Jesuit says congregation trying to decide how to respond to pope

Published: 2008-02-01

ROME (CNS) -- As the General Congregation of the Society of Jesus discusses and deliberates the order's present and future, one of the big questions faced by the 225 Jesuit delegates is how best to respond to the encouragements and concerns of Pope Benedict XVI. "The warmth and enthusiasm and trust that is coming from Pope Benedict now is inviting a renewed and enthusiastic response from the society," said Jesuit Father David Smolira. The priest, former head of the Jesuits' British province and current director of the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa, met reporters Feb. 1 to explain how the General Congregation was working. After the delegates elected Father Adolfo Nicolas to be the new Jesuit superior general Jan. 19, they began discussing issues of concern that would impact the more than 19,000 Jesuits worldwide. Included in the discussion, he said, was the need to respond to the letter Pope Benedict sent to the outgoing superior general, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, praising the Jesuits' contributions to evangelization and urging them to reaffirm their fidelity to contested points of church doctrine, particularly regarding sexual morality and relations with other religions.

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