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It is a solemnity if he’s the father of your community, in case someone does not know why I said solemnity in the title.
From VATICAN RADIO
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Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass on Wednesday morning, marking the Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, the Order to which the Pope belongs.
The Church chosen for the celebration was the Jesuits’ Mother Church in Rome, known simply as the “Gesù”.
Father Bernd Hagenkord SJ, director of Vatican Radio’s German Programme, was part of the congregation. He told Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni that the experience was a fantastic one…
Father Hangenkord says that having a Jesuit Pope, celebrating the Feast of Saint Ignatius together at the tomb of Ignatius was something, up to now, unheard of: “I had never imagined this could have happened. It was very prayerful; it was a private Mass, so the Pope was not very ‘Popish’ with all sorts of people helping him”. He celebrated Mass himself with the help of the Jesuit Father General, Father Nicolas and with Archbishop Ladaria, who is also a Jesuit.
“The rest were Jesuits and friends from other congregations, celebrating St. Ignatius together: fantastic!”
Fr. Hagenkord says at the beginning of the celebration Father General Nicolas mentioned the fact that Francis is both Pope and a Jesuit. He said Francis will always be a Jesuit, “he thinks like a Jesuit, he talks like a Jesuit – the way he prepares his homily – everything is Jesuit.”
He affirmed that within the congregation there is a very strong feeling of community. “You sense the familiarity of things, of thoughts, of expressions, of words, of the way he composes a homily – always having three points for example – this is a very Jesuitical, or Ignatian way of doing things”.
Regarding the homily, Fr. Hagenkord says the Pope obviously understands St. Ignatius very well, and you can see that in the fact that he hardly ever mentioned St. Ignatius. “It wasn’t a homily on Ignatius but on the centrality of Jesus Christ for a Christian life”.
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The Holy Father said it himself on the plane trip from Rio. “I’m still a Jesuit” He spoke about the allegiance that a Jesuit pope should have for the Jesuit superior general. It would help others if we explained Jesuit spirituality and Ignatian pedagogy when they ask questions about something that the pope said.
Ignatian pedagogy is very different from Thomistic pedagogy, which is different from Franciscan and Augustinian pedagogy as we already learned listening to Pope Benedict who used those methods.
Understanding and remembering that the pope is a Jesuit may help some people stop asking “Why doesn’t he explain this?”
Answer: Jesuits don’t do that. St. Ignatius model was to speak and leave. He abhorred explanations. He considered them to be a waste of a soldier’s time. His idea was that a commander speaks, the troops listen and move.
It’s always very hard for many people to remember this, because the Jesuit’s name got changed in the translation from Spanish to Latin. I’ve never heard anyone explain why. Their actual name is the Company of Jesus as in a military company. I don’t know where Society came from. But I’m not about to ask a Jesuit either. I like my head. It goes well with the rest of me. I’m not about to getting snipped off.
From VATICAN RADIO
**
Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass on Wednesday morning, marking the Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, the Order to which the Pope belongs.
The Church chosen for the celebration was the Jesuits’ Mother Church in Rome, known simply as the “Gesù”.
Father Bernd Hagenkord SJ, director of Vatican Radio’s German Programme, was part of the congregation. He told Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni that the experience was a fantastic one…
Father Hangenkord says that having a Jesuit Pope, celebrating the Feast of Saint Ignatius together at the tomb of Ignatius was something, up to now, unheard of: “I had never imagined this could have happened. It was very prayerful; it was a private Mass, so the Pope was not very ‘Popish’ with all sorts of people helping him”. He celebrated Mass himself with the help of the Jesuit Father General, Father Nicolas and with Archbishop Ladaria, who is also a Jesuit.
“The rest were Jesuits and friends from other congregations, celebrating St. Ignatius together: fantastic!”
Fr. Hagenkord says at the beginning of the celebration Father General Nicolas mentioned the fact that Francis is both Pope and a Jesuit. He said Francis will always be a Jesuit, “he thinks like a Jesuit, he talks like a Jesuit – the way he prepares his homily – everything is Jesuit.”
He affirmed that within the congregation there is a very strong feeling of community. “You sense the familiarity of things, of thoughts, of expressions, of words, of the way he composes a homily – always having three points for example – this is a very Jesuitical, or Ignatian way of doing things”.
Regarding the homily, Fr. Hagenkord says the Pope obviously understands St. Ignatius very well, and you can see that in the fact that he hardly ever mentioned St. Ignatius. “It wasn’t a homily on Ignatius but on the centrality of Jesus Christ for a Christian life”.
**
The Holy Father said it himself on the plane trip from Rio. “I’m still a Jesuit” He spoke about the allegiance that a Jesuit pope should have for the Jesuit superior general. It would help others if we explained Jesuit spirituality and Ignatian pedagogy when they ask questions about something that the pope said.
Ignatian pedagogy is very different from Thomistic pedagogy, which is different from Franciscan and Augustinian pedagogy as we already learned listening to Pope Benedict who used those methods.
Understanding and remembering that the pope is a Jesuit may help some people stop asking “Why doesn’t he explain this?”
Answer: Jesuits don’t do that. St. Ignatius model was to speak and leave. He abhorred explanations. He considered them to be a waste of a soldier’s time. His idea was that a commander speaks, the troops listen and move.
It’s always very hard for many people to remember this, because the Jesuit’s name got changed in the translation from Spanish to Latin. I’ve never heard anyone explain why. Their actual name is the Company of Jesus as in a military company. I don’t know where Society came from. But I’m not about to ask a Jesuit either. I like my head. It goes well with the rest of me. I’m not about to getting snipped off.
