The Pope's Last Crusade by Peter Eisner Page A

Mooney about his methods for manipulating the Jesuits beneath him. “Jesuits obeyed as long as they got few orders; and none against their grain,” he told Mooney. A “wise superior can get obedience provided he does not violate a man’s love of reasonable independence.”
    Along the lines of that thinking, LaFarge would think he was acting as an independent agent. Ledóchowski would encourage LaFarge as he prepared the encyclical, but the superior general would eventually control the final product.
    LaFarge would not be difficult to manage. All Jesuits had an ingrained sense of obedience, and Ledóchowski had already met LaFarge and lectured him about his responsibilities as a Jesuit journalist. Specifically he had discussed America magazine’s mission. Ledóchowski directed the magazine’s political commentary to focus on traditional church teachings and preaching. As a traditionalist, he expected and demanded adherence to the ancient precepts of the church. America, he felt, had the sacred responsibility to explain current events in terms of the church: “People look to us for the interpretation of what is going on,” he said, “what religion has to say concerning events.” America must not be a journal of individual opinion—rather it should express the viewpoint of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits.
    The message was that Jesuits in the United States owed their full fealty to the Jesuit Curia in Rome, to Ledóchowski himself, and thence to the Vatican. LaFarge was evidently cut in the classic Jesuit mold: an obedient, earnest fellow who would do what he was told.
    Ledóchowski summoned LaFarge to meet with him the next morning, June 27. LaFarge was unaware of the political maelstroms and intrigues swirling around the Vatican. He was relieved that the pope had told Ledóchowski about the assignment. LaFarge was already starstruck and simply in awe that he was meeting with the Jesuit general. He was also intimidated and fearful. Ledóchowski had a reputation that extended all the way back to New York. Even from afar on West 108th Street in Manhattan, LaFarge had gotten word that the seventy-one-year-old Jesuit superior general could be moody and was not to be trifled with.
    â€œIt was fortunately one of his good days, and he was most lively and spoke most entertainingly and he has the wonderful gift of making you feel at ease at once,” LaFarge wrote after that first meeting. “Indeed, I had to pinch myself several times to realize I was actually talking to the [leader] himself.”
    In this second meeting, as with the first, LaFarge was disarmed. Ledóchowski was quite good-humored when he greeted the American and said the pope had spoken with him about the encyclical. Once put at ease, LaFarge told the Jesuit superior that he felt overwhelmed by the assignment from the pope. If he had a hint of something of this magnitude was about to take place, LaFarge added, “nothing would have persuaded me to go to Rome, much less meet with the pope.” Ledóchowski told him not to worry: “nothing to do, but to go through with the whole thing.”
    That said, LaFarge identified a number of concerns. First, he told the general he wanted to review background materials in the Vatican archives—prior declarations and positions taken by the Vatican on racism and the Nazis. Not a problem, Ledóchowski told him. He made sure LaFarge would have every facility open to him.
    Next, LaFarge was worried about the intense heat of the Roman summers. He much preferred working in a mild climate, preferably Paris. A very good idea, Ledóchowski said, and accepted that proposition as well.
    Finally, LaFarge said the pope asked him to work quickly. Given the short amount of time, he asked if the superior general could provide him with an assistant to work on the encyclical. Ledóchowski assigned two Jesuits—one would be Gustave Desbuquois, who