In discussion with Jesuits, Pope speaks on ‘rigid’ seminarians, corrupt politicians

November 25, 2016

Pope Francis lamented the decline of idealism in politics, and the “rigidity” that he finds in many seminarians, in an exchange with participants in the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus.

The Pope’s dialogue with the Jesuits took place on October 24. The full transcript was posted this week by the Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica, in Spanish, Italian, and English versions.

During the lengthy discussion, Pope Francis said that was concerned about the legalistic approach to morality that he encounters in seminary students. “The whole moral sphere was restricted to ‘yes you can,’ ‘you cannot,’ ‘up to here yes but not here,’” he said. He likened this approach to the “decadent scholasticism” which, he said, was widespread in seminary training prior to Vatican II.

This approach, the Pontiff observed, is quite unlike the process of discernment emphasized in the Jesuit tradition. He said that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is devoted to the application of moral principles to real-life situations, rather than the re-statement of abstract rules. He added that his own apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, puts primary emphasis on pastoral applications rather than general rules.

In seminary training, the Pope continued, students should be exposed to “academic study, contact with real life..., prayer and personal community discernment.” He added: “When one of those things is missing, I start to worry.”

In a discussion of the world’s political scene, the Pope remarked on the absence of “those great politicians who were able to spend themselves seriously for their ideals.” He said that the world now suffers from a tendency toward centralized power, and a “standardizing and destructive globalization destroys the indigenous cultures that in fact should be recovered.”

More specifically, the Pontiff observed with concern that in many countries around the world, entrenched leaders have sought to change the national constitutions in order to allow themselves longer terms in power. He said that “a country cannot grow if it does not respect the legal principles which that country itself has put in place to ensure future governability.”

Later in the exchange, in a discussion of encouraging new vocations to the priesthood and religious life, Pope Francis said: “Not promoting vocations is an ecclesial tubal ligation,” even a form of “suicide.”

 

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Further information:

• In Jesuit Q&A, Pope despairs of current politics and rigid seminary morality (Crux)
• "To Have Courage and Prophetic Audacity" (full text of Pope's exchange, via Civilta Cattolica)