Pope’s Jesuit identity had profound impact on parishes, schools

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, a towering statue of St. Ignatius Loyola depicts the founder of the Society of Jesus – the Jesuits – standing triumphantly with his foot planted on the neck of a figure personifying the heresies of his time.

Yet, while St. Ignatius is often remembered for his role in confronting error, Jesuit Father Stephen Spahn emphasizes that his true legacy was rooted in pastoral care,.

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope in the more than 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, very much followed that model, said Father Spahn, an expert on Ignatian spirituality and a theology professor at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. 

In an era of intense conflict during the Counter-Reformation, St. Ignatius viewed the church’s role as a summons for believers to strive to be the best Christians they could be – an imperative the late Pope Francis embraced as his own, Father Spahn said.

“St. Ignatius felt that Jesuits would serve the church’s interest best in pastoring people, in training priests who could pastor people in that very intimate, caring fashion,” said Father Spahn, who also serves as a weekend associate pastor of St. Joseph in Cockeysville. “The homilies Pope Francis gave at Casa Santa Marta followed in that model. They came across as the encouraging words of a beloved parish priest who knows his people and wants to encourage them and inspire them more than educate them in that kind of intellectual sort of way.”

Jesuit Father Brian Frain, pastor of St. Ignatius in Baltimore, noted that while Pope Francis upheld church teaching, he displayed an understanding of the nuances of everyday life.

“His tone about homosexuality was different from previous popes,” said Father Frain, noting that everyone is called to chastity. “He looked at LGBT people as part of a family and not to be just simply written off or dismissed. I find, as a pastor, that he helped me to model that attitude. I call it the Francis effect.”

Father Spahn acknowledged that some saw the pope’s approach on certain hot-button issues as lacking clarity. But that sometimes “comes with the territory” of being pastoral, he said.

“No one comes into that intimate confessional to learn about whether what they’ve done is sinful or not,” he said. “They come wanting reconciliation and compassion and forgiveness.”

By publicly raising the kinds of questions that can surface in private pastoral encounters, Pope Francis boldly acknowledged the real-world complexity of people’s lives, Father Spahn added.

Terrence Sawyer, president of Loyola University Maryland, said the pope’s Jesuit identity shaped the way he engaged people.

“I think his Ignatian roots really influenced his leadership in the way he was so collaborative,” Sawyer said. “He listened to many voices and he saw the dignity in all individuals.”

Pope Francis’s commitment to justice, particularly in addressing the needs of the poor, the marginalized and the environment, deeply resonated with Sawyer. In 2015, Loyola joined 68 universities globally as part of the Vatican’s “Laudato Si’ Universities” initiative – working to promote integral ecology. The initiative was directly inspired by Pope Francis and his encyclical on the care of the environment.

Sawyer also praised the pope’s commitment to academic freedom at Catholic educational institutions. The Argentine pope fostered an environment where people can ask difficult questions without fear of judgment, “trusting that the pursuit of truth will always bring them closer to God,” Sawyer said.

Pope Francis’s outreach to the peripheries reached Loyola in 2015 when he appointed Tongan Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi as cardinal of the tiny Diocese of Tonga and Niue in the South Pacific. 

Cardinal Mafi, who earned his master’s degree in pastoral counseling from Loyola in 2000, became the world’s youngest cardinal at 53, hailing from a diocese of just 20,000 Catholics. 

“You don’t necessarily do a head count to determine whether that’s worthy or not,” Sawyer said. “I think you go toward the pain. You go toward suffering, toward the margins – that’s where our work is most needed.”

Father Frain also reflected on the pope’s model of pastoral care, emphasizing the importance of listening. 

“I don’t know a lot of priests who rule with an iron fist,” the pastor said. “But I think the pope was calling those priests who feel like they have a fiefdom in a parish to realize those days are over.”

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

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