A “Jesuit Catholic Tradition?” Really?

Leafing through several news and opinions pieces in The Observer and other Boston College student publications, there are certain words that stand out. These words tend to repeat themselves almost methodically, as though they carried with them some sort of understood, unquestionable meaning. Among the words which I noticed were words such as “Jesuit” and “Catholic” and “Tradition.” Especially when one reads critical responses to opinions pieces, one is sure to stumble across these three, among others. I have personally read these words used to support everything from the promotion of a dating culture to the availability of condoms in every dorm. The life of virtue demanded of each Christian seems to be watered down at Boston College to a form of altruism, in which “doing nice things” and “being tolerant” are the only standards of decent behavior. Being rooted in the “Jesuit Catholic Tradition” here at Boston College has taken up almost any meaning one could attribute to it, and in doing so now means nothing at all.

The recovery of what a “Jesuit Catholic Tradition” really means begins with the realization that “Jesuit” and “Catholic” are not, shockingly, two diametrically opposed concepts. On the contrary, the original mission of St. Ignatius of Loyola was not to undermine the Church or its authority (as Luther wound up doing), but rather to reform it by purifying it and loving it.

The ever-quoted speech from Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. includes the demand that Jesuit institutions rear “men-for-others,” a phrase whose aim was not sexist as most Jesuit schools at the time were all-male. That quote alone gives little insight into the characteristic of Jesuit spirituality or educational practices. The entire phrase is worth quoting at length: “Today our prime educational objective must be to form men-for-others; men who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ —for the God-man who lived and died for all the world.”

In other words, the life and mission of Jesuit school cannot be totally reduced to a pleasant sense of philanthropy, however much good fruit that feeling may bear. Any discussion about Jesuit education needs to take place in the context of serving Christ and, by necessity, His Church. This mission is found nowhere else as clearly as in St. Ignatius’ own First Principle and Foundation: “Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God Our Lord, and by so doing to save his soul.”

All too often, the greater mission of salvation to which Jesuits and the institutions they aspire get marred by misguided intentions. I honestly believe people mean well when they invoke the phrase “Jesuit Catholic Tradition” to support a desire they wish to see actualized. But simultaneously, the use of these words has become hackneyed to the point of severe nausea. We no longer allow the mission of the Jesuits to permeate university life, but rather we take our pre-held political or ideological agendas and project them onto schools like Boston College. Thus when Jesuit schools fail to support these preconceived agendas, it is seen not only as a failure of politics but of its very mission as Catholic. This reaches a level of absurdity when students or faculty lambaste BC for not providing prescriptions for the birth control pill, citing it as a failure to live up to Catholic morality, “properly understood.”

On the whole, I would say honesty is needed at Boston College right now; honesty with regards to our mission and honesty with regards to our own opinions. Most of all, we need the honesty to separate the two. Let us hope that students and faculty alike can work on making Boston College a school, rooted in the Jesuit Catholic Tradition that we can all be proud of.

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