Jesuit GC 35: Stressing Obedience via Being Brain Dead

As the brain is part of the human body...
this helps explain the success
in obtaining obedience by such persons as Wlodimir Ledochowski

Perinde ac Cadaver

February 21, 2008, 8:07 pm

Posted by Robert P. Imbelli

A few weeks back there was a discussion on dotCom of the words of St. Ignatius in the “Constitutions of the Society of Jesus” to the effect that one under obedience should allow himself to be directed “as if he were a lifeless body:” perinde ac cadaver.

One of the blogs on the official website of the 35th General Convention reports this reading of the phrase (cited by the Pope in his letter to Father Kolvenbach) from a member of the General congregation:

there was a discussion about a point in the letter of Pope Benedict XVI to Fr. Kolvenbach at the start of GC35 where the Pope reminds us about St. Ignatius wanting our obedience to be perinde ac cadaver, “like a dead body”. Here is part of an interesting post about this:
“ In the process of obeying a superior… there is the key moment where I choose to obey in accordance with my vow. At that moment I am passive, in a stance of abandoning myself and putting myself at the disposal of the superior, implementing the “take, receive” of the ad amorem. This moment in some ways is akin to the moment when I receive a consolation without cause or an impulse of grace over which I have no control. However prior to that moment there is the full activity of my preparation for the moment of obedience: my discernment, my consultation of others, my dialogue with my superior, perhaps even my representation. And following that moment there is the lengthy process of implementation where I fully engage all my strength in doing what I am asked to do as a Jesuit apostle. The “perinde ac cadaver” moment is the still point at the centre of my activity as a Jesuit, the point which focuses it and energizes it…”

Interesting too that the Pope in his address to the Jesuits at today’s audience ends with the prayer from the Spiritual Exercises to which the above comment refers:

Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my entire will — all that I have and possess. You, Lord, have given all to me. Now I give it back to you, o Lord. Dispose of it according to your will. Give me your love and your grace, for that is enough for me.

But before reciting the prayer, Pope Benedict confesses:

mi unisco a voi nella preghiera insegnataci da Sant’Ignazio al termine degli Esercizi – preghiera che sempre mi appare troppo grande, al punto che quasi non oso dirla e che, tuttavia, dovremmo sempre di nuovo riproporci

I join with you in the prayer taught us by Saint Ignatius at the close of his Exercises — a prayer which I always find almost overwhelming, to the point where I almost dare not say it … yet which we must always appropriate anew.

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Tupper Saussy on the Vatican's Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Tupper Saussy from Rulers of Evil, pp 251-252

“The great fatal mistake of the American government in the prosecution of the assassins of Abraham Lincoln”, wrote Rev. Charles Chiniquy, the excommunicated priest whom Lincoln had successfully defended in his early law career (see note 2, Chapter 22).

The religious element – the fact that all seven of the conspirators were devouted Roman Catholics – was carefully avoided because of who controlled the trial. As Commander in Chief of he armed forces, it was Johnson himself who quite constitutionally reigned supreme over the Hunter Commission.

But Johnson was also a Freemason, which meant that he followed the wise [?] directives of the Unknown Superior.

Pieter Jean Beckx, Jesuit Superior General:1853-1887

Thus, the real power behind the Hunter Commission was Superior General Pieter Jean Beckx, a relatively young Belgian who was the great favorite of Pio Nono, Pope Pius IX, the only head of state in the world to recognize the southern Confederacy as a sovereign nation.

Pope Pius IX (May 13, 1792 – February 7, 1878), born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, reigned as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from his election in June 16, 1846, until his death more than 31 years later in 1878.

Obedient to the will of Genera Beckx, President Johnson issued an executive order closing the courtroom to the working press. At the end of each day, officials would ration to selected reporters from the Associated Press news carefully evaluated to keep “the religious element” out of the public consciousness.

Charles Chiniquy tirelessly investigated the assassination. After the conspirators were executed, he went incognito to Washington and found that

"Not a single one of the government men would discuss with me except after I had given my word of honor that I would never mention their names. I say with a profound distress, that the influence of Rome was almost supreme in Washington. I could not fid a single statesmen who would dare to face that nefarious influence and fight it down."