February 16, 2008

On the walls of the room where the plenary sessions of the General Congregation are taking place are the pictures of the first 27 Father Generals in the history of the Society, beginning with Saint Ignatius and ending with Father Arrupe. Father Kolvenbach’s hasn’t yet been placed there…

My place in the room, which is determined by alphabetical order, is precisely in front of Father Luis Martin, and I have the sensation that – very seriously! – he continuously looks at me. What does he want to say to me? This Spaniard, a native of Burgos, was elected at a Gen-eral Congregation that took place in Loyola, historically unique, and held the office from 1892 to 1906. One of his concerns was to encourage the sincere study of the history of the Society, using authentic documental sources. To do this he promoted the publication of the famous “Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu”, which tries to overcome the permanent temptation to adopt a panegyrical style which was so mistreated in previous stages of Jesuit historiography.

Precisely one of the constants of this 35th General Congregation that impresses me most is the “honesty” with itself of the universal Society represented here. In every moment it strives to avoid complimenting itself and tries to place before our eyes the lights and shades in our current situation, starting with an obligatory report on the state of the So-ciety (“de statu”), an important document which was drafted at the beginning by a group elected for that task, and was used for designing the profile of the new general. Positive and negative aspects, precisely expressed, also appear frequently in the work by sectors, in drafts of decrees, propositions for ordinary government, in the discussion of specific groups and in debates during the plenary sessions.

We love the Society very much, certainly, but we should always realize that we are not perfect, that we are not indispensable, that –as Father General said to the Holy Father in his interview “The Church can exist without the Society, but the Society cannot exist without the Church”. We recognize lights and shades in ourselves, those of us who are congregated here, because we are not better than the rest of our companions throughout the world.

This is basically the application of the Ignatian examination of conscience recommended in the Spiritual Exercises. We give thanks to God for all the benefits received. We ask for light to see objectively and serenely our situation, to analyze our faults (and our positive points). We ask for forgiveness and we resolve to amend.

All of this is occurring in a context, perhaps more than in ordinary life, in which we are living with intensity that reality referred to in the first paragraph of the second decree of the 32nd General Congregation (1975): “What does it mean to be a Jesuit? Recognize that I am a sinner, but that I am also called to be a companion of Jesus, as was Saint Ignatius”.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be bad to remember this, precisely at the beginning of Lent.

José J. Romero Rodríguez SJ

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