Papal Putdown

No modern Pope has tried more earnestly than Paul VI to control the proudly independent Society of Jesus. When the policymaking General Congregation of 235 Jesuits from 80 countries convened three months ago in Rome, Pope Paul made known that he wanted no changes made regarding the "fourth vow" of special loyalty to the Pope, which some Jesuits take in addition to the three usual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. His reasoning: to extend the elitist vow to all Jesuit priests (fewer than 50% are now allowed to take it) would weaken it as a commitment. Undaunted, the Congregation, by more than a two-thirds majority, agreed in a preliminary vote to extend the vow to all Jesuit priests (TIME, Feb 10). The Pope responded militantly. In a letter to Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe, he not only vetoed the fourth-vow action, but insisted on his right to approve every document from the Congregation--despite a longstanding custom that Popes review only major constitutional changes. It was a stunning rebuke.

Arrupe requested a meeting, which was held last month in Paul's private library. While Arrupe's first assistant waited in an anteroom, the Superior General entered the library to find seated with the Pontiff Archbishop Giovanni Benelli, the No. 2 man at the Secretariat of State, where hostility to the Jesuits often runs high. The Pope was warm but firm. Arrupe's responsibility, he insisted, was to reimpose discipline and respect for tradition and persuade the increasingly egalitarian Jesuits not to change the structure of their order. Paul's message to the Jesuits: enough innovation is enough.

Most Controversial. The Jesuit fathers, according to one, were left "reeling" and "crestfallen" by the papal attitude, but nevertheless completed work on a dozen documents last week. The most controversial of these, TIME learned, was called "Faith and Justice." It asserts that Jesuits must attack poverty and injustice even if that means in some cases struggling against oppressive governments. Life within the order would be changed by another much debated document that would ensure that Jesuits live up to their vow of poverty. Funds earmarked for Jesuit schools and institutions would be kept separate from those of the Jesuits' own living communities. Other legislation would streamline candidates' training.

Because of the papal review that had to take place, the Jesuits were not sure that their documents would be accepted. There were even rumors that Arrupe might resign if the documents were vetoed. Then, in the final hours of the General Congregation last week, Pope Paul sought to reassure the Jesuits. He summoned Arrupe and his four top assistants to a special meeting. The mood was noticeably different from that of the earlier meeting. The Pontiff explained that "it was this very affection that we have for you that drove us to interpose our authority in the course of recent events." After presenting the Jesuits with a valuable crucifix, he announced that he had approved the four documents he had received so far from the Congregation --including one that could provide a back-door way for more men to take the fourth vow.

That, of course, leaves open the fate of the other documents. The Jesuit fathers went home hoping that the Pope would swiftly approve them to avoid a long-term struggle. Remarked one Jesuit: "Pope Paul is afraid that the order will disappear by becoming too secularized. But there's a danger that he might annihilate it by taking it over and turning us into dusty little papal valets."

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