1 | See General Congregation (GC) 36, Decree (D.) 1. Decrees of General Congregation 36 of the Society of Jesus. Available online: http://www.mdsj.org/gc36decrees. |
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3 | See for example ( Palmés 1963; O’Gorman 1971; Knight 1974; H. Rahner 1980). Especially in the United States many articles have been published about obedience, authority and leadership. A central journal for these topics was and is Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits. |
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7 | Hugo Rahner explained, for example, that the joint responsibility of the subordinates was already stated in the constitutions, referring among other sources to Const. III, 2a. See ( H. Rahner 1980, p. 26). Another perspective in this debate was suggested by the Jesuit Robert Harvanek. He rejected the assumption of an essence of Jesuit obedience and by doing so recognized the historic inconstancy of the idea of obedience. Nowadays there is a broad agreement within the academic community about the problem of essentialism, however this idea was quite radical at the time of publication. See ( Harvanek 1978, p. 172). |
8 | See ( Ignatius of Loyola 1993, MI Epp. IV, p. 463). The letter ‘To the Jesuits in Portugal’, written on the 26th of March in 1553, is also known as the ‘Letter on obedience’ in which Ignatius reveals his general concept of obedience. This perspective was recently questioned by Mark Rotsaert, SJ, who argues that the idea of obedience described in the letter ‘To the Jesuits in Portugal’ has to be interpreted in close connection with the concrete situation of the addressees and should not be understood as the general concept of obedience. See ( Rotsaert 2008). However Rotsaert, a Jesuit himself, seems to assume a historic constancy between the contemporary concept of obedience in the Society of Jesus and the Ignatian concept. |
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13 | See (ibid., p. 152). |
14 | See (ibid., p, 153). |
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17 | ( Sölle 1988, p. 13). Unless otherwise indicated, translations are those of the author. |
18 | ( Sölle 1988, p. 13).“Kann man die christliche Erziehung zum Gehorsam mitverantwortlich machen für das gute Gewissen der Schreibtischmörder?” |
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20 | ( Neumann 1970, pp. 142ff, 168). Among the participants who criticized the ecclesiastical concept of authority have been among others cardinal Augustin Bea, cardinal Franz König and bishop Wilhelm Josef Duschak. With reference to their concrete criticism see (ibid., p. 142ff). |
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24 | The debate about responsible obedience was not specifically Catholic, but was also current in other confessions and had its equivalent outside the religious sphere. |
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29 | (Ibid., p. 261). The italics are mine. |
30 | The fact that Rahner raised this question already in 1956 indicates that the so-called crisis of authority was not a result of the Second Vatican Council, but that the discussion about the concepts of authority and obedience had already begun before. According to Klaus Schatz the vast of majority of the younger generation of Jesuits in Germany appreciated the article by Rahner, whereas some Jesuits of the older generation harshly criticized it. See ( Schatz 2013, vol. IV). |
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33 | For the role and the development of the Jesuit order in the 16th century, see for example the general survey by ( Banger 1986). |
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36 | See (Ibid., p. 1693). |
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38 | (Ibid. p. 63). Italics in original. |
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44 | At General Congregation 32 an explanation was added to passage 10 of decree 17 of General Congregation 31. This explanation explicitly refers to the repraesentatio as a way of conflict resolution. The fact that the explanation was added afterwards shows that in previous years Jesuits interpreted the decree in different ways. See GC 32, D. 11, n. 55. Decrees of General Congregations 31 to 35. Available online: https://jesuitportal.bc.edu/research/general-congregations/. |
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47 | See also on this issue Sydney Ahlstrom, who calls the theological change in the USA accompanying demythologization as ‘theological radicalism’ ( Ahlstrom 1970). |
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53 | (Ibid., p. 155). Italics in Original. |
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57 | In 1974 General Superior Pedro Arrupe named this change explicitly. See ( Arrupe 1982, p. 230). The conceptual change of mission already began at General Congregation 31. See ( Bisson n.d.). |
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61 | This becomes in particular evident in the study of Decree 4 written by Walter Kerber, SJ, Karl Rahner, SJ, and Hans Zwiefelhofer, SJ, which aims to prove theologically the ‘and’ between faith and justice. See ( Kerber et al. 1976). |
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63 | ( Ellacuría 1977, p. 28). “[…] si […] se niega que la justicia es parte esencial de la fe, no se ha disminuido o depreciado lo que es la justicia sino que se ha disminuido y depreciado lo que es la fe. Una fe que puede seguir siendo fe sin gracia santificante, sin amor y sin justicia no puede ser lo que tenga la máxima prioridad en el cristianismo.” |
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72 | The Jesuit Georgetown-University in Washington, D.C. for example was one of the first universities which offered a program for leaders and leadership-coaches. |
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