitude, prone to say “no” when, in fact, it is intended as a way of protecting human life, human love through God’s love, and human rights in the name of God. Another cause of possible misunderstanding is the fact that the Vatican has to speak to the whole world and for all times, above particular languages and cultures. That requires a very explicit and clear language which cannot take into account all the possible shades of concrete issues.