Time Magazine reports on the election of a new leader for the Jesuits.
The Jesuits’ outgoing Superior General is a soft-spoken Netherlands native named Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, who has served since 1983. The 79-year-old last year became the first ever Jesuit leader to ask for, and receive, papal permission to retire from the post. White-haired and goateed, Kolvenbach has kept a low public profile during his quarter-century reign, but is widely praised for his skills in reestablishing good ties with the Holy See after the run-ins with top Vatican officials of his predecessor, a charismatic Basque-born progressive named Pedro Arrupe.
Most Jesuits… focus… on frontline missionary work amongst the poor and oppressed. Noted in particular for their vast network of schools and universities, the Jesuits are widely considered the day-to-day educational and intellectual motor for Roman Catholicism. …lately been working on an education project in the hinterlands of Mongolia. “Whereas a Benedictine is centered around his monastery, the Jesuit’s life is the road. The way we’ve achieved our credibility is getting our hands dirty, getting involved in issues of countries.”
Read it all here.