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Today marked the opening of the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, the worldwide governing body of the Jesuits. The opening Mass was preached by Cardinal Franc Rode CM, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. His homily called for the order to “think with the Church” and “love the hierarchical Church.”

A few excerpts from His Eminence’s homily (headings are mine):

Get on board the BXVI train
It is with sorrow and anxiety that I see that the sentire cum ecclesia [thinking with the Church] of which your founder frequently spoke is diminishing even in some members of religious families. The Church is waiting for a light from you to restore the sensus ecclesiae.

Follow the lead of the Pope and Bishops
With sadness and anxiety I also see a growing distancing from the Hierarchy. The Ignatian spirituality of apostolic service “under the Roman Pontiff” does not allow for this separation. … The fundamental nucleus of Ignatian spirituality consists in uniting the love for God with love for the hierarchical Church.

Don’t Confuse the faithful
It is the need to present to the faithful and to the world the authentic truth revealed in Scripture and Tradition. The doctrinal diversity of those who at all levels, by vocation and mission are called to announce the Kingdom of truth and love, disorients the faithful and leads to a relativism without limits. There is one truth, even though it can always be more deeply known.

[John Allen: "Rodé appeared to suggest that the wide variety of theological positions espoused by Jesuits can feed what Pope Benedict XVI has called a 'dictatorship of relativism.'"]

Keep your theologians on the team
The exegetes and theological scholars are involved in working together “under the watchful care of the sacred teaching office of the Church, to an exploration and exposition of the divine writings.”

Get America back on the team
May those who, according to your legislation, have to oversee the doctrine of your magazines and publications do so in the light of and according to the “rules for sentire cum ecclesia” [thinking with the Church], with love and respect.

(N.B. - I am not going to be providing any in-depth coverage of the Congregation as it meets for the next several weeks. For that, I suggest Rocco Palmo and John Allen. I will, however, blog occasionally on those items of interest to the Marquette community).

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