The Politics of Academic Autonomy in Latin America by Fernanda Beigel

Author:Fernanda Beigel [Beigel, Fernanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138252035
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2016-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

The Second Vatican Council and a Conflictive Phase for the Society of Jesus

On October 5, 1964, while the Second Vatican Council was coming to its conclusion, Jean Baptiste Janssens, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, died in Rome. The XXXIst General Congregation was convened, according to the constitution of the Jesuit order, for the election of the latest successor to Saint Ignacio of Loyola. Thus, Pedro Arrupe was elected as the Superior General of the Society of Jesus on May 22, 1965. The order’s commitment to the Second Vatican Council gained worldwide recognition even in the non-Catholic world because of the interventions of North American Jesuit John Courtney Murray on “The Declaration on Religious Liberty”, as well as the ecumenical work of other Jesuits such as Fathers Agustin Bea and Gustave Weigel. The Society of Jesus had by then a long tradition in the academic field: a third of its priests, approximately 11,500, were dedicated to education in 4,672 Jesuit colleges and universities with more than 1,250,000 students (Lamet 1989). Twenty percent of Jesuits were involved in Third World countries, serving in various activities from faculty to working-class organizations in widespread sectors.

In July 1966 Arrupe called for a Congress of the Latin American CIASs in Peru. Two suggestions by the Superior General were discussed. The first was the importance of the CIAS as an instrument of social action with a mission of international, regional and even continental scope:

Faced with the demagogic rush of some unfounded hopes of an easy and frivolous propaganda, the CIAS must do a serious and scientific study to make this reality publicly known, in order to establish a rigorous picture of social justice that is to be achieved, defining the realistic possibilities that the economic and social development offers. Our mission is to serve truth and justice and not to drag the popular masses to desperate reactions (Arrupe 1966: 2).

The second was a concern for the lack of social consciousness, the need to review the institutions of the Society and rethink them within the perspective of social justice. The elitist academic centers raised serious doubts about their actual role in the radical transformation proposed by the Society of Jesus, according with the spirit of the Council (Lamet 1989). These issues were addressed by CIAS members from many Latin American Jesuit provinces during the congress: Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, North Mexico, South Mexico, Central America, Antilles (Larraín 1966b). The Bellarmino Center had the most advanced experience thanks to the funds received from Misereor, both for libraries and scholarships. In other provinces the CIAS was funded by providing diverse works and priest ministries, but they received fewer resources than the Chilean one.

Discussions at the congress focused on five points: a) attitudes/ways of thinking and structural social change leading to justice and popular promotion; b) the commitment to train, encourage and educate people considered to be effective agents of social change in public and private spheres; c) the need to take

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