Servant of God, Pedro Arrupe, S.J.
Nope.
That's because he wasn't removed. Servant of God Pedro Arrupe, S.J. was NOT removed by Pope St. John Paul II. It is not at all true to say that, as some 'self-appointed, lay-authorities and gossips' online tell it.
Truth be told, "Arrupe suffered a stroke on Aug. 7, 1981, and soon after resigned as superior general, as his ability to speak quickly degenerated."
Were there troubles with his leadership? Yes. Both St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II had serious concerns with the Jesuit emphasis on social justice issues, as well as questionable doctrinal issues circulating within the order, but neither Pope called for Arrupe to resign, nor attempted to remove him from office.
You are correct. Arrupe had a stroke (on August 7, 1981); however, John Paul II did in fact remove Arrupe and any possibility that his successor, Vincent O'Keefe SJ, would assume the Generalate of the Society. I quote at length:
ReplyDelete"On October 5, 1981, John Paul forthrightly and by papal fiat intervened in the highest affairs of the Society by removing from its helm the two men he saw as primarily responsible for what he regarded as the shambles of the Order and replaced them with men of his own choosing -- Paola Dezza and Giuseppe Pittau --the Pope dropped the flag on the start of fourteen critical months. It was a time when powerful leaders both in and out of the Church held their breath and waited...Almost as abruptly as he had removed Arrupe, therefore, John Paul allowed his personally appointed Superior General, Paolo Dezza, to announce that he would allow a General Congregation of the Society of Jesus to meet in Rome. GC33 would convene in September in order to elect a new Father General in the time-honored manner, and to treat of those matters which are to be reviewed in accord with the will of the Holy See". The tension was broken . The collective sigh of relief was almost audible. The governance of the Society was back in its own hands.
Still, when Piet-Hans Kolvenbach was elected as the twenty-eighth Jesuit General by the delegates of GC33 in September 1983, many observers hoped, and some surmised, that behind his appearance of strength and somewhat Olympian detachment there might be a spirit that could impose a turnaround in events-- that in his quiet and almost sing-song manner of speech, he might pronounce the first words of real intention to cease the Jesuit warn against the Papacy.
An such hope of turnaround surely died with the words of Kolvenbach addressed to the delegates of GC33 , who elected him in a single ballot: we will serve Pope and Church, the new Father General said in a clear affirmation of Arrupism, if to do that is to serve MAN. To serve MAN in his preoccupation with political injustice and material want would remain as well the primary preoccupation of Jesuits.
The mortal remains of hope for a change were buried in a continuing landslide of Jesuit dedication to Liberation Theology and its redefinition of the Church and its teachings; of Jesuit magazines plugging away without pause at the erosion of Papal and Church authority over morality and doctrine; and of ever bolder attacks , in Jesuit writings and sermons, on the person and the Papacy of John Paul II and the basic dogmas of the Church he heads".
-- The Jesuits by Malachi Martin
Kolvenbach resigned on January 14, 2008, only the second General of the Society to do so.
I regard the Martin excerpt as almost as credible as the Vigano assertions. In other words, I consider Martin to be even more unreliable. Sorry.
DeleteThese labels: "Anti-Catholic propaganda, Anti-papist Catholics, Detraction and calumny" seem a little harsh, given the facts. Holy Jesuits?
ReplyDelete