ELECTING THE "BLACK POPE."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 239, 13 October 1906, Page 9

ELECTING THE "BLACK POPE."

The recent _<s<*-fcion of Father .iFrancis Wernz, a German, as general of the Society of Jesus., involved a little known and carious ceremony. The greatest seeree.y is observed, and even the place, of election is always kept secret until after the event, for the Jesuits arc generally disliked in some quarters. They are, indeed, the most extraordinary body of men that ever existed. At Sparta, in the old Greek days, there was a race whose one aim was the cultivation and hardening of their physical powers. The Jesuits have spent just the same eagerness and •"••llturn on their brains. They are. ;x snrT Q t intellectual cosmopolitan aristocracy of the world. It takes 17 years of strenuous -srncly and

training to make a Jesuit. Ouly ths strongest physically and intellectually can, as a result, attain td full rank. A fully-professed Jesuit priest under the age of ">4 is practically an impossibility. There is one remarkable feature of .the Jesuits: their oath of obedience. They are bound absolutely, "within reason and right,*' to obey their superior iv all thai is not sinful. The exercises of Ignatius is fhe .famous book in the study or which their novices spend two years. It has been justly condemned by many £reat authorities for its power of breaking tbe will; but, on lhe other hand, there is the view that a- strong will that survives; it has become as steel in the tire. After two years of novitiate they spend about seven years in general study—three On philosophy and about live on theology, besides r-ome six or seven in teaching. Oun cn7i understand from that- why the Jesuits have been the best-equipped schoolmasters the world has known. The internal regulations of the Societyarc very similar to those of an army in respect of obedience and executive. There arc at the present time 10,300 in the world, collected info _."i provinces under the control of provincial;:. The provinces arc grouped into live Assistances, which

include, as a rule, the races of the same J tongue. Each Assistancy has an Assistant, who represents it, and acts as adviser to the "General. Every official except the General, who is ejected for life, and can only he deposed for come moral, personal error (such a thing has not occurred in the 400 years of its existence), is elected for a term. An officer who may be in the ranks again to-mor-row has a strong incentive against peremptory or dictatorial behaviour. The General, then, is ruler for life of an extremely carefully organised ax*my, which is exquisitely trained in the use of the j intellectual weapon, which speaks every tongue an ci ij as 'nftueuec ii* every country.

And yet among the Jesuits nu one is very eager to be General. Every fullyprofessed member is eligible, and may be elected to grasp the handle of what* has been compared to a swoTd with the head i at Home, and the point facing to every comer of tbe world; but none are. as „ I rule, ambition--. >,'_ one may refuy- the | office if eleetd. j The General of the Society is one of tb'? hardest-worked men in a hard-work-ing world. Every member of the ]5..i00 may write in complaint or for advice to the Very Reverend Father (he is familiarly known in Rome as the ''Black "Pope"), and though there is a permanent stall' oi secretaries, the General is -supposed to pass every reply. Moreover, he iiixist control men. many of whom are more brilliant than himself, and tvefinenilously strong-willed, and in addition lif hat' to r-oudilft the cxtr-riinl relations of the Koeiefy. The political influence of the Bla.*k Pope is a matter of history. 'hi the death of the Jesuit, General, a A ieor-Gpj-i'ral whom he has appointed takes command till the nev,* General is ?!•?<* -i-J. I'B-ther Freddi was appointed by the:;!•■' Father Z\iartin. He. calls a which consists of the live —egit-tani., the- secretary, and three dftl*--

gates from each of the 2,"> province/, the provincial and two fathers* elected by the congregation consisting of the eldest professed fathers in the province. They meet and elect a secretary, after which there, is an interval of four days for them to meet and discuss among themselves likely candidates. Any canvassing for votes for himself or on bclialf of another disqualifies that father. After four days they all attend a public mass, which _■ celebrated by the VicarGeneral, and all the priest*? in turn communicate—an unusual proceeding. Then 'follows the usual thanksgiving. They adjourn to ihe hall of the congregation ! singing the Yeni. Creator Spintu.--. when I the doors uru locked, and a father ap- | prin'.ed doorkeeper to prevent egress till | the election is over. I'h.e principle ii ! similar to that of locking up a jury to 1 deliberate. Then a father, previously 'fleeted, gives an address, which is followed by one hour's private prayer "for guidance." 1 'Jhen the secretary rises and says (in Latin, of course), '-Father, I call you to give your vote," and the Vicar-Genern 1 approaches the end of the hall, where there is an altar with suspended cruciikv r-nd containing an urn. Holding his voting paper in his luiud, raised above, his head, ho sa;.<" aloud. ■•'_ x-nll to witness desus Christ, who i-. eternal wisdom, that I choose as General him who I think is sufficient to bear the burden" (v.-hiih oath is on th« back of the form). Then lie drops the pap'O-iy tTvunii, and, with a genuflection, retires, saying from his stat. "All in order give their vote- in ti!'' ns.iiip o f .Testis." v. ii(-n the votes arc deposited, the

father on the right-hand of the Vicar counts the votes without opening them. Then the Vicar-General opens each paper, showing it first to the father on the left and then the'father on the right, when the vote is called out. He finally announces the result. The General must have more than half the total number of votes cast, and the election proceeds till j that is accomplished. j The new General takes the place of j the Vicar at the table, and the fathers I pay homage by kissing his hand. j This secret ceremony is a very simple I matter after all. The General is dressed j exactly as any other Jesuit, his powers I arc not revealed in display or appearance. In theory he is 'strictly sub- | ordinate to the Pope, having no influ- ! ence at all at the Vatican save such as j the Pope may choose to allow him. He j may hold no office in the Church or outj side it, nor, indeed, may any Jesuit. One of the German Jesuits at the present j time, an eminent authority on the Canon j Law, is a Cardinal, but he accepts the I office at the express order of the Pope, j under protest. It can be realised what immense power I this might exert politically. In the time of Louis Quatorze, when Jesuits [were Kings' Chaplains, they tamed gen- | eral distrust ia JCuropx<. j Some,say they exert great and secret i influence to-day. ffl j It is curious that-never has an Er.g- , lishman, though there are 700 Jesuits in , the English province, or a Frenchman | been made General. 'The last. Father i .Martin, was a Spaniard, with.lrish blood jin his veins, and the new General is a Sherman.