We have to go slowly here. The fact that a Jesuit made the comment, “Of course not,” does not mean that it is true. The poster did say that the Jesuit thought that the question was a joke. There is a long running joke among religious, including the Jesuits, about their orthodoxy. But we all know that it’s humor. We tease them about it all the time, but we don’t take it seriously. They make fun of themselves.
It is also very wrong for anyone outside of a religious order to say that said religious does not belong in the order or should be called a Catholic. That’s overstepping the boundaries. The only person who can make that judgment is the Superior General of the order. Church law explicitly reserves that right for superiors general, not even bishops can make such statements. I remember a case where a bishop made such a statement about a Franciscan, the friars sued him in an ecclesial tribunal and the bishop had to make a public apology, because he lost the case. The tribunal concluded that only the superior general of the individual could morally make such a comment, especially in public.
Since the 13th century the Church ruled that laity and bishops may have no voice in the affairs or actions of religious orders or men. Religious orders of men are exempt and answer only to their superior general and the pope above him. The rule is different for congregations of men.
The Passionists are not an order. They are a congregation. Therefore, they are not exempt for all authority as are the orders. Why the orders answer only to the pope, congregations answer to the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. If the laity has a complaint aganst a congregation of men they can file that complaint with either the Superior General of the Congregation in question or with the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life. If they have a problem with a member of an order, they can only file their complaint with the Provincial Superior of the order. The Sacred Congregation does not deal in these issues, because they cannot intervene in orders of men, only the superior general of the order and the pope have that authority. The reason that the Sacred Congregation cannot intervene is because the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life is run by bishops and cardinals. Bishops and cardinals have no authority over male religious orders. The Superior General trumps their authority, whether he’s a priest or a brother. He speaks for the Church. Only the Pope can speak above him.
Moving along to another point, there are three religious insitutes at the United Nations. The Passionists are involved in the environment. They were asked by Pope John Paul II to work with enviornmental issues. When John Paul II died, they had to resign. That is Church law. Pope Benedict reappointed them to do this. They are not to do any kind of evangelizing at the UN. They are to focus on environmental issues and represents the Holy Father’s position on these issues.
The Jesuits are also at the UN. They work on issues regarding religious freedom. Again, they are not to involve themselves in any other issue, except this one.
The Secular Franciscans were also assigned to the United Nations by John Paul II and re-assigned by Pope Benedict. They are to work on poverty and the distribution of resources.
All three orders represent the Vatican’s interests on these subjects. They are guided by the Vatican representative to the UN.
It’s important to understand what they do at the UN and how far they are allowed to go. None of them are allowed to preach or evangelize at the UN. They are to teach the Gospel through the issues that they represent. Alongside the three Catholic orders, there are other religious representations at the UN who work together with the Catholics: Orthodox, Jews, Anglican, Buddhists, Hindus, and several Reformation communities.
I hope this helps someone.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
“supine support for the State of Israel while it flouts every UN Resolution and continues to build illegal settlements, and has now been accused of war crimes in Gaza.”
How dare they ! 
