archives

In modern times, the Society of Jesus is a conundrum to the world, to the Roman Catholic Church. There are the “new” Jesuits, the “old” Jesuits, and the “new/old” Jesuits. By categorizing “The Jesuits” I do not mean to judge the members of the Society, but only to comment on how the Society represents itself to the modern world.

By “new” I mean those Jesuits who have converted to the mind of Vatican II and accept in principle the Teilhardian insight of evolutionary faith and Liberation Theology as the necessary vision for the Mission of effective Christianity.

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Paris

If yesterday Pope Benedict XVI addressed the broader culture of both France and Europe, today he spoke directly to the French Catholic church – a church which, by all accounts, embodies the famous prediction of the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger that the future of Christianity in the West is as a “creative minority.”

Facing a shrunken and sometimes demoralized Catholic community in France, Benedict XVI urged his flock, “Do not be afraid!”

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Paris

Pope Benedict XVI is anything but a careless thinker, and even his omissions are usually significant. In that light, as the pope winds up the Paris leg of his first trip to France, one cannot help but wonder about his basic silence on the subject of Islam.

France, after all, has the largest Muslim population in Europe, and it continues to struggle with how to reconcile its commitment to laïcité with the religious sensitivities of this burgeoning Muslim presence. Moreover, Benedict spoke yesterday on the second anniversary of his famous Regensburg address, and his audience at the Collège des Bernardins included a small delegation of Muslims.

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.

Lourdes, France

A papal visit to Lourdes, arguably the premier Marian shrine and healing center in the Christian world, inevitably beckons reflection on two topics: the Virgin Mary and the theology of suffering. This evening, Benedict XVI delivered vintage versions of both.