Pope Sends Letter to Jesuits

( 18 Jan 08 - RV) A few days before he presented his resignation as Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach received a personal letter from the Holy Father, Benedict XVI. Father Kolvenbach shared the letter with the members of the General Congregation and with the rest of the Society,. Emer McCarthy has this report...

Father Kolvenbach shared the letter with the members of the General Congregation and with the rest of the Society, and reported to the Holy Father “the profound attention and gratitude” with which the message has been received”. To the Jesuits, Father Kolvenbach underlined “the affection, spiritual closeness, esteem and gratitude with which the successors of Peter have regarded and see the Society of Jesus, continuing to expect the faithful service of the Society for the integral and clear proclamation of the Gospel in our time.”

In his letter Pope Benedict recalls the particular bond that binds the Society of Jesus to the Successor of Peter, as expressed in the "fourth vow" of special obedience to the Pope. The Holy Father underlines and asks "that the Congregation reaffirms, in the spirit of Saint Ignatius, its own total adhesion to catholic doctrine, in particular on the crucial points under attack today from secular culture”.