Will the New "Black Pope" Work? - TIME

Will the New "Black Pope" Work? - TIME

Will the New "Black Pope" Work?

Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008 By JEFF ISRAELY time

The Jesuits were once such a powerful force in the Roman Catholic Church that their elected leader was unofficially called the "black pope" a nod both to his influence and to the order's predeliction for simple black cassocks. Indeed, it is said that the rest of the Church never allowed a Jesuit to be elected to the real papacy for fear of concentrating too much power in the hands of the order. On Saturday, Jan. 19, the Society of Jesus — the order's formal name — elected a new "black pope." Will he be able to help them regain the influence they've lost over the last few decades as their increasingly progressive reputation has clashed with recent traditionalist popes?

Whether Nicolas turns out to be cut more from the Arrupe or Kolvenbach mold remains to be seen. A Jesuit source in Rome said that the new boss had ruffled Vatican feathers in 1998 with his role in a request by Asian bishops for more local authority for Church decisions. If that is an omen for the nature of his administration, the new black pope may find himself clashing with the regular Pope, who has reaffirmed that ultimate authority lies with the Vatican.

There has apparently already been some papal concern about the Jesuit's relatively liberal perspectives. In a letter last week to Kolvenbach, on the eve of the election of his successor and a month-long meeting of a congregation of Jesuit leaders, Benedict implored the order to hold firm in Catholic tradition on matters of morality and sexuality. "It could prove extremely useful that the general congregation reaffirm, in the spirit of St. Ignatius, its own total adhesion to Catholic doctrine, in particular on those neuralgic points which today are strongly attacked by secular culture," the Pope said.