The New Jesuits: What Good Came of It?

I am told that America's Catholic bishops have been read­ing this book in preparation for the upcoming Synod of Bishops on re­ligious life, news that dismays the more theologically progressive members of the Society of Jesus in America. A more general public may read it with profit if interested in what has happened since Vatican II to Catholic religious or­ders in the U.S., for the Jesuit expe­rience has by no means been unique.

Joseph Becker is a seasoned Jesuit priest and economist who devoted years to the study of pri­mary documentary sources and to hundreds of interviews with Jesu­its who in one way or another had been involved in the changes in the Society that he describes. He tells us that he eschews "all explicit evaluation" of the changes, but since description without evalua­tion is impossible, his personal views inevitably shine through. Nonetheless, he has done his homework thoroughly and reports his findings dispassionately.

His subject is the changes that took place in the 10 years after Vatican II in the program for the "formation" of young Jesuits (which is something more than mere training since it aims at the development of a character and a dedication to the religious life and mission of the Society). This cru­cial decade marked "a significant internal transformation" of the So­ciety, "probably greater than any it had experienced in its previous four hundred years." The changes inevitably affected all aspects of Je­suit life, but they began in the "houses of formation," principally novitiates (for initial formation), philosophates (for the study of philosophy), and theologates (for the study of theology).  (more...)

The New Jesuits: What Good Came of It?